16Thank-you to Lucy and aims80, my fellow Aussies, for your supportive reviews!
CHAPTER THREE: The Truth About Harry
Hermione and I found an empty carriage, where we put on our uniforms, with our robes over them. As we made our way back to Harry and Ron, Hermione said out of the blue, "Listen, don't worry about Harry and Dean. Dean's been trying to get all the girls ever since Harry took the twins, Parvati and Padma, to the Yule Ball. Something about them 'getting the best- looking girls in the year.' Anyway, I think Dean's just jealous of all the attention Harry gets."
"Why does Harry get so much attention?"
"Oh! Don't you know about him and Voldemort?"
"The Dark Lord? What about him and Harry?"
"Well, maybe it's not my place to tell you," Hermione sounded doubtful.
"Hermione, listen, I know that until, like, fourteen years ago, Voldemort was killing people all over England. My mum and dad told me about that, but they never said why he'd stopped."
"I guess you'd be too tactful to ask Harry about it, wouldn't you?"
"Ask him about what, Hermione?" I was getting exasperated.
"Well, I'll give you a rundown of Harry's life, just to put everything into perspective. When Harry was one year old, Voldemort killed both of his parents and then tried to kill Harry, but failed. Harry's got a lightning- bolt shaped scar on his forehead and Voldemort escaped, just barely alive.
"Harry grew up with his aunt, uncle and cousin; they all hate him and hate anything not normal, like magic. Anyway, while we've been at Hogwarts, Harry's come face to face with Voldemort three times. He's getting stronger - he's got his most intimate group of followers back now," Hermione ended ominously.
I thought about this for a while and was still thinking about it when we got back to the carriage. I was so quiet that Harry finally asked me, "Ella, is something wrong?" I came out of my daze and tried to answer, but couldn't make the words come out of my mouth. Hermione finally stepped in bluntly, "I told her about you and Voldemort, Harry."
"What?"
"She wouldn't have asked you, I know it. So I thought I had better tell her. Just the facts," Hermione defended herself.
"Why, though?"
"I could tell she was bothered about the rivalry between you and Dean. So I just told her why."
"Listen, I don't want to be the cause of an argument here," I cut in. "Harry, all I know is how you came to be an orphan, that you've faced Voldemort [Ron winced here] three times and that he's getting stronger," I summed it up.
"You know, it's not that simple," Harry began. I stopped him, "Of course it's not. Nothing ever is, but I don't want you to tell me the whole story if you don't want to. Now," I said, changing the subject, "I want to know how I get into Gryffindor."
"Oh, well there's this hat," Ron began, "Called the Sorting Hat. You put it on and it sort of talks to you, and you can talk back to it and it decides which house you would be best in."
"Cool, so nothing scary?"
"Oh no!" Hermione scoffed. "You're lucky you're not in First Year! We had no idea what we had to do when we were waiting to be sorted. I thought we'd have to perform a spell or something!" Harry chimed in, "Yeah, when I saw the Sorting Hat I thought we might have to pull a rabbit out of it!"
"You're lucky you don't have older brothers! Fred and George told me that I'd have to wrestle a troll!" Ron exclaimed. We all laughed at that one, because trolls are three times as tall as humans, at the very least!
Once we'd calmed down, I asked, "So Fred and George are your brothers, Ron?"
"We are indeed!" two identical voices said from outside our carriage. I looked out and there stood a pair of identical, red-headed twins, presumably Fred and George.
"Hi, you must be Fred and George. I'm Ella, from Australia," I introduced myself, shaking their hands. I kept looking from one to the other, trying to figure out how I'd learn to tell them apart.
"Oh, come on! We're not that good-looking!" Fred, or George, joked. I giggled and explained, "No, I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to tell you apart, but you're just too much alike!" They said in unison, "Ohhh! Well, I'm Fred and I've got a mole on my neck. George doesn't. That's about it, really." I peered at Fred's neck and saw a tiny mole on the right side.
"Great. I'll need Harry's glasses every time I want to talk to one of you!" I said sarcastically. Hermione piped up, "Don't worry. You'll probably be with one of us and we can tell them apart now. Don't ask me how, we just can."
"Okay, but I'm gonna hold you to that Hermione!"
Harry was about to say something, but the train was slowing down, blowing its whistle.
"We'll see you later at the feast. We've got to get our stuff. See you later!" Fred and George called out as they turned and left. I asked the others, "How much of this do I take with me?"
"None. You can leave everything on the train, it'll be up in our rooms after the feast," Ron quickly said, in the rush to get off the train. Hermione grabbed my hand and yelled over racket everyone on the train was making as they tried to get off, "Stay close to us or you'll be stuck on a boat with the First years!" I did as she said and clung tightly to her hand as we stepped out onto the platform at Hogsmeade Station.