Daughter of a Criminal

The Whomping Willow

The end of the summer vacation came too quickly for Ann's liking. She was looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts, but her time at the Burrow was always a good one. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Ron when she thought of her aunt and the sort of welcome she could expect when she got home. On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner ending with a mouthwatering treacle pudding. Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for a last mug of hot chocolate and bed. It took a long while to get started the next morning. They were up at dawn, but somehow they still seemed to have a great deal to do. Mrs. Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands; and Mr. Weasley nearly broke his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed the yard carrying Ginny's trunk to the car. Ann couldn't see how eight people, six large trunks, two owls, and a rat were going to fit into one small Ford Anglia. She had reckoned, of course, without the special features that Mr. Weasley had added.
"Not a word to Molly," he whispered to Ann as he opened the trunk and showed her how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily. When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ann, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said,
"Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?" Mr. Weasley started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard, Ann turning back for a last look at the house. George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard so that Fred could run in for his broomstick. They had almost reached the highway when Ginny shrieked that she'd left her diary. By the time she had clambered back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high. Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his wife.
"Molly, dear â€""
"No, Arthur â€"â€""
"No one would see â€" this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed â€" that'd get us up in the air â€" then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser â€""
"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight â€"" They reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr. Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station. Ann had caught the Hogwarts Express the previous year. The tricky part was getting onto platform nine and three-quarters, which wasn't visible to the Muggle eye. What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. It didn't hurt, but it had to be done carefully so that none of the Muggles noticed you vanishing.
"Percy first," said Mrs. Weasley, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier. Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Mr. Weasley went next; Fred and George followed.
"I'll take Ginny, and Ann you two come right after us," Mrs. Weasley told Harry, and Ron, grabbing Ginny's hand and setting off with Ann. In the blink of an eye they were gone. Ann ran to find Hermoine. They got on the train and found an empty compartant. During the train ride Ann kept wondering where Harry and Ron were. They went the whole ride without seeing them. Ann couldn't even find them during the feast. After the feast there was rumor going on about Ron and Harry that they had flown a car to school. Ann and Hermione finally saw them rounding the corner late that evening.
"There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors â€" someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car!" said Ann
"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry assured her.
"You're not telling me you did fly here?" said Hermione, sounding almost as severe as Professor McGonagall.
"Skip the lecture," said Ron impatiently, "and tell us the new password."
"It's 'wattlebird,'" said Hermione impatiently, "but that's not the point â€"" Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the fat lady swung open and there was a sudden storm of clapping. It looked as though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for them to arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Harry and Ron inside, leaving Hermione and Ann to scramble in after them.
"Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years â€""
"Good for you," said a fifth year Harry had never spoken to; someone was patting him on the back as though he'd just won a marathon; Fred and George pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said together,
"Why couldn't we come in the car, eh?" Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly, but Ann could see one person who didn't look happy at all. Percy was visible over the heads of some excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to get near enough to start telling them off. Ann nudged Ron in the ribs and nodded in Percy's direction. Ron got the point at once.
"Got to get upstairs â€" bit tired," he said, and Harry and Ron started pushing their way toward the door on the other side of the room, which led to a spiral staircase and the dormitories.
"'Night," Harry called back to Ann and Hermione, who was wearing a scowl just like Percy's.
The two girls finally got to bed with Hermoine scowling the entire time.