Tales from the Trolley

Harry and Hermione both looked up at that, catching each other's eyes. Harry quickly turned back to the window, thinking hard. Ron was right; it was way over the top, giving someone World Cup Tickets, particularly for the Top Box. He was beginning to suspect that he might be the reason the Weasley's had gotten those tickets, even if the Weasley's all thought it was a simple show of gratitude. If Hermione's reaction meant anything, she probably agreed with him.

"What about after?" said Seamus, lowering his voice, "Did you lot see the dark mark?"

"It was cast right ab - " started Ron, before realizing that Harry and Hermione were both staring at him, eyes narrowed. Ron cleared his throat nervously.

"I - er - don't know, I guess we saw it." finished Ron, wincing as he stumbled over his words. Hermione rolled her eyes, shaking her head at Ron's mistake. It was clear that Seamus, Dean, and Neville all knew what Ron had been about to say, or they at least got the gist of it.

"I heard the ministry found a bunch of broken bodies down in the woods. They were seen pulling out the remains, apparently. Did you guys hear about that too?" asked Dean, turning to Hermione.

Hermione and Ron both looked confused, while Harry's eyes widened suddenly. Thankfully, he was still facing the windows, so nobody had seen the quick change in expression.

Ever since the Quidditch World Cup, Harry could help but think back to the events in the clearing. Yes, he had killed Professor Quirrell, but he was much younger at the time, and therefore did not understand the severity of his actions.

What scared Harry most was the lack of remorse he felt. Yes, he felt bad about what he had done, but not nearly as much as he should. He had managed to convince himself that what he had done was for the better, something he knew to be true. Still, it unsettled Harry that he cared so little about the lives of others, even if the lives in question belonged to rather vile people.

Changing his expression to a confused look, Harry turned to Dean, who continued upon meeting his questioning gaze.

"I don't know if it's true or not, but Seamus said it was in the paper." Dean explained, shrugging.

"What about those Veela though?" said Dean mischievously, before looking at Seamus, "Good ol' Finnigan here couldn't stop himself from drooling. His mum had to hit him over the head with some Irish flags."

The topic remained upon the beautiful Bulgarian mascots for quite sometime, with only Harry noticing the way Hermione sat in the corner, fuming. She eventually told the group that she needed to use the lavatory ten minutes later. Ron, Seamus, and Dean all nodded quickly before continuing to day dream of the Veela. Harry smiled as she left; it hadn't escaped his notice that Hermione had taken her book, as well as her belonging, with her.

The rest of the journey to Hogwarts went by fairly peacefully, especially compared to the dementors and flying cars of the previous occasions. Harry had taken Hedwig out of her cage after a half hour of the journey, feeling bad for leaving her in there. He had intended to have her fly off to Hogwarts as she usually did, although she would not listen to him. She seemed to think that he was incapable of traveling to Hogwarts without getting in some form of danger.

She was certainly correct about that, although Harry chose to ignore that particular fact.

After removing her from her cage, the beautiful snowy owl sat in Harry's lap, snuggling into his chest. He listened quietly as the other Ron, Seamus, Dean, and occasionally Neville talked about all sorts of strange things. He even joined in on their discussions about what event might be happening this year, as well as who the new Defense Professor would be.

The Trolley Witch came by about an hour later, much to the happiness of one Ronald Weasley. Harry, Neville, Dean, and Seamus all purchased Cauldron Cakes, Liquor Wands, Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs, boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and as much else as they could. Ron ended up eating more than anyone else, although nobody commented. Ron was well known around the school not only as Harry's friend, but as the person capable of eating more food than anyone else anyone had ever met.

Harry attempted to feed Hedwig some of the Pumpkin Pasties, although she kept turning her beak in the opposite direction, hooting softly at him. Harry couldn't tell what was wrong; he knew she had to be hungry, as she hadn't eaten recently. Besides, he could feel her stomach grumbling slightly.

He did laugh, however, when Hedwig suddenly started accepting food after he had eaten a fair share. Hedwig had been mothering him again.

Things stayed as they were until they reached Hogsmeade Station, with the only change in consistency being when Malfoy and his goons had entered their compartment.

Malfoy quickly left after Hedwig had bitten him for stealing Harry's food.

She had earned a few extra treats for that.

.....

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