[ Location: The Burrow - Fireplace ][ Date: August 19th, 1992 ]
"Diagonally!" Harry shouted, vanishing in a roar of green flames.
"He said it wrong," I noted, dusting soot off my robe. "He definitely said it wrong."
"What did he say, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking worried.
"Diagonally," Fred said, suppressing a grin. "But where did he go?"
"Probably a fireplace in hell," Shikamaru muttered. "Or Knockturn Alley. Same thing, really."
I looked at the adults. "Aren't you going to save him? You guys are the adults. He's a child with a savior complex and zero sense of direction."
Mrs. Weasley waved a hand, though she looked anxious. "Oh, he's a smart boy. He'll be alright. Hagrid is usually around there. You next, Vivan."
I blinked. 'Wow.. Literally, they are just leaving him up to his luck.'
I stepped into the grate. I grabbed a pinch of Floo powder.
'I hate magical travel. It's like being flushed down a toilet made of fire.'
"Diagon Alley!" I shouted clearly.
WHOOSH.
The world spun. Ash filled my mouth. I kept my elbows tucked, grateful for my Magical Resistance dampening the vertigo.
I stumbled out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, narrowly avoiding stepping on a hag.
"Graceful," Shikamaru said, stepping out behind me a second later without a speck of soot on him. "Ninja balance."
"Show off," I grumbled.
We found Harry (Hagrid had rescued him, All hail plot armor ) and the Weasleys. We headed to Gringotts, then to the main event.
[ Location: Flourish and Blotts ][ Time: 11:00 AM ]
The bookstore was packed. A massive banner hung from the ceiling: GILDEROY LOCKHART - MAGICAL ME - AUTOGRAPH SESSION TODAY 12:30 - 4:30 PM
"He's here!" Mrs. Weasley patted her hair. "Actually here!"
We fought our way inside.
Gilderoy Lockhart sat at a table, surrounded by large pictures of his own face. He was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that matched his eyes. He flashed a smile that was blindingly white.
"It's Harry Potter!" a photographer shouted.
Lockhart jumped up. He grabbed Harry by the arm and dragged him to the front.
"Nice big smile, Harry! Together, you and I are worth the front page!"
"Let me go," Harry mouthed silently at me.
I smirked and waved. 'Suffer for the plot, Harry.'
"And who are these?" Lockhart pointed at me and Shikamaru. "Friends of the famous Potter?"
"Just fans of your... teeth," I said innocently.
Lockhart beamed. "Flattery will get you everywhere, young man! A signed copy of Magical Me for the lot of you!"
He dumped a stack of heavy books into Harry's cauldron.
"Free books!" Mrs. Weasley cheered.
"Heavy paperweights," Shikamaru muttered, dumping his into Ginny's cauldron. "You take them. I don't read fiction disguised as biography."
We tried to leave, but the exit was blocked by a man with pale blonde hair and a sneer that cost more than the Weasley house.
Lucius Malfoy.
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" Malfoy spat. "Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."
"Leave him alone," Ginny said, stepping forward.
"Oh, look, Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend," Lucius drawled.
He turned to Draco.
"And these must be the... associates you mentioned. The orphan and the savage."
He looked at me and Shikamaru.
"Careful, Lucy," I said, leaning against a bookshelf. "Stress causes wrinkles. You wouldn't want to ruin that porcelain complexion."
Lucius's eyes narrowed. "You have a sharp tongue, boy. Let's see if it saves you when you have no family to protect you."
Arthur Weasley stepped up. "Lucius."
"Arthur," Lucius picked up a battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration from Ginny's cauldron. "Busy time at the Ministry? And yet... they don't pay you overtime, do they? What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Arthur turned red. He dropped his bag.
And he punched Lucius Malfoy in the face.
"Get him, Dad!" Fred and George cheered.
It was a brawl. Books flew. Hagrid had to wade in to separate them.
In the chaos, I watched closely.
'There.'
