Chapter 97 - A bumpy trip to Hogwarts

<A few hours ago>

Ron looked wildly around as more than a dozen curious people were looking at the two boys trying to go through a wall. Some shook their heads while most just laugh in amusement at this scene.

"We're going to miss the train," Ron whispered. "I don't understand why the gateway's sealed itself."

Harry looked up at the giant clock with a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Ten seconds … nine seconds …

He wheeled his trolley forward cautiously until it was right against the barrier and pushed with all his might, yet nothing happened, and just like before he just crashed into the wall.

Three seconds … two seconds … one second …

"It's gone," said Ron, sounding stunned. "The train's left. What if Mum and Dad can't get back to us? Have you got any Muggle money?"

Harry gave a hollow laugh. "The Dursleys haven't given me pocket money for about six years."

Ron didn't say anything, instead, he pressed his ear to the cold barrier.

"Can't hear a thing," he said tensely. "What're we going to do? I don't know how long it'll take Mum and Dad to get back to us."

The two boys looked around and some people were still watching them, mainly because of Hedwig's continuing screeches and the fact that there was an owl treated as a pet.

"I think we'd better go and wait by the car," Harry suggested. "We're attracting too much atten …" But Harry didn't manage to finish as Ron grabbed his shoulders and shook him back and forth

"Harry!" Ron said excitedly, his eyes gleaming. "The car!"

"What about it?"

"We can fly the car to Hogwarts!"

"But I thought …"

"We're stuck, right? And we've got to get to school, haven't we? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's a real emergency, section nineteen or something of the Restriction of Thingy …"

"But your mum and dad …" Harry spoke, pushing against the barrier again in the vain hope that it would give way this time. "How will they get home?"

"They don't need the car!" Ron said impatiently almost as if Harry should have known the answer. "They know how to Apparate! You know, just vanish and reappear at home! They only bother with Floo powder and the car because we're all underage and we're not allowed to Apparate just yet."

All the panic he felt a few moments ago disappeared and instead, Harry grew even more excited not that they will get the chance of driving a magical car.

"Can you fly it?"

"No problem," Ron smiled, wheeling his trolley around to face the exit. "C'mon, let's go. If we hurry, we'll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express right to our school."

And they marched off through the crowd of curious Muggles, out of the station, and back onto the side road where the old Ford Anglia was parked, slightly out of the view so that no one would see it when they leave.

Ron unlocked the cavernous trunk with a series of taps from his wand before they heaved their luggage in the back, while Harry put Hedwig in the back seat, before getting into the front seat."

"Check that no one's watching," Ron said, starting the ignition with another tap of his wand. Harry stuck his head out of the window: Traffic was rumbling along the main road ahead, but their street was empty.

"No one's around. We are clear to go."

Ron then pressed a silver button on the dashboard and the car vanished from sight. So did they. Harry gasped as he looked out of the window and saw that they were floating in mid-air, invisible to the Muggles below. He felt a surge of adrenaline and fear as he realized they were flying a car over London's smokey sky.

"Don't worry," Ron said, grinning. "It's got an Invisibility Booster. Dad installed it for emergencies. He's very clever with Muggle stuff."

Harry nodded, but he couldn't help feeling nervous. While he had flown before in the car, they had the twins driving, but now… neither he nor Ron were expert drivers which made Harry wonder what would happen if they ran into a plane or a helicopter. Thought he stop thinking about this a second later and simply choose to hope that Ron knew what he was doing.

"What do you think happened back there?"

Ron shrugged, looking puzzled. "I have no idea. Maybe someone didn't want us at Hogwarts or something. Maybe it was a prank by Fred and George. They're always messing with me."

Harry frowned, remembering something that had happened to him over the summer. That house-elf, Dobby, and his attempt of forcing him to stay with his aunt's family and never come back to Hogwarts might be a clue, or at least related to this incident. No matter how crazy it might sound, maybe this was Dobby's hand, especially now that Harry knew the little house-elf was from Malfoy's manor thanks to Thomas.

"You remember that I told you about that house-elf?"

"Yeah, what bout it?"

"I think he's the one who put the barrier."

"That's mental," Ron said, shaking his head. "That house-elf must be really loyal to the Malfoys, or scared of them. Or both. "

Harry nodded, feeling quite angry towards the Malfoys and their house-elf. He wondered what they were planning, and why will they want to keep him away from Hogwarts.

"But it's too late now," Ron said, looking at the compass. "We're already in the car. Look, you can see the train ahead of us. We'll catch up with it soon and it won't be long until we pass it and arrive at Hogsmeade before it."

Harry looked out of the window and saw a thin trail of smoke in the distance.

"Let's hope we don't get into too much trouble for this," Harry said, trying to sound cheerful.

Ron grinned. "Don't worry, mate. It'll be worth it. We'll have a great year at Hogwarts. You'll see."

"Do you think our friends realize that we are missing?"

"Dunno mate, though I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad did. Besides we were supposed to meet up with Hermione and the others. Knowing them, the teachers might already know about us so…"

Then there was a popping noise and a second later, the car and the two boys reappeared.

"Uh-oh," said Ron, jabbing at the Invisibility Booster. "It's faulty …"

Both of them pummeled it making the car invisible again, but only for a second as it flickered back again.

"Hold on!" Ron yelled, and he slammed his foot on the accelerator; the car then shot straight into the low, woolly clouds and everything turned dull and foggy.

