Harry Potter and the Mistress of the Clow

X. Aboard The Hogwarts Express

The morning of September the first dawned bright and clear—and did not find Harry Potter in the midst of the mad scramble of harried, cranky Weasleys at the Burrow.

Rather, he had gone by Floo directly to the Chang house after breakfast with his trunk and Hedwig.

He'd been rather nervous about it when Cho had delivered her parents' missive: they wanted to meet with Harry once more before the term began, and offered to drive him and Cho to the train station.

"So, Harry," Peter Chang asked from the front seat of the rather old and well-worn town car he drove, "Given any thought to what you plan on doing after Hogwarts?"

"Errr..." Harry shrugged helplessly. "To be honest, I hadn't thought much about it yet. I've been told I have the makings of an Auror, but I'm not entirely sure I want to go that route."

Peter nodded sagely. "Rough life, that."

"You could probably do well as a professional Quidditch player, Harry," Cho said from beside her boyfriend.

Harry smiled. "I'd thought about that as well. I really do love flying."

"Yes, we've heard what a natural you are in the air. You fly a Firebolt, right?"

"That's right."

"I'd love to see that sometime. I don't get to see much flying anymore."

"Nobody makes you stay holed up in that shop of yours all day, dear," Li Ling chided mildly.

"I know, I just enjoy it. And a lot of my customers would be lost without me. Plus, it was my grandfather's..."

"I know, dear." Li Ling smiled. "So...Auror or Quidditch...any other thoughts, Harry dear?"

Harry thought it over for a minute. "I suppose I might travel a bit after school. The oldest two Weasley boys work in Romania and Egypt, and they seem to enjoy their work...I might like to see what the world has to offer before I decide on anything permanent."

"That sounds reasonable. A bit expensive, though," Cho's mother admonished.

"Well, Harry does come from old wizard money, after all," Peter said. "Err...I don't want you to get any wrong ideas from that, Harry," he added hastily. "I just happen to know the Potter family was well-off."

"I didn't know that," Cho said.

"I try not to go boasting about it," Harry said, reddening slightly. "I mean, I splurge a bit sometimes, but I'm trying to be careful with it so that I don't run out." He paused. "Besides, I feel guilty about having so much, when the Weasleys are always struggling..."

"Wealthy and humble. There's a combination you don't see every day," Li Ling said with a light laugh.

"Mum!" Cho complained.

Harry chuckled. "I grew up with less than nothing and watched my fat pig of a cousin get more in a month than the next ten boys get in a year. I'm not too keen on greed."

"Well, we're here," Peter said. The Changs helped Harry and Cho with their luggage. As the trolleys were loaded, Peter apologised, "I need to be somewhere shortly, so I'm afraid we'll have to say goodbye here instead of at the platform." He turned to Harry and smiled, extending his hand. "It's been a pleasure talking with you, Harry."

"You too, sir. And ma'am," he added with a look to Cho's mother as he shook Peter's hand.

Li Ling took first Cho, then Harry, into a warm hug. "Have a good term, you two," she said.

"We will, Mum."

Cho's parents waved a final farewell, then drove off, and the two teenagers began making their way to the barrier that lead to the Hogwarts Express.

*To home*, Harry mused.

A limousine pulled up to King's Cross, causing a bit of a stir as it deposited four Japanese people. The chauffeur unloaded a heavy trunk from the boot and wrangled a trolley. He offered to help the group carry it directly to their train, but was waved off, and bowed politely before returning to the car to wait.

Sakura was amazed, and more than a bit embarrassed, at the expense Tomoyo's mother had gone to for her trip to Hogwarts. Tomoyo had made good on her promise to borrow the private jet, and had accompanied the Kinomoto family to London, where they had stayed at an expensive hotel the night before the train was to depart for Hogwarts. That morning, a limousine had appeared to escort them to the station, compliments of Tomoyo's mother.

