harry potter, rise from dust

chapter 8

at this point is just getting annoying i don't own this or hp

Chapter 8.

20 June 1992.

Harry exited the train in regular Muggle clothes, accompanied by his usual four companions. They stood in King's Cross station, preparing themselves for another summer. Harry wasn't sure how much he was looking forward to another summer in the Potter mansion, but if what that strange Gandalf guy said was true, then he could spend most of his time playing Quidditch. He wondered if he should visit Merlin, as the old man had informed Harry that there would be no training this year.

"See you around, Potter!" called a voice Harry did not recognize.

"Yeah, see you, Harry!"

"I'll see you next year, Harry!"

"Bye, Harry!"

He had been getting these frequent farewells once he exited the compartment. Various students had rushed over to say goodbye to him. Even the Li sisters and Clearwater had the audacity to bid him adieu. It was all Su Li, her face encompassed in red, could do to splutter a goodbye, wishing him well as she garbled. The funniest of all, however, was Barbara's sister, Blaise. She came, towed by her older sister, to say a rather shy goodbye to Harry. It took a lot of courage from her, as up until now she had merely been throwing Harry shy glances.

Though, it was so very Gryffindor of her to trip herself clumsily and coincidentally fell into Harry's arms. Not one to waste an opportunity, she was even so bold as to peck Harry's cheek, causing Barbara to curse her sister's luck, muttering unintelligibly about the sheer number of failed attempts to do so on her own part. Of course, Harry's four companions didn't find this to be amusing. Once it was Barbara's turn, the girl was barely able to say goodbye with a pretty blush, no chance of touching him in any intimate way, as the looks from Harry's four companions were aimed to kill.

"I never would have guessed you'd be this famous after the feast, Harry." Sheila grinned at his side.

"It can't be helped, Sheila. Harry has this kind of thing that attracts both people and attention." Callista tendered the perky girl a soft smile.

"I second that thought," Regine consented, unwrapping some chocolate and popping it in her mouth. Flapping its wings speedily, her red owl hooted in agreement, perched on Regine's head.

"Potter deserves it. It's who he is," Daphne commented absentmindedly. Lazily moving her eyes to Regine's owl, she glared daggers at the thing. "Regine, get that filthy beast off your head. Who knows what kinds of diseases it carries? And, it's messing up your hair too."

The red owl howled crossly, flailing its wings even more as it flew off Regine's head and into the air.

"Hey! Don't be cruel to her, Daph, and she was not!" Regine allowed the owl to settle comfortably in her arms. She stroked the owl's feathers to pacify it. "Don't worry, girl, she didn't mean it." The owl hooted indignantly, glowering at Daphne. Never fancy the idea of backing down, Daphne shot it with more of deadly result. Hooting timidly, it recoiled from her glare. "Stop it, Daphne, you're scaring her!"

A smirk tugged at the corner of Daphne's lips. Who did that owl think she was? No one could compete with her glare.

Sheila laughed at this. "You can always depend on Daphne to fright everything away with her intimidating looks." Sheila paused in contemplation as a thought trespassed her mind. "Hey, Daph. Did you take facial lessons or something?" Daphne glared furiously, envisioning Sheila to vaporize on the spot. "Yep, definitely lessons... Hey, can I join that class of yours? I need to look mean too!" Sheila grinned teasingly, triumphant with her small victory.