Into The Light (Golden Trio Era) {2}

End of The Train Journey

Mikayla didn't read any further. Fudge might have many faults but she doubt that one of them was ordering goblins to be cooked in pies. Harry flicked through the magazine as Mikayla looked on, her chin resting on his shoulder. Pausing every few pages they read an accusation that the Tutshill Tornadoes were winning the Quidditch League by a combination of blackmail, illegal broom-tampering, and torture; an interview with a wizard who claimed to have flown to the moon on a Cleansweep Six and brought back a bag of moon frogs to prove it; and an article on ancient runes, which at least explained why Luna had been reading The Quibbler upside down. According to the magazine, if you turned the runes on their heads, they revealed a spell to make your enemy's ears turn into kumquats.

Compared to the rest of the articles in The Quibbler, the suggestion that Sirius might really be the lead singer of The Hobgoblins was quite sensible. "Anything good in there?" Ron asked as Harry finally closed the magazine. "Of course not," Hermione said scathingly before Harry or Mikayla could answer, Mikayla sending Hermione a fleeting look. "The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that." "Excuse me," Luna spoke up; her voice had suddenly lost its dreamy quality. "My father's the editor." "I, oh," Hermione looked quite embarrassed. "Well... it's got some interesting... I mean, it's quite..."  "I'll have it back, thank you," Luna said coldly, leaning forward, she snatched it out of Harry's hands. Mikayla faced palmed at her friends ignorance.

Luna began rifling through The Quibbler to page fifty-seven, she turned it resolutely upside down again and disappeared behind it, just as the compartment door opened for the third time. Mikayla looked around and sighed; of course it would be Draco. What a pleasant surprise. Draco smirked at Harry from between his cronies Crabbe and Goyle, who had nasty looks on their faces. "What?" Harry snapped at him before Draco could open his mouth. "Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," Draco, whose sleek blond hair was parted neatly, drawled. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments." "Yeah," Harry spat, "but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone." Mikayla laughed and soon Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville joined in. Draco's lip curled. "Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?" he asked. "Shut up, Draco," Harry said sharply, giving him a pointed glare. "I seem to have touched a nerve," Draco smirked. "Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line." "Get out!" Hermione exclaimed, standing up. "Leave Malfoy. Your presence as always is unneeded and unwanted." Draco scoffed at Mikayla's statement before he gave Harry a last malicious look and departed, Crabbe and Goyle lumbering in his wake.

"Chuck us another Frog," Ron, who had clearly noticed nothing, said. As they couldn't talk freely in front of Neville and Luna, Harry, Hermione, and Mikayla exchanged nervous glances before Mikayla looked out the window, trying to distract her thoughts. Mikayla had thought that Sirius coming with them to the station was a bit of a laugh at the time, but suddenly it seemed reckless, if not downright dangerous... Hermione had been right... Sirius should not have come. What if Lucius Malfoy had noticed him in his Animagus form and told Draco. What if he had deduced that the Weasleys, Lupin, Tonks, and Moody knew where Sirius was hiding? Or had Draco's use of the word "dogging" been a coincidence? The weather remained undecided as the train traveled farther and farther north. Rain spattered the windows in a halfhearted way, then the sun put in a feeble appearance before clouds drifted over it once more. When darkness fell and lamps came on inside the carriages, Luna rolled up The Quibbler, put it carefully away in her bag, and took to staring at everyone in the compartment instead. "We'd better change," Hermione said at last. The boys were forced out of the compartment to get changed since there was less of them. Mikayla laughed lightly went saw Neville return with his tie undone, "I've forgotten how to do it and they won't help me." He gestured to Ron and Harry who were also returning into the compartment. "Come here." Mikayla said standing in the middle of the compartment. She stepped closer to Neville, grabbing each end of his tie, wrapping it into a Windsor knot. "Thanks." Neville smiles as Mikayla taps the finished product. "No problem."

Hermione and Ron pinned their prefect badges carefully to their chests, Mikayla spotted Ron checking how it looked in the black window. At last the train began to slow down and the usual racket started up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready for departure. Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise all this; they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving Harry, Ginny, and Mikayla to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon.  "I'll carry that owl, if you like," Luna said to Harry, reaching out for Pigwidgeon as Neville stowed Trevor carefully in an inside pocket.  "Oh, er, Thanks," Harry said, handing her the cage and hoisting Hedwig's more securely into his arms. They shuffled out of the compartment and into the crowd. The feeling of the night air stinging Mikayla's face made her feel a bit more awake as they slowly moved toward the doors. They stepped off of the train and Mikayla looked around, expecting to hear Hagrid's voice beckoning the first years over to him.  But it did not come. Instead a quite different voice, a brisk female one, was calling, "First years line up over here, please! All first years to me!"  A lantern came swinging toward Mikayla and by its light she saw the prominent chin and severe haircut of Professor Grubbly-Plank, the witch who had taken over Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lessons for a while the previous year.  "Where's Hagrid?" Harry asked, looking over at Professor Grubbly-Plank.  "I don't know." Mikayla muttered, disgruntled as people pushed against her. "We had better get out of the way. We're blocking the door."  "Oh yeah..."  Harry and Mikayla became separated from Ginny as we moved off along the platform and out through the station.