The Chaos Factor
Ch.4 Meet Harry Potter
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Utena the Black Rose: Hello
all! Just finished up with finals, so
now I’m done with school for the summer.
Hopefully I’ll be able to get some writing done.
Disclaimer: I solemnly
swear that I am NOT J.K. Rowling!
the British, but I hear their food is very bland…and even if it’s not, it is in
this story. Same goes for the lack of concession stands in the train station.
Special Thanks to: bold;mso-bidi-font-style:italic\'>Lady Sei…without whom this chapter might not
have been written.
~*~Chapter 4~*~
“Harry!
We’re gonna miss the train!” Ron
Weasley hollered up the stairs of
where the Weasley Clan (minus Percy), Hermione Granger, and The-Boy-Who-Lived
had spent the last several weeks of their summer vacation.
Sirius Black, was now servas tas the headquarters of the Order of the
a secret society formed by Albus Dumbledore to combat Voldemort and his Deatheaters.
heard several female voices arguing loudly.
“--FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING
THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS –“
“SHUT UP YOU OLD BIDDY!
OVER FOR AS LONG AS HE WANTS!”
Harry grinned at the continuing
disagreement between Mrs. Black and Mrs. Weasley.
since he had arrived at his godfather’s house.
As he tied his shoes there was a knock and Hermione’s voice filtered
through the door. “Are you ready
yet? Mum and Dad just sent Hedwig back
so we’re just waiting for Tonks to put the finishing touches on her disguise.
going. He’s more fidgety than normal.”
“Come in.
his trunk as Hermione opened the door and stepped inside.
the open cage in the corner. Harry
slammed the lid of his trunk down and leaned over to latch the cage door.
Let’s not keep everyone waiting.
Could you carry Hedwig’s cage for me?”
Harry, dragging his trunk, followed
Hermione downstairs to where the other occupants of the house waited.
drowned the noise of the trunk, thudding down the steps, out.
her.
“Harry, you’re to come with me and
Tonks,” she shouted over the repeated screeches of “MUDBLOODS!
CREATURES OF DIRT!
Arthur. Leave your things here;
Alastor’s going to deal with the luggage...
Oh, for heaven’s sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said no!”
Harry’s side as the boy walked towards the Weasley matriarch.
Well, on your own head be it!”
She bustled past them, heading for the front door where Tonks waited,
disguised as an elderly woman.
Tonks winked at Harry as he and
Padfoot passed her on their way out.
They headed in the direction of King’s Cross, Padfoot spooking several
neighbod cod cats along the way. Harry
still couldn’t believe that he was allowed to return to Hogwarts.
in Azkaban and throw away the key, and if it hadn’t been for Dumbledore’s
intervention, he very well might have.
It had been a very tense summer for
Harry, even without the Dementors’ attack.
Everyday, Harry expected to hear some news of Voldemort’s return, and
was shocked when he didn’t even see a mention of it in the Daily Prophet.
Ministry’s refusal to accept that Lord Voldemort was back.
what happened at the Triwizard Tournament how could they not believe it?!
closed his eyes and hear Voldemort’s cruel laughter and the deatheaters’ taunts
in his sleep.
Padfoot barked, drawing Harry out
of his reflections. The summer hadn’t
been any easier on the animagus either.
Still a wanted man, Sirius had coo cooped up in his family home for
months. Even though he knew it was
hi
his own protection, Sirius hated being confined and “useless”.
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 9.0pt 0in\'>Twenty
minutes later theyivedived at the station.
Once inside, they lingered casually beside the barrier between platforms
nine and ten until the crowd thinned, then each of them leaned against it in
turn and fell easily through onto platform nine and three quarters.
his spirit soared…He was really going
back. They moved away from the entrance
as they waited anxiously for the others to arrive.
behind him. He turned in time to see a
figure converging on Padfoot, who had been chasing his tail nearby…
“It’s way
too early for this,” Juline yawned as the quartet hauled r lur luggage to the
train station. “Hey Chris, what platform
are we looking for again?” She asked,
peering around the bustling station through half-shut eyes.
“Nine and
three quarters,” the brunette replied.
“Thank the gods for Starbucks,” she added as she clutched her double
mochtte tte like a life preserver. “We
did remember to pack my Mr. Coffee, right?”
“If we
didn’t we can get it later,” Juline muttered as she scanned the signs.
Rini
snorted and shifted her weight, trying to balance her overstuffed bag.
they were supposed to, we wouldn’t have been running around like
morons…and we would have had time for a decent breakfast!
