The next day.
King's Cross Station was as lively as ever, but today there was a special crowd among the passengers. Their outfits were a bit eccentric, and they hurried through the platforms.
What drew even more attention were the large birdcages on their trolleys, each holding a different kind of owl.
Some of the new guards eyed them curiously, but the older guards just looked unfazed, as if they'd seen it all before.
It was like this every year. Probably some sort of owl festival somewhere—it didn't bother them anymore.
On Platform 9¾, a red steam engine was parked beside the platform, surrounded by parents seeing their kids off. The atmosphere was bustling and full of excitement.
"Thank you for bringing me, Dobby," Kael said to the House-elf beside him.
Because it was the first day of term, Kael had originally planned to come by the Knight Bus, but Dobby had offered to bring him instead.
The advantage was, he didn't have to go through the station—they could arrive directly at the platform. Pretty convenient, to say the least.
"Dobby is very happy to help Mr. Kael," the little elf said cheerfully.
"Harry's not here yet. Do you want to wait a bit?" Kael checked the time. "It should only be a few minutes."
Dobby was tempted, but after a moment of hesitation, he shook his head.
"No, Dobby has a lot of work to do today, and the Invisible Beast needs looking after as well," the elf said. "Could Mr. Kael say hello to Harry Potter for Dobby?"
"Of course, no problem."
After receiving confirmation, the elf gave a happy bow and disappeared on the spot.
"Kael!"
Conna came over, dragging a suitcase. "When did you get here? I didn't see you come in through the main entrance."
"A House-elf brought me," Kael explained, "via Apparition."
"That's so convenient," Conna said.
Soon, Cedric and Cho arrived too.
The Weasleys still hadn't shown up, so the group decided to get on the train and save some seats.
Since it was almost departure time, they walked all the way from the engine to the rear before finally finding an empty compartment.
"How was your holiday?" Cho put her luggage on the rack, looking a bit depressed. "I spent two months at home. My mum said she'd take me to Sydney, but work messed up her plans."
"I went to Hampshire—my grandfather lives there," Cedric said. "My dad insisted I stay there because things have been a bit tense lately. He finally picked me up just yesterday afternoon."
"Oh, by the way, Kael." He turned. "I heard you got a warning letter from the Ministry of Magic. What's that about?"
"You got a warning letter?" Conna asked, a bit anxious.
"How did you know?" Kael asked. "I don't think the newspapers mentioned it."
"My dad told me," Cedric replied. "I got him drunk yesterday and found out loads of Ministry stuff."
"…"
Well, that's Mr. Digory's son for you.
"It's nothing," Kael glanced at Cedric helplessly, then shook his head. "It's all sorted now. Just a misunderstanding."
"I bet it's got something to do with You-Know-Who," Conna said. "I read the Daily Prophet—they're calling Dumbledore crazy every day now. Clearly the Ministry doesn't want to admit You-Know-Who is back, so you probably got dragged in because of that."
"That's exactly it," Kael said. "But thankfully it's been sorted out."
The piercing blast of a train whistle cut through the air.
"The train's about to leave." Cedric slid the window down and stuck his head out. "Weird, where are Fred and George? Kael, weren't you with them?"
Kael shook his head. "Nope, I came on my own."
It struck him as odd too. With Mrs. Weasley's personality, there's no way they'd be this late.
A few minutes later, another loud whistle sounded, and the train slowly began to move.
"Looks like they're actually late," Cho said, frowning.
"No, they're here!"
Kael instinctively looked outside. Just as the train was about to leave the station, Fred and George finally appeared.
They managed to Apparate straight into the carriage at the very last second.
"Whew… made it." Fred leaned against the compartment door, gasping for breath.
"What happened?" Kael handed him a bottle of Pumpkin Juice. "Where's Harry? Why are there only two of you?"
"Moody was attacked," Fred said after taking a big swig of Pumpkin Juice. "It happened this morning—some Death Eaters broke into his house."
"How's Professor Moody?" Cedric asked.
"He got hurt, but nothing too serious," George replied. "Stodgy happened to be visiting, saw the Killing Curse fly right over Moody's head."
"That was close, wasn't it?" Fred said. "Moody nearly got killed."
"It's not that easy," Cho said. "Don't forget, Professor Moody's the most famous Auror around—the Death Eaters wouldn't kill him that easily."
"Maybe," George said, "but now everyone thinks the Death Eaters might still be lurking around King's Cross Station, waiting to ambush Harry, so we were extra careful on the way here."
"But nobody paid attention to the time…"
"By the time we got to King's Cross Station, we were already late."
"George and I are the fastest runners," Fred added, "but Harry and the others had too much luggage."
As he spoke, he poked his head out the window for another look.
But the train was already far from the platform—the station was long gone from view.
"Oh no, how's Ginny going to get to school?"
"Too bad we can't bring someone along with Apparition yet."
"Don't worry," Kael said, "there are adults with them—they'll find a way to get Ginny to Hogwarts."
"True," George sat down beside Cedric. "Mum would never let Ginny or Ron be late."
"Just wonder how they'll do it," Fred said, sitting down as well. "Hey George, do you think Sirius's new car can fly?"
Both of them paused for a moment.
"If that's the case…" George said dryly, "I won't be able to sleep tonight."
"Me neither."
"Easy answer—just ask them when we get to school," Cedric said. "But isn't it odd? Why would the Death Eaters suddenly attack Professor Moody?"
"Maybe they were trying to get information about Harry's whereabouts," George sighed. "Everyone knows You-Know-Who wants Harry gone."
"But why Moody?" Fred wondered. "He's definitely a tough nut to crack."
"Do you think… it has something to do with the Defence Against the Dark Arts curse?" Cho said hesitantly. "Isn't it strange? Both professors last year were fine—there's never been a case like that before."
When Cho said that, everyone realized she had a point.
It's true—over the past few decades, every Defence Against the Dark Arts professor only lasted a year. Only Moody and Sirius managed to finish the school year and leave Hogwarts at the end along with everyone else.
At first, people just thought it was because there were two professors and the curse was split between them. Yet, right before the new year starts—Moody suddenly gets attacked.
If there's really no connection between the two, that's just too much of a coincidence.