"Now what?" Harry exclaimed a little bit scared, blinking at the solid mass of cloud pressing in on them from all sides.

"We need to see the train to know what direction to go in," Ron admitted.

"Then dip back down again, quickly…"

They dropped back beneath the clouds and twisted around in their seats, squinting their eyes at the ground.

"I can see it!" Harry yelled. "Right ahead! There! It's there!"

The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below them like a scarlet snake that was smoking quite heavily.

"Due north," Ron said, checking the compass on the dashboard. "Okay, we'll just have to check on it every half hour or so. Now Harry, hold on!"

And they shot up through the clouds. A minute later, they burst out into a blaze of sunlight. It was a different world. The wheels of the car skimmed the sea of fluffy clouds, the sky was a bright, endless blue under the blinding white sun.

"All we've got to worry about now are airplanes," Ron joked while looking at the "road" ahead for any muggle planes.

They looked at each other and started to laugh and for a long time, they couldn't stop.

It was as though they had been plunged into a fabulous dream. This, thought Harry, was surely the only way right way to travel. Past swirls and turrets of snowy cloud, in a car full of hot, bright sunlight, with a fat pack of toffees in the glove compartment, and the prospect of seeing Fred's and George's jealous faces when they landed smoothly and spectacularly on the sweeping lawn in front of Hogwarts castle or at least that's what the two boys plan to do when they eventually arrive at Hogwarts.

Ron made regular checks on the train as they flew farther and farther north, each dip beneath the clouds showing them a different view. London was soon far behind them, replaced by neat green fields that gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors, a great city alive with cars like multicolored ants, and villages with tiny toy churches.

After a few hours of flying through the clouds, the excitement of the two boys began to die out. They had seen enough of the scenery below, and there was nothing new to catch their attention. They had also eaten all of their toffees, and they were starting to feel thirsty. There was nothing to drink in the car, and it was getting hotter and hotter inside. The sun was beating down on the metal roof, and the windows were steamed up. Both Harry and Ron had to take off their sweaters long by now to ease up the heat.

"I wish we had some water," Harry said, licking his dry lips.

"Me too," Ron agreed, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. "Maybe we should go down and find a lake or something."

Harry looked at the compass. They were still far from Hogwarts, and he didn't want to risk losing sight of the train.

"I don't think we have time for that," he said. "We should just keep going. Maybe we'll find a cooler spot soon."

Ron nodded, but he looked doubtful. Harry on the other hand glanced at the fuel gauge, which was hovering near empty.

"Are you sure we have enough petrol?" he asked nervously.

Ron shrugged. He didn't know much about cars, but he hoped that his father had filled up the tank before they left.

"I guess so," he said. "It's a magic car, after all. Maybe it doesn't need much petrol."

Thought hearing that didn't convince Harry, but he didn't say anything more. He turned on the radio, hoping to find some music or news to distract them from their discomfort. But all he got was static and crackling noises.

"Stupid Muggle thing," he muttered, turning it off again.

They flew on in silence, feeling more and more miserable. The sun was setting in front of them, casting a red glow over the clouds. Harry squinted at the horizon, trying to spot any signs of Hogwarts.

"Are we nearly there yet?" he asked.

Ron checked the compass again. It was pointing straight ahead.

"I think so," he said. "We should be able to see it soon."

With nothing better to do, Ron plunged back into the clouds, hoping to at least cool them off slightly that way. They flew blindly for a few minutes, hoping they were still on course. When they went down, both boys strained their eyes for a familiar landmark in the gloom.

"There!" Harry yelled, startling Ron and Hedwig. "Straight ahead!"

He pointed at a dark shape looming over the edge of the cliff. It was Hogwarts, with its many spires and towers, silhouetted against the faint light of the stars.

But out of nowhere, the blood car starts failing them once again. It was shaking and rattling, and losing altitude quite fast. The engine was making a horrible noise, like a dying animal. Steam was hissing from under the hood. And Harry was terrified as he saw the car pointing towards the lake.

"Come on," Ron urged, trying to steady the steering wheel. "Nearly there, come on, come on you Muggle piece of shit!"

The car wobbled dangerously. Harry looked out of his window and saw the black, glossy surface of the water, reflecting the moonlight. It was getting closer and closer. Ron's hands were clenched on the steering wheel. His face was pale and sweaty. The car wobbled again.

"Come on," Ron repeated, in a desperate whisper.

They were over the lake and the castle was right in front of them and then Ron pressed his foot down on the accelerator as hard as he could.

The car gave a final, agonizing groan and the engine died completely. Without an engine to keep it "flying," the car started to fall at an alarming rate, plummeting toward the lake. Harry and Ron screamed as they felt the air rushing past them. They were going to crash into the water, or worse, into the castle.

Ron yanked the steering wheel, trying to steer the car away from the looming walls. They missed the dark stone wall by inches as the car turned in a great arc, soaring over the dark greenhouses, then the vegetable patch, and then out over the black lawns, losing altitude all the time.

Harry looked down and saw the shadows of trees and bushes below them. He hoped they would find a soft-landing spot, or at least avoid hitting anything too hard.

But then he saw it. A huge, ancient tree, stands alone in the middle of the lawn. It had thick, twisted branches and a massive trunk. It looked like it had been there for centuries, and it was not going to move for anyone.

"Ron!" Harry shouted. "Look out!"

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