Touya pushed Sakura's trolley for her as the group approached Platform Nine. Fujitaka looked at the ticket, frowning. "Nine and Three-Quarters..."

The group looked up and down the station. There was a platform nine, and a platform ten, but...

"I don't see it," Touya said.

"Hoe..."

"Maybe it's a misprint," Tomoyo suggested.

"If the ticket says nine and three-quarters, the platform is nine and three-quarters," Keroberos spoke up from the pocket of Sakura's coat. "It'll be hidden from Muggles...just watch for other kids with trunks like Sakura-chan's."

As if on cue, a large family passed them up; a matronly woman and four red-headed children, each pushing a trolley bearing a trunk, and one with a cage holding a minute owl.

"There. Follow them," Keroberos said.

"I think we're being followed," Ron commented softly to his family.

"I know we're being followed," Fred said. "Four Orientals, stick out like a sore thumb."

"One of 'em's got a Hogwarts trunk," George observed. "They might be following us to find the platform."

"Let's have fun with them," Fred suggested.

"Let's not," Mrs. Weasley said sharply. "Ginny, dear, do ask the nice people if they need help finding the platform."

"But I don't speak Chinese!" Ginny protested.

"Perhaps they speak English, dear?"

"Oh...alright." The youngest Weasley turned around and approached the four slightly bewildered people behind them.

* * * * *

"Ex-cuse-me," the young red-haired girl in front of them began, slowly and rather loudly. "Are-you-look-ing-for-plat-form-nine-and-three-quar-ters?"

"Yes, we are," Fujitaka said crisply, his English flawless, smiling at the girl. "I'm sorry we've been following your family like we have, but we reckoned you were headed that way as well."

The girl blinked. "Yes, we are," she said in a more normal tone of voice; she had the good grace to look rather embarrassed. She looked over their group. "Which one of you is it, then?"

Sakura raised a hand sheepishly. "M-me," she stammered.

The redhead looked her up and down, then nodded. "Ginny Weasley, fourth year."

"Sakura Kinomoto, first year." Sakura bowed. "Please treat me kindly."

Ginny gave her a curious glance. "Well I'm not about to hit you or anything. Come on then, follow me...we'll show you how to get onto the platform." She then glanced at the other young girl, who had a camcorder out and was intent on capturing the moment. "That's one of those Muggle moving picture things, isn't it?"

Tomoyo blinked benignly at her. Sakura supplied, "Yes. It's a video camera."

Ginny frowned. "I think it best you put that away for now. It's not a good idea for Muggles to be taking pictures around the platform when Hogwarts students are getting to the train."

Sakura noted that Tomoyo was merely smiling pleasantly, and realised that she didn't understand what the girl had said. Quickly, she admonished Tomoyo to put away her camcorder. The dark-haired girl pouted, but stashed it in her camera bag.

"Right, then. Follow me, come along now." Ginny bustled away, leading the group toward the rest of her family.

Harry and Cho were brought up short by the sudden appearance of a very large, very angry Muggle in their path.

Harry blinked. "Uncle Vernon. Wh-what're you doing here?"

"As if you didn't know," the burly man sneered. "Probably arranged this whole thing...some sort of revenge, I daresay..."

"What whole thing?" Harry asked.

"You know bloody well what whole thing!" Vernon's voice drew some odd stares from around them. He took no notice. "Think it's funny, do you? Forcing us to put Dudley at the mercy of you and all the other freaks..."

Harry stared. "WHAT?!"

Cho frowned. "Mr. Dursley...perhaps if you explained what you're talking about instead of jumping on Harry for something he probably doesn't even know about?"

Vernon suddenly noticed her, and his eyes narrowed. "So, you ARE one of them after all, then?"

"I'm a witch, yes," Cho replied curtly.

"I knew something was fishy about it all," Vernon grumbled.

"What's this about Dudley, then?" Harry asked.