“Um…I think there’s a problem
here,” Emily said, looking slightly confused.
“I see platform nine and platform ten, but no nine and three quarters.”
“Maybe we should ask someone….”
“Right, we’ll just go up to some
random person and ask how to get to the train for the wizarding school.”
entrance.” She narrowed her eyes and
seemed to be glaring at spacspace between the platforms.
wall they were approaching.
Passing through the barrier, they
encountered the majestic site of the Hogwarts Express.
a bench to wait for the boarding signal.
“I can’t beliwe’rwe’re actually
here early” Chris marveled. “It’s a sign
of the Apocalypse.”
“Well, there ARE four of us...”
The grumbling of stomachs
interrupted the laughter. Sighing,
Juline stood up. “I wonder if English
wizards have heard of concession stands.
I’ll be back. Don’t let anyone
near the Luggage and try to remember we’re undercover so don’t draw any
unnecessary attention.”
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-pad-alt-alt:0in 0in 6.0pt 0in\'>“Look
who’s talking, Ms. Pyro,” Emily muttered, rolling her eyes at her sister’s
retreating back.
As Juline wandered further down the
platform in search of food -- preferably some that tasted like food, this was
after all -- she studied the people she passed, noting anyt tha that seemed
interesting. Almost to the far end of
the platform, she gave up and began turning to head back to the others.
bloody English wizards…” As she spun
around she caught a flash of silver in a shady alcove.
tall, elegant looking man and a boy about her supposed age – fifteen or
sixteen. Both had an unusual shade of
silver blond hair, pale skin, and an aristocratic demeanor.
probably father and son. Juline smiled
“If it weren’t for the older man’s sour expression, he’d be a nice roll in the
hay.” she was caught ogling when her brain stopped paying attention to her libido and
processed what was happening. Giving the
scene a second look, she saw that the younger of the two was cradling his left
arm and the older had a solid grip on the back of the boy’s neck.
something into the boy’s ear, gave the boy a rough shake, and shoved him in the
direction of the waiting train. Juline
watched as the boy caughmselmself, stood ramrod straight, wincing as his arm
straightened, and nodded to his Father who raised his wand and
disapparated. As the boy turned to head
in her direction, she quickly twisted the ring on her right ring finger a half
a turn, activating the invisibility spell contained within the ancient
artifact. “It’s a gthinthing that guy
disapparated,” she muttered angrily as the boy walked past her.
Suddenly, the boy stopped in his
tracks and turned towards where Juline stood with a rather perplexed
expression. “Who’s there?” he asked the
seemingly empty space. After staring for
a moment, he shrugged his shoulders and ed ted the back of his head with his
good right hand. “Must have been hit too
hard this time, now I’m seeing things.”
The boy turned back to the train and was lost in the gathering
crowd.
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 8.0pt 0in\'>Juline
reappeared with an expression halfway between worry and excitement on her
face. “Well, this should be interesting…”
completely forgetting her quest for food.
After several minutes of dodging
students carrying suitcases and pushing trolleys overflowing with trunks and
other types of luggage, she finally spotted her sisters sitting on a bench…but
no Chris.
“Where’s that flake of a
fairy? I haven’t been gone that long.”
Both Rini with Emily looked at
their approaching sister with amused expressions and pointed towards the
entrance where Chris was glomping a large furry animal.
“Not again,” Juline groaned as she
rushed over to rescue the poor creature, which looked to be having trouble
breathing. “Chris, let go of the dog.”
“Puppy!”
“Chris, that’s a full grown dog.”
“Puppy!”
“Chris, it’s not a puppy and I
think you’re scaring his owner,” she said smiling up at the panicked looking
boy with dark hair. “I swear she’s had
all her shots, she’s just very fond of…”
Juline glanced back at the poor animal and suddenly got a strange
expression on her .
likes animals. Chris, let go.
Reluctantly, Chris
released her death grip and glared at Juline.
Standing up, she brushed the fur off her jeans.
boy. Looking behind him she spied a
familiar face. “Hello, Mrs.
Weasley. Is this your son Ron?”
“Oh!
recognize you. No, this is Harry Potter,
one of Ron’s friends. Harry, meet Juline
Belmont and Christine LeFaye. They are two
of the transfer students from across the pond.
I think I mentioned meeting them when I went to get everyone’s school
supplies.”
The Americans shared a
quick glance that said ‘we’ll talk later’.
“It’s nice to meet you, Harry,” Juline piped up offering her hand.
