Scarred from the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter Fan Fiction Retelling)

Chapter 5: This Tree's Trying to Smash Us to Smithereens

Harry bit his tongue in concentration as he tried to maneuver his cart, which was filled to the brim with his school trunks. He had difficulty pushing it down a flight of stairs at the London train station. "Sorry, Hedwig!" he gasped as the owl clattered around in her cage. His owl gave him a contemptuous glare that said, I came back to you for this? "You would think that being a wizard, we could get our carts down these stairs more easily," Harry said, hitting his shin as the wheel caught on one of the steps. "We can," he heard Ron say. He turned around and saw Ron and his family disappear behind closing elevator doors. "Oh." He let go of his cart and watched it skid over the rest of the steps.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed as the elevator doors opened. She dashed out with her cart in front of her. "Why didn't you use the elevator?"

"I didn't know wizards could use them."

"Well, of course they can," Hermione said. She turned to the Weasleys, who were getting off of the elevator. "Thanks for letting me come along. I always do this by myself."

"What do you mean 'always?'" Ron asked. "You only did this once, last year."

The Weasleys appeared on the platform. "Ginny, you go first through the barrier," Mrs. Weasley said, pointing to the column between Platform 9 and 10.

"I'm scared," Ginny whimpered, gripping her new black diary.

"Just run into it and hope you don't die," Fred joked.

George joined in. "Or if you get seriously injured, you can drop out of Hogwarts and be Professor Snip's personal assistant."

"Mommy!" Ginny bellowed, starting to cry.

"Stop crying like a babe," Mrs. Weasley muttered unsympathetically. She gave Ginny a push. Tears and all, Ginny disappeared through the column.

"I'm a prefect," Percy announced as if no one knew, pushing Fred and George aside. "I'll go next and escort our sister onto the train so that she doesn't fall onto the tracks." He disappeared through the barrier.

"I wish he'd fall on the tracks," George mumbled. He and Fred ran through the barrier.

"I'll go next," Mrs. Weasley said. "I'm concerned Ginny did fall onto the tracks."

"Well, I guess I'll go," Hermione said after Mrs. Weasley disappeared. She gripped the handle on her cart and ran forward. "Oops!" Her cart wheeled off to the right, completely missing the column. "Wobbly cart!" she laughed awkwardly. She rolled it back around and managed to run straight through the wall this time.

"I'll go next," Harry said. He pointed his cart at the barrier but stopped when he saw a man standing in front of it, looking at a map. He must have been a Muggle since there wasn't anything weird about him. Harry looked at Ron, not exactly sure how to tell a Muggle to step aside so he could run through a seemingly solid wall. For a split second, he thought he saw two green eyes in a corner over Ron's shoulder. They disappeared as a loud snap echoed across the station. "Is it lightning out?" He turned back to the man. "Uh, excuse me?"

"You're excused," the balding man said, still looking at his map.

"Uh, I need to get past you."

The man looked behind him. "There's just a wall behind me."

"Tell him there's a giant bee after him," Ron suggested.

"Giant bee!" Harry yelled.

Everyone in the terminal screamed, all except the balding man. "I'm a beekeeper."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay, if you don't move, I'm going to run right into you." He bolted forward, and at the last second, the man stepped aside. "Ah!" Harry's cart bounced right off the barrier. His cart exploded, causing his suitcases to fly everywhere.