Vernon turned his beady eyes to his nephew. "Fine, you want to play stupid? Alright. I'm talking about YOUR headmaster doing something to the head of Smeltings to make them want to expel Dudley, and saying he has to go to YOUR school for a year to be allowed back."

Harry and Cho both stared at him. "Dudley is coming to Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked.

"That's right. And I'll just bet you arranged this whole thing."

"How could Harry arrange anything of the kind?" Cho asked.

"That Dumbledore chap favours him," Vernon sneered.

"Not THAT much, he doesn't. And it's not like I'd WANT Dudley at Hogwarts..." Harry mumbled.

"Well, he's ruddy well going, and seeing as you're his cousin, you'd best make sure he gets there alright. And that he makes it BACK alright." Vernon loomed menacingly over Harry for a moment, then turned sharply on his heel and stomped away.

The two teenagers glanced at one another.

"What d'you reckon?" Cho asked.

Harry sighed. "I reckon we'd better collect the great fat git and make sure he makes it to the platform." With that, he trundled off after his uncle, his trolley suddenly seeming much heavier.

The Weasleys, the Kinomotos, and Tomoyo all made a round of introductions as the two groups converged. "So where are you lot from?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Japan," Fujitaka supplied. "A little city called Tomoeda, about fifty kilometres out of Tokyo."

"Your English is very good," the plump woman commented.

Fujitaka bowed. "Thank you." He looked around, then lowered his voice. "Are all of you—you know?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled and nodded. "The whole lot of us, yes. I've put three others through Hogwarts ahead of this bunch."

"Wow," Sakura breathed. She then paused to translate for Tomoyo, whose eyes widened.

"So, Sakura is it? Are you excited? Nervous?"

"A bit of both," Sakura replied. "I mean, I've had a pretty active year with—things that happened, but..."

"Well, there's nothing to worry about. Ron and Ginny will take care of you, won't you?"

"Hey, what about us?" Fred squawked indignantly.

"Oh, yes. Watch out for those two, they're wicked."

The twins mock-pouted, while everyone else who was able to follow the conversation chuckled.

Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands. "So then, shall we get going?" She looked at the two Japanese men and Tomoyo somewhat sadly. "I'm afraid you'll have to say goodbye to Sakura here...no Muggles on the platform."

Fujitaka nodded, and knelt in front of Sakura. "Take care of yourself, Sakura-san."

"I'll write every chance I get, Otousan," Sakura promised.

"Send lots of pictures!" Tomoyo said. She was beginning to sniffle, and a tear coursed down her pale cheek.

Sakura smiled and hugged her, resisting the urge to twitch nervously. "Don't worry, Tomoyo-chan. I'll be fine. I've got Kero-chan with me, remember?"

"I know." Sniffling, Tomoyo cast her gaze down at Sakura's coat. "You take good care of her, Kero-chan."

"Hai, hai."

"Be good, kaiju," Touya said, ruffling his sister's hair.

Sakura glared up at him, then rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'll miss you, Oniisan. Even if you are mean and nasty." She paused. "Say goodbye to Yukito-san for me, alright?"

Touya nodded.

Sakura turned away from her family and her best friend, took a deep breath, and steeled herself. "Okay, I'm ready."

Dudley couldn't decide whether to scowl hatefully or cringe fearfully as he saw his father returning, with the hated Harry Potter right behind him, as well as the pretty Chinese girl that had visited during the summer. "What's HE doing here, Daddy?" he asked.

Vernon scowled. "He's going off to school, same as you, Dudley. And he's the only person we can really ask about finding the blasted platform, much as I hate to admit it."

Harry stared at the trolley and the packed trunk in front of his obese cousin. "I can't believe it...it's true then? They're really sending you to Hogwarts?"

"Laugh all you want, Potter," Dudley said peevishly.

Harry shook his head. "Come on then, we'd best get to the train."

"But the platform—"

"You see the barrier between platforms nine and ten?" Harry cut across his cousin. At Dudley's nod, Harry replied, "Okay. Cho's going to go first so you can see what to do. Err...if that's okay with you, Cho."