“Likewise.”
keeping his left hand on the head of his nervous looking pet.
a magical one.”
After making some small
talk, an odd tingle makes Juline snap her eyes to the entrance from the muggle
station. “Well, we’d better get seats
while there’s still some open. Goodbye
Mrs. Weasley. See you on the train
Harry.” Turning to go Juline added with
a secretive smile, “I’m sure we’re going to have a fun year.”
“Ok, what was that
about? We’ve got plenty of time.”
Juline reached into her
pocket and pulled out a compact. Handing
it to the other girl, she murmured, “The porter coming up to them with the
luggage cart.”
Chris held the mirror up
as if to fix her makeup. “What about
him?”
“There’s some sort of
enchantment on his eye. I only caught a
glimpse but it appeared to be a spell of revelation.
disguises.”
“I don’t see anything,
but there is something about that eye.
Sometimes I wish I could see things like you do.
appeared as glyphs of light overlaid on things.”
“You may not have Mage
Sight, but your Mage Sense is strong.
Which is why I’m surprised you glomped that ‘dog’ for as long as you
did. You did realize that was an
animagus, right?” Juline shot a
questioning glance at the other girl.
“Yep!”
back to her friend.
“Then what were you
thinking?”
“He might be hott…”
“Who might be hott?”
interrupted Emily.
“Yeah!
“I know you’ve dated dogs
before, Chris,” Juline continued, ignoring her sisters, “but this is too
literal, even for me.”
“9.0pt;color:black\'>Nothing is quite so annoying as to have sne gne go right on
talking when you\'re interrupting.” Rini
huffed.
9.0pt;color:black\'>“True.” Emily agreed,
snapping her fingers and casting a silencing charm on the bickering duo before
World War Three broke out… again.
9.0pt;color:black\'>“I’m assuming Juline’s spidy-sense went off again.
early for anything and if you high-tailed it out of that conversation any
faster you would have left skid marks.”
Rini commented, quirking an eyebrow.
“What’s up?”
9.0pt;color:black\'>Juline crossed her arms and glared at Emily who snapped her
fingers and ended the spell. “I’ll
explain on the train. Chris, grab the
Luggage before it wanders away. What
possessed you to buy a chest made of sapient pearwood anyway?”
9.0pt;color:black\'>“It was cute, and that odd looking man in the ‘Wizzard’ hat
was selling it cheap,” Chris replied.
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 7.0pt 0in\'>
things cute. Let’s get going before that
guy looks our way.”
eternal train ride, the four American witches beto gto get cabin fever.
probably didn’t help, as the middle of a sugar rush is the worst time to get
bored.
has totally spoiled us. I don’t know
what to do with all this down time.”
Chris complained.
added. “I vote Juline opens a portal
home and we don’t come back until we’re almost to Hogwarts.
moving target?” Juline mused
sarcastically. “A portal between here
and the Midwest USA is draining enough, given the distance involved.
Rini?”
and I might have gone stir crazy enough to attempt it.”
to do at home anyway,” Emily chimed in.es\'>
“We’ve tied up all the loose ends and brought most of our stuff with
us.”
a deck of cards. “Anyone up for a game
of B.S.?” As she began dealing the cards
a scream pierced the wall separating their compartment from the next one.
girls jumped up and raced to see what was happening next door leaving cards
swirling in the wind.
and flung the door open. Inside was an
odd assortment of young people. Emily,
keeping a somewhat cooler head, studied the occupants.
the girl with the brown hair and the boy with red hair.
seemed to be having convulsions, but the giggles that escaped proved them to be
non-life threatening. Her gaze almost
passed over the boy seated next to the blond until she noticed the plant in his
hands. ‘A Mimbulus mimbletonia,’ she
thought. ‘That’s a rare plant to see,
especially one in the hands of a high school kid.’
did his plant shopping. Another girl
looked at the newcomers with a curious expression.
to the first boy, the prefect. A third
boy looked up from a magazine he’d been reading.
through wire frame glasses. Chris and
Juline recognized Harry from their meeting in the station and smiled at him.
investigateulinuline explained.
who’s your friend? Aren’t you going to
introduce us?”
Chris said, giving the two a glance.
“Harry, this is Emily and the pushy one is Rini.
they’re my best friends and Gryffindor’s fifth year prefects,” he said,
indicating the red haired boy and the brunette girl next to him.
