HOGWARTS CASTLE
[As Hogwarts castle comes into view, the Anglia enters frame]
Rose: Welcome home, Anna. [Anna smiles at the sight of it, when... the Anglia groans.]
Anna: Just out of interest, Rose. Have you ever landed a car before?
Rose: Well... no. but, until a few hours ago, I'd never taken off in one either.
Lily is speechless.
Anna: Did you bring us here to die?
Rose: Obviously.
Anna: I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. [With that, the car lurches, The nose drops]
Rose: Uh oh. [Anna, Rose and car go pitching through the night. As Anna rakes the gears, they hurtle madly toward the castle wall.]
Rose: IT'S NOT WORKING!
Everyone is worried.
Anna: UP! UP! [Rose shifts desperately. The Anglia lurches up, barely clears the castle wall. Anna and Rose exchange a look of relief, when... the car groans again, lurches... downward.]
Anna: MIND THAT TREE! [Down below a giant willow tree looms. Rose shifts. Nothing.]
Anna: TURN! TURN! [Anna reaches over and, together, she and Rose spin the wheel, It's useless. The car is heading straight for the tree. Desperately, Rose whips out her wand and whacks the dashboard.]
Rose: STOP! STOP! STOP! [The wand snaps into two and car meets tree. Anna blinks. They hang dreamily, balanced on the highest limb.]
Everyone relaxes again.
Rose: My wand! Look at my wand!
Anna: Be thankful it's not your neck. [Thwuump! Something heavy hits Anna's door, sends a shudder through the car.]
Rose: What's happening? [Slowly, they look up and, in disbelief, watch one of the tree's branches pull back, Curl into itself, and come lashing forward like a massive fist.]
Anna/Rose: Aaaaahhhhh! [The Anglia tilts crazily, slides backwards and free-falls through the air and... lands on lower grid of branches.]
Anna: Shit! It's Whomping Willow. We're going to die!
"Oh, come on!" Said Sirius and James.
Rose: Hey! Don't be negative! Look on the bright side!
Anna: Yay! We're going to die! Woohoo!
Barty chuckles slightly.
[The tree begins to pummel the car from all sides, tossing Anna and Rose about like popcorn. Windows shatter. Heavy dents appear on the roof above Rose and Anna's heads. Then the car falls again slamming heavily to the ground. Instantly, the tree's lower branches shoot through the front and rear windscreens and, gaining purchase, begin to shake the car back and forth.]
Anna/Rose: Aaaaahhhhh! [The tree pitches the car into the air. As the Anglia slams down again, bobbing on its squealing shocks, the engine burbles back to life. Anna looks up, peering through the shattered windscreen. The willow's branches, as one, rear back, ready for one last punishing blow. Anna cries out.]
Anna: Reverse! Reverse! [Rose shifts, the car shoots backwards, and the willow pummels the tread-marked ground they just vacated. Safely clear, the doors fly open, the seats tip sideways, and Rose and Anna are ejected. As they hit the ground, their trunks fly from the boot, Hedwig's cage rockets out the back window, and Hedwig herself flaps into the night. Taillights blazing angrily, the battered car speeds off, fishtailing into the Dark Forest.]
Everyone is still on edge.
Rose: Dad's going to kill me. But he'll have to resurect me, because mom will kill me first. [They hear a tremendous groan, turn back, and see the Whomping Willow assume its natural form, waiting for its next victim.]
Anna: From all trees, we could hit, we had to hit the one that hits back! Fuck my luck!
"My poor girl." Said James.
[Rose snickered.]
Rose: At least we're still alive... For now.
"It's not ressuaring." Said Remus.
ENTRANCE HALL
[Filthy and bruised, Anna and Rose drag themselves up the steps. Behind them we see the mountain of student trunks and caged pets already brought up from the train.]
Not Expelled... Today
[Anna and Rose walk into the Entrance Hall with their belongings and pets, which they leave with the rest of the students' luggage.]
Anna: See you, Hedwig! [She and Rose then run up the steps] So a house-elf shows up in my bedroom, we can't get through the barrier to Platform 9¾, we almost get killed by a tree... clearly someone doesn't want me here this year.
"What gave it away?" Said Sirius sarcastically.
Rose: (sarcastically) You think? [Reaching the top of the stairs, they come face-to-face with the caretaker, Argus Filch and his pet cat, Mrs. Norris]
Filch: [glaring at them with a malicious smile] Well, take a good look, lads. This night might well be the last you spend in this castle.
Lily looks worried.
"Don't worry. She will be okay." Said James.
[Anna and Rose glance at each other nervously. He smiles more devilishly; moments later, Anna and Rose are standing in Severus Snape's classroom]
Snape: [holding up a newspaper article about their flying car at King's Cross Station] You were seen by no less than seven Muggles! [Furiously throws the newspaper aside and glares at them] Do you have any idea how serious this is? You have risked the exposure of our world. Not to mention the damage you inflicted on a Whomping Willow that's been on these grounds since before you were born!
"He says it like it was planted for centuries." Said Remus rolling his eyes.
Rose: Honestly, Professor Snape, I think it did more damage to us.
Anna: And Whomping Willow was planted in 70s.
"Exactly." Said Sirius.
Snape: Silence! [walking around his desk towards them] I assure you... that were you in Slytherin and your fate rested with me, the both of you would be on the train home tonight! As it is.
"But they aren't." Said Remus.
Professor Dumbledore: They are not.
"You are twins." Said Sirius. Remus rolled his eyes.
[Anna, Rose, Snape, and Filch turn towards the doorway to see Dumbledore standing there, accompanied by his associate, Professor McGonagall. Both of them are looking stern.]
Anna: [glancing at Dumbledore and McGonagall] Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall.
Snape: Headmaster, these children have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry. As such...
Professor Dumbledore: I'm well aware of our bylaws, Severus, having written more than a few myself. However, as Head of Gryffindor House, it is for Professor McGonagall to determine the appropriate action.
Marauders and Barty cheer.
Professor McGonagall: I must impress upon both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to your families tonight. And you will both receive detention. [Anna and Rose turn back to Snape who casts a glare of pure venom at them. Anna smirked at him and winked.]
Everyone laughed.
"That's my daughter!" Said James.
Professor Dumbledore: And now I suggest that we all return to the feast. There is a delicious-looking custard tart that I am most anxious to sample. [Dumbledore and McGonagall exit the office and Snape follows behind with a disapproving facial expression. Anna and Rose pass Filch. Anna notices a envelope on the ground and picks it up. It's addressed to Filch and is about the basics of magic.]
Anna: Uh, Mr. Filch, you dropped this. [Filch eyes the envelope before he grabs it and stuffs it in his pocket fast while looking flabbergasted. Anna and Rose walk on.]
YOU ARE READING
Anna Potter and Chamber of secrets
Fanfiction[Book 2] In Anna's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a series of messages on the walls of the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened and that the "heir of Slytherin" would kill all pupils who d...