Cho nodded. They waited for a minute, watching a group of Muggles walk past. Cho then began pushing her trolley straight at the wall. The Dursleys blinked for a fraction of a second...three businessmen walked past...and Cho vanished, trolley and all.

"How—?"

"Listen carefully," Harry said. "Take your trolley and head straight at the wall. Make sure nobody sees you. Take it at a run if you're nervous, and close your eyes. You won't crash if you're supposed to be on the platform. You'll go right through."

"Rubbish," Vernon scoffed.

Harry shrugged. "If you say so. I'm going to the train." He looked at his cousin. "Follow or don't follow. I don't care either way. I've done my bit." With that, he took off, straight at the wall between the two platforms...

...and was gone.

Dudley looked at his parents fearfully. Petunia was white-faced and tight-lipped. Vernon's moustache seemed to have come alive.

"Well then," the beefy man grunted. "You heard him. Right at the wall, off you go. Good luck."

Dudley swallowed, staring at the barrier. Slowly, he began to push his trolley...

Once on the platform, Harry quickly made his way over to a knot of familiar faces. The Weasleys were loading their luggage onto the train, as well as Cho's, Hermione's, and the trunk of a small, scared-looking Asian girl he didn't recognise. He made his way over to the group and called out to them.

"Oi, Harry!" Ron called back.

"Good morning everyone," Harry said with a grin. "Who's this?" he asked, indicating the younger girl.

"Sakura Kinomoto," Hermione replied. "I just met her myself—the Weasleys helped her get onto the platform. She's come to Hogwarts all the way from Japan."

Sakura smiled and waved nervously. "H-hi."

Harry smiled back at her. "Welcome to England," he replied. "I know it must all seem scary right now, but you'll be alright. I was just as scared my first time to Hogwarts. Probably even more scared."

"Harry's a Prefect also, so he'll be able to help you out at school. Especially if you get sorted into our house, Gryffindor."

"Sorted? House?" Sakura asked, blinking confusedly.

"The dorms," a new voice entered the conversation. Everyone blinked as a small stuffed animal floated out of Sakura's pocket, paws crossed, and took on a lecturing tone. "Everyone at Hogwarts is sorted into either Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin." He paused. "Clow Reed was a Ravenclaw, but you'll probably be a Gryffindor, Sakura-chan."

The assembled witches and wizards all blinked at the flying toy. "What the—?" Ron asked.

"Ah! This is Kero-chan!" Sakura said. "He's my guardian beast."

"It's Keroberos, not Kero-chan!" the flying creature snapped. "Geez, Sakura-chan..."

At that moment, there was a bit of a commotion from the platform entrance as a trolley collided with the iron archway and a voice let out a startled shout. Heads turned to the source of the commotion, and Harry bit off a curse. "Oh, wonderful."

Ron stared. "What the hell—?"

"Oi. What's that tosspot doin' here?" Fred asked.

"FRED!" Mrs Weasley admonished sharply.

"I'll explain later. Excuse me," Harry replied, hurrying off to collect his cousin before he made too much of a scene.

"It—I—it really—I walked through a wall, Potter!"

"Yes, you did. Everyone here did. It's not that big a deal, really," Harry said as he steered Dudley and his trolley toward the scarlet steam engine. "Come along now, put your trunk on the train. We've got to get on board."

Minutes later, as the whistle blew and the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station, Harry, Ron, and Dudley (much to the two wizards' annoyance) gathered in one compartment, while Cho, Hermione, Ginny, and Sakura (plus Keroberos) were in another. Shortly into the trip, Harry and Hermione had to head up to the Prefect's car for a brief meeting. Ron felt rather put out at being left alone in the compartment with Dudley.

"So how on Earth is it you ended up going to Hogwarts?" Ron asked the obese boy.

"They threatened to expel me from Smeltings unless I spend a year at your school on an exchange program," Dudley said, tone weary.

