Rory Potter, the Girl Who Lived

The Trip to Hogwarts

          "Rory! Ginny! Get up, we've slept in!" Mrs Weasley shouts through the door.
          "On it, Mrs Weasley!" I respond sleepily, but it takes me a few moments to process what she said.
          But when we figure out what Mrs Weasley meant, Ginny and I shoot to our feet and hurry to check out trunks, throwing on clothing as we go. I pull on a jumper as I heave my trunk into the hall, Ivy's basket balanced precariously on top. Ivy herself perches on my shoulder when Fred, who is half-dressed and eating his breakfast, offers to help. I carry my cat and her basket as Fred shoves my trunk into the magically expanded Ford Anglia, munching on a piece of toast at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later, we all load into the car; George, Percy, Ron, and Harry in the back, Fred and I sharing a seat with Ron's trunk, and Mrs Weasley and Ginny in the front. Mr Weasley is driving.
          We reach King's Cross Station at quarter to eleven and frantically struggle to unload everyone's things. We decide for Percy to go though the barrier first, then Mr Weasley with everyone's things but mine, Ron's, and Harry's. After him goes the twins, and then Mrs Weasley with Ginny.
         At last, its time for Harry, Ron and I. We form a line, one right after another to save time, with Harry in the front, Ron in the middle and me in the back. We sprint towards the barrier - 
          CRASH! Harry and Ron hit the barrier head on, and I manage to stop before I run either of them over, accidentally dump my trolley over anyways in my rush to stop. I pull myself up from the ground just in time to see one of the train station guards looming over Harry and Ron. 
          "What in the blazes do you think you're doing!?" he holllers, and I quickly tap his arm to get his attention.
          "Please, sir, I saw the whole thing. They lost control of the trolley, that's all," I tell him in a soothing voice.
         The guard man hesitates, then grunts and walks away, rolling his eyes and muttering something about lunatics. Quickly, I help Ron and Harry reload their trolleys, all of us whispering frantically and trying to soothe our panicking pets.
          "The barrier sealed itself early!"
          "But the train just left; its eleven o'clock!"
          Ron pats the barrier, looking worried.
          "But if we can't get in, does that mean Mum and Dad can't get out?" he frets.
          "How are we going to get to Hogwarts!? The train's left!" I wail, clutching the soft form of Ivy tightly with worry.
          "Maybe we should go wait in the car," Harry suggests.
          Ron's eyes light up. "The car . . . " he echoes. "Rory, Harry, we can take the car!"
​​​​​          "Ron, that's really not a good idea," I say slowly.
          "No, no, no, its a brilliant idea!" Harry says.
          Next thing I know the boys have loaded everything into the Ford Anglia and I'm sitting in the back seat. Ron is driving and Harry's sitting in the passenger seat.
          "Why do I have to sit with the luggage?" I grumble. "Why do I have to be with you guys? I could be on the train with Hermione and Ginny and Luna, but I'm stuck with you two idiots in a flying car, for Godric's sake!"
          "You know you love us, Rory," Ron says.
          "Ron," my brother says suddenly. "You should know that Muggles aren't accustomed to seeing flying cars."
          "Oh, right!" Ron says quickly, then he punches the invisibility booster. The car disappears, but after maybe ten minutes of driving, the Ford Anglia sputters back to visibility.
          "No, no, no," Ron moans. "The invisibility booster's faulty!"
          The three of us take turns hitting the booster frantically, but the car never becomes invisible for more than a few minutes at a time.
          "Go above the clouds, Ron!" I demand.
          "Yeah," my brother nods, "and then we can follow the train from there!"
          Ron nods and pulls a lever. The car shoots straight up. Harry yells and I scream, then we both start complaining loudly to Ron.
          "Sorry, sorry, I went too fast. But we've got to find the train now!"
          The three of us press our faces to the windows, looking hard for the scarlet Hogwarts Express engine. After about three minutes of looking, I let out an excited squeak, "There, look! Up ahead near those big trees!"
          Harry and Ron cheer, and we align ourselves behind the train. All of our previous doubt is gone; we've found the train. Everything will be alright.
          "Just wait until we see Fred and George's facial expressions!" Harry laughs.