Lucius stood up, holding his eye. He picked up Ginny's book. And he slipped a small, black, leather-bound diary inside it before thrusting it back at her.
"Here, girl," Lucius hissed. "Take your book. It's the best your father can give you."
He stormed out, Draco trailing behind him.
'The Diary. The Horcrux. It's in play.'
Ginny stood there, looking shaken, the diary nestled inside her Transfiguration book.
'If I let her keep it, she opens the Chamber. Students get petrified. We play detective for a year. It's messy.'
'But if I take it... I destroy the plot. I control when the Basilisk wakes up. And I need that snake. I need the venom. And I definitely need the 2000 points.'
I narrowed my eyes.
'Telekinesis'
[ Ability Active: Telekinesis. ]
I focused on the cauldron in Ginny's hand. Just as she turned to her mother, I flicked my mind.
The small black diary lifted silently out of her cauldron. It floated through the air, weaving between the Weasleys, and slipped neatly into the pocket of my robe.
"Let's go," Hagrid grunted. "Before the Aurors show up."
I patted my pocket. It felt cold. Like ice.
'Gotcha, Tom.'
[ System Alert: Quest Item Acquired - T.M. Riddle's Diary. ][ Warning: Item contains a hostile soul fragment. Do not write in it unless you want a pen pal from hell. ]
I grinned. 'Don't worry. I'm not going to write in it. I'm going to use it as a key.'
[ Location: King's Cross Station ][ Date: September 1st, 1992 - 10:58 AM ]
"10:58!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "Hurry!"
Fred, George, and Percy ran through the barrier.
"You two next," Mrs. Weasley ushered me and Shikamaru.
We ran through. No issues.
Harry and Ron were right behind us.
We waited on Platform 9 3/4.
11:00 AM. The whistle blew.
"Where are they?" Hermione asked, leaning out the window. "The train is leaving!"
"They missed the barrier," I realized. "Dobby sealed it."
The train began to move.
"They'll be stuck," Shikamaru said, finding a seat. "Troublesome. Maybe they'll just go home."
"No," I sighed, looking out the window as the station blurred. "Knowing those two... they're going to do something incredibly stupid."
[ Location: The Sky - Somewhere Over Scotland ][ Time: 4:00 PM ]
I was right.
I was sitting in the compartment with Hermione and Shikamaru when a shadow fell over the window.
I looked out.
A turquoise Ford Anglia was flying alongside the train. Harry and Ron were waving frantically.
"Idiots," Hermione gasped. "Total idiots!"
"Open the window!" I yelled.
I slid the pane down.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I screamed over the wind.
"THE BARRIER WAS SEALED!" Ron yelled back, white-knuckled on the steering wheel. "WE HAD TO FLY!"
"YOU COULD HAVE SENT AN OWL!" Hermione shrieked.
Suddenly, the car's engine sputtered.
Cough. Splutter. Die.
The car dipped.
"Uh oh," Ron said.
The car dropped out of the sky. It wasn't gliding. It was falling.
"They're going to crash!" Hermione screamed.
'Not on my watch.'
I didn't think. I pointed my hand out the window.
[ Ability Active: Telekinesis ( Long Range Grip). ]
The strain hit me, but it was manageable. I grabbed the falling car with my mind.
'Stabilize. I can control it.'
The car jerked. Its fall slowed from "fatal impact" to "rough landing."
But they were drifting away from the train, heading toward the dark forest grounds of Hogwarts.
"I can't hold them forever!" I gritted my teeth. "They're too far!"
I watched them disappear into the fog, heading straight for a very large, very angry tree.
The Whomping Willow.
"They're gone," Hermione whispered.
"They'll live," I said, pulling my head back in and sliding the window shut. "But the tree might not."
I sat down, rubbing my wrist.
"Did you just catch a car?" Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I nudged it," I lied.
"Troublesome," he smirked. "You're getting stronger."
"I have to be," I said, looking at the distant castle. "Because this year... the school tries to kill us. And I have a date with a snake."
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