Gryffindor fifth year, and Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw fourth year,” he nd
td
towards the boy with the plant and the blond still struggling to contain her
laughter. “And this is Ginny Weasley,
Ron’s little sister, and a Gryffindor fourth year.”
turned to his friends. “Guys, this is
Chris, Juline, Emily, and Rini,” the Americans each waved at the mention of
their name. “They are the American
exchange students your mum mentioned. I
ran into them when I was waiting for you two to show up.”
Hermione.
time? I’m going nuts cooped up with
these three.”
homework, a couple compartments are playing card and board games, and at least
three where everybody’s napping.” Ron
said.
traditional interruption, anyway. Have a
seat. Malfoy may be a prat, but he never
fails to liven up our trip.” Harry
gestured towards the extra space the train provided.
wait?” Chris suggested.
compartment.” The others nodded and she
slid out the door, returning with two decks of cards a moment later.
hair and two Neanderthals following him?
Because if that’s him, he just entered the car and is heading this way.”
Neanderthals is an insult to cave people everywhere,” Ron said snidely.
The door opened revealing
a smirking young man with blond hair and his two cronies.
in the alcove and who had almost seen her.
“What do you want,
Malfoy?” Harry said in an odd tone.
“Manners Potter, or I’ll
have to give you a detention,” drawled Malfoy with a smirk.
prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out
punishments.”
“Yeah,” said Harry, “but
you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone.”
As the Gryffindors
laughed, Juline and Chris nodded approvingly at the comeback, drawing Malfoy’s
attention to the girls.
“And what’s this?
friends. Potter will only get you in
trouble.”
“Mudblood?
“He’s done it now,”
Juline stated, inching away from her friend.
“That’s her ‘seriously pissed off’ voice.”
“You should guard your
tongue better, Malfoy, especially when you don’t know who you’re
insulting. I doubt you can get any more
“pureblooded” than a LeFaye…” Chris
trailed off as she watched Malfoy’s eyes bug out.
of her eye and smirked. “…Or a
for that matter. Right, Juline?”
“My advice, kid, is to
get out now. Before she does something
you’ll regret.” Juline said with a
smirk. “And I’ll have to clean up.”
back, bumping his left arm against Goyle.
Juline thought she was the only one who caught the wince and the pain
that flashed in the boy’s eyes. He
stiffened and delivered a parting shot before disappearing into the
corridor. “Whatever.
your footsteps in case you step out of line.”
door shut behind Malfoy and his Goon Squad.
“You were right, he did liven this trip up.”
Ginny, Neville, and Luna staring at the Americans.
Do I have chocolate on my face or something?”
looks that passed between Harry and Hermione.
She got the distinct feeling she missed something in Malfoy’s last
comment. The two shared a look that said
“later” and turned their attention back on their new friends.
lasslass=MsoBodyTextIndent style=\'text-indent:0in;line-height:normal\'>
names?” Harry asked.
and Belmont Clans?” Ginny was
shocked. “What did you do in History of
Magic? Sleep?”
face. “With Professor Binns teaching,
it’s kinda hard not to. And all those
names blur together after a while.”
ones who gave King Arthur the sword Excalibur.
They are also said to be the caretakers of Avalon.
Wizarding Family since before the time of Merlin.”
referring to Uncle Merlin like that.
We’re all that good; he just chose to be more obvious about it.”
kill-the-SOB-or-at-least-scare-the-crap-out-of-him mode.
about it too,” Juline quipped, rolling her eyes.
lecture. “And the Belmont Clan has been
slaying demons and vampires for centuries.”
chimed in.
eldest
about property damage,” Rini replied.
“Knock it off you two! I’d like
to play at least one hand before we get to Hogwarts.”
the whistle blows wins.”
border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;
mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 7.0pt 0in\'> “I’m
not very good at this game,” Emily admitted.
“I’ll go see if that snack cart has restocked.
our compartment.” She ducked out of the
room in search of the trolley as Chris began dealing.
for the woman with the cart. Before she
reached the end of it, she remembered the Quidditch book she wanted to show Ron
was back in the compartment. It turned
out that he, too, was a major Quidditch fan.
I’d better grab it now before I
forget, she thought.
things.
mumbled, turning over her robes and things in her bag.
Strategies of Champions. She
turned and hurried out of the compartment right into a rather tall, burly,
young man. The force of the collision,
and the fact that they were moving, managed to send him backwards with Emily
landing on top, the book in her hands flying askew.
bright red with embarrassment.
embarrassing. “Did I hurt you?
and…”
interrupted, blushing slightly himself.
