Like Ripples In a Pond

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~ Chapter Five ~



Near Hogwarts Platform, Unknown Location in Scotland





As the train traveled by scenic vistas, they saw a particular mountain that seemed no different than any other to Harry, but was apparently a landmark to everyone else. Both Blaise and Pansy took their cues to stand up; Pansy trying to be dainty while Blaise stretched slowly and luxuriously, like a person waking from a nap.



“We need to get changed into our robes, Blaise!” Pansy chided at the boy’s idleness.



“Yes, yes, I know.” Blaise grinned around at the others as he meandered out of the door. “See you when we get there,” he tossed over his shoulder.



Vince and Greg stayed seated, and Harry noticed all at once that they, like Draco, had been wearing their school uniforms the whole time.



In the silence that remained, Harry spoke. “I suppose I should get dressed as well,” he said awkwardly.



Harry stared at the other three boys, and Draco gave him a look of puzzled expectancy; as if to say, ‘Well?’. Harry half-wished he could ask them to leave, but he couldn’t, not without seeming rude. He had never changed clothes in front of anyone before, not that he could remember. Surely Aunt Petunia had seen him without clothing at some point; logically she must have changed Harry’s diapers when he was a baby, no matter how distasteful she may have found it.



Why did he feel so shy about this? They were all guys here.



One last look at Vince and Greg, who seemed indifferent. A glance at Draco, who was watching avidly; which disturbed Harry in a not-unpleasant way. Finally, he stood up; retrieving a black, neatly folded robe from his trunk. Harry took off his jacket, and after a moment’s hesitation pulled the bulk of Dudley’s hideous sweater up over his head as well.



Draco’s breath caught in his throat. Merlin, he’s so thin! Too thin, almost…Draco paused mentally, …frail. I think I can count all his ribs from here. Don’t his Muggle relatives feed him?! A thought occurred. I wonder if Father knows about this…



Someone, either Gregory or Vincent, coughed; and Draco felt the sudden need to study the ceiling in great detail, the tips of his ears pinking. He hoped that he hadn’t been caught staring.



After a million years of Draco singing the Puddlemere United fight song in his head, Harry was seated and dressed and it was safe to look again.



What did they talk of? If pressed, Draco could not recall. The scenery? Food?

Thank all the gods and angels for his father’s lessons in protocol and polite conversation being drilled into his head. At this point his mouth operated of its own accord.



Soon, thankfully, the train began to slow noticeably, and a voice announced their imminent arrival. All four boys stood and silently joined the milling crowd who packed the hallway, heading towards the exits.



Emerging onto the dark, swarming platform, Harry heard a familiar voice: “Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! All right there, Harry?”



Harry was happy to see Hagrid again, even if he didn’t like the way so many heads turned towards him when his name was called.



Blaise and Pansy reappeared, and joined them close by as all the new students marched after Hagrid’s towering form. Harry noticed a change had come over his new friends. All of them, now that they were no longer alone, had begun to alter the way they carried themselves.



Blaise went from being full of twinkly-eyed mischief to detached boredom. Pansy, somewhat haughty to begin with, shifted her expression to something between ‘simpering’ and ‘contemptuous’ that gave her a slight resemblance to a pug.



Vince and Greg once more became the looming figures Harry had first seen on the train, lowering their brows and sporting matching scowls on their faces. They followed behind Draco at a distance never more than three paces, cracking their knuckles conspicuously and giving everyone who ventured too close glares of suspicion.



Draco himself froze over until the air around him fairly tinkled with ice. His face was like a perfectly emotionless sculpture carved from a convenient glacier. Harry felt a stab of doubt, or possibly fear. Where was his friend, the boy he had been talking with and laughing with?



Then Draco, still walking right beside him, managed to let his elbow oh-so-accidentally bump into Harry’s. When Harry looked up, Draco caught his eye. He saw something reassuring Draco’s face, and felt calm once more.



Masks, came Harry’s flash of insight. The masks we all wear in front of the world, to protect ourselves. He had sudden recall of the countless occasions with his relatives when he said ‘Yes, Aunt Petunia’, ‘Yes, Uncle Vernon’; while hidden by his carefully blank face he was weeping or seething or shouting inside.



Everyone has their disguises, Harry realized. Some people’s just go deeper than others.



Meanwhile, they had reached the end of a dark, tree-lined path. The crowd of students came to the shore of a black lake and got their first sight of Hogwarts rising out of the mist, the majestic stone castle outlined against the backdrop of the night sky.



“Oooooh!” All the children said.



Draco very nearly snorted. Such showmanship. That one must always get a great response, Draco found himself thinking with a private little smile. Not that he wasn’t impressed, too. Anyone would be.



Hagrid hustled them all into some patiently waiting boats, four at a time. Once again, Harry and Draco were accompanied by the ‘not-bodyguards’. The boats sped forward at Hagrid’s command.



Everyone was silent with nerves as they approached the school. Draco still held his face in control, but Harry could feel him practically vibrating at his side; the tension thrumming through the blond boy’s body, as Harry himself felt slightly numb.



The banking of the boats at the underground harbor, climbing the stone staircase; Harry was on autopilot throughout it all, following the other students in a daze. It was Hagrid’s loud triple knock echoing on the front doors that snapped him back to reality.



The witch who opened the door treated them all to a look like the one Harry's Aunt Petunia gave to traveling salesmen.



Gosh, she looks stern, Harry thought. Wouldn’t want to mess with her.



“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid.



“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.”



They all found themselves ushered briskly inside what was to be their new school and home.





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