“I wasn’t really paying attention myself.”
sound of his beautiful, thick Scottish burr.
She loved that accent. In truth,
Emily loved most accents, but the ones from the
and
that she forgot what she was doing and was startled when he spoke again.
now please? Iuldnuldn’t look very good
if someone came along and found a student on top of the new professor,” he
laughed slightly. Realizing again the
extremely awkward position they were still in, Emily grew twice as red as
before, if that’s even possible.
stammered for what seemed like the hundredth time.
putting her hands anywhere she…shouldn’t.
Finally after much apologizing and awkward movements, they were finally
able to stand and face each other.
sorry, what was your name?” Emily asked
awkwardly.
Professor Wood. I’m still not used to
it. I’ll be taking over for Madam Hooch
with flying lessons and Quidditch games and such,” he explained, and then he
noticed the book that had fallen in their collision and grabbed it
quickly. “normal\'>Quidditch: Strategies of
Champions! This went out of print
years ago! How did you get it?
more amazed and excited at the same time.
st
style=\'mso-spacerun:yes\'> I absolutely love the game.
extending her hand, “I’m just transferring to Hogwarts this year from the
he said, taking her hand and then looking at the book again.
it’s been out of print over fifty years.”
him then…I don’t really know, my parents died when I was quite young,” Emily
stammered. “Did you say your name was
Oliver Wood? Didn’t you play for Pudmere
United?” she asked in a desperate attempt to avoid the subject of where the
book came from.
long. I’m in more of a
called-up-when-needed position now after my last injury.
this position,” he explained.
I want to change before we arrive. It
was really nice to meet and I can’t tell you how sorry I am for falling on
you,” Emily said still quite embarrassed.
it. If anyone was going to fall on me,
I’m glad it was you,” he said. Then
blushing again, realizing, “I, um, would really like to talk with you again…about
Quidditch, you know.”
lot. Perhaps I’ll let you borrow my
book sometime, and then we could go over the more interesting parts…together.”
to it. Good-bye.”
go back down the aisle, then in a half dreamy state wandered back to the
compartment to rejoin her companions.
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mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in\'>
and almost tripped over Rini who was struggling to button her blouse and tie
her shoes at the same time. The older
two were still in their street clothing, eyeing the uniforms with identical
expressions of disgust; mainly over the fact that they had to wear pleated
skirts.
thinking?” Juline asked.
monstrosities into something wearable, then yes,” Chris replied.
constantly reminding Emily and me about being low key and not drawing attention
to ourselves,” Rini grumbled indignantly.
replied. “And there’s no rule about
girls wearing boys uniforms. It just
says you must have a school uniform. And
we will.” Juline turned back to the
uniforms, digging in her pocket for the almost forgotten wand.
remember to use these things.” Juline
waved her wand and the skirt lengthened and split down the middle forming a
pair of slacks. “Your turn, Chris.”
unpacking her uniform. “Hey, now that Emily’s
back I’ve got thinthing to tell you. You
remember that Malfoy kid, right?”
presumptuous prick?” Chris vented.
Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen him.
and I left to find food? As I was
walking, I spotted a father and son in a shady alcove.
they were arguing. The father was being
more physical about it than was necessary, if you catch my drift.
said.” Chris huffed.
story. He knew I was there.”
hair wearing Muggle clothing in the middle of a Wizarding train station, even
with the crowd.” Rini asked, puzzled.
looked right at me. He wasn’t completely
sure he saw me, and after a few minutes he just shrugged it off.”
border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;
mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 9.0pt 0in\'> “Too
soon to tell. But, he’s definitely one
to watch. For more than one reason, it
seems.”
Harry,
Ginny, Neville, and Luna were also changing into their uniforms.
other prefects. Harry, unable to talk to
Ginny in front of Neville and Luna, was pondering Malfoy’s parting words.
choice or was it just coincidence? Did
Malfoy know? Did his father know?
Deatheaters anything. They might even
tip off the Ministry to Sirius’ hiding place.
Harry was beginning to work himself into a panic, when he felt a gentle
hand on his lderlder.
still your friend. You can talk to me if
anything’s wrong.” Ginny offered
quietly.
Harry replied. “I haven’t been away from
him for this long since I got him.”
border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;
mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 9.0pt 0in\'> “Well,
don’t. Snuffles will be fine.
“And don’t listen to Malfoy either.
He’s full of it, as usual.”
normal\'>Utena the Black Rose: At the sound of the beep, please leave a review.