"Wonderful," Ron groused.

The twins entered the compartment suddenly, plopping down to either side of their brother. "Out with it, then," Fred said.

"THIS Muggle at Hogwarts? Even we wouldn't pull a joke that sick."

Dudley scowled at them, but kept his temper, remembering the incident with the Ton-Tongue Toffee from the previous summer, as well as the unpleasantness with the pig tail from years prior.

"Has to be for real, though," Ron said. "I mean, he got on the platform."

Dudley leaned forward suddenly. "Are there...you know...lots of places like that? Hidden behind walls you walk through and the like, I mean."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "A fair number. Our lot have to hide everything from Muggles, after all."

"And the school...it's hidden too?"

"Nah, Hogwarts is right in plain sight," Fred said. "'s just got a bunch of spells on it to keep Muggles out."

Harry chose that moment to return to the compartment, muttering angrily.

"Alright, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Guess who Slytherin's newest Prefect is," Harry grumbled.

"Surely not Malfoy...?"

"The slimiest of the slimy," Harry confirmed. "I guess I should have seen it coming. He is Snape's favourite and all..."

The compartment door opened once again, and as though summoned, Draco Malfoy entered, his two goons Crabbe and Goyle in tow. "Well, let's see. We have a Potty, three Weasels, and...great Merlin, what on earth is THAT?" Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at the pale blonde boy's exaggerated reaction to Dudley.

"Why, he's a long-lost Malfoy of course," Ron said. "Can't you see the family resemblance?"

"Sure looks like it to me," George put in. Fred nodded in agreement.

Malfoy reddened, then assumed his usual superior smirk. "Seriously, what is this? Did one of the pitiful Gryffindors fall ill of an Engorgement Charm? Is it Longbottom, perhaps?"

"Sod off, Malfoy," Harry groused.

"Oh, forgive me, Prefect Potter," Malfoy replied in a mocking tone. "I should have asked permission of the lord of the carriage before insulting the great beached whale over there—"

The next thing anybody knew, Malfoy was lying on the floor of the compartment with a split lip, and the obese boy stood over him, cracking his knuckles. Crabbe and Goyle took a step forward, but became uncertain at the almost murderous look in Dudley's eyes.

Harry shot to his feet and moved to his cousin's side. "Dudley. Sit down. NOW."

Dudley didn't move.

Harry pulled his wand from his jeans pocket. "I said sit, Dudley."

Dudley trembled slightly—with fear or with anger, Harry wasn't sure—and moved back to his seat, never taking his eyes off Malfoy or his goons.

Harry pocketed his wand, and turned to the three Slytherins. "Out. Now. I shan't hold him off you again."

Malfoy stood up, spitting a bit of blood on the floor as he did so. His cold blue eyes shot a murderous glare at Dudley. "I'll remember this," he snarled.

Once they were gone, Harry sighed heavily. "Just ONCE, I'd like to make it to Hogwarts without that prat sticking his nose in."

Fred and George, for their part, had suddenly moved over to Dudley's side, and were patting the large boy's shoulders heartily. "Fantastic punch, mate!" Fred enthused.

"Old Draco'll be feeling that one for a while," George grinned.

Harry frowned. "Much as I don't mind seeing Malfoy take what he deserves...watch yourself at Hogwarts, Dudley. This isn't like Little Whinging. Being the biggest kid in the sandbox doesn't mean anything when all the other kids can hex you into the middle of next week. Malfoy and his lot wouldn't think twice about putting a nasty curse on you."

"Yeah. Watch it with the fists, okay?" Ron agreed. After a pause, he added, "Good on you for taking Malfoy down a peg, though."

Dudley, for his part, wasn't sure what to make of people—wizards, even—-congratulating him for decking someone.

In the girls' compartment, Sakura was getting acquainted with her new schoolmates—her new friends, she hoped, because the three girls were all very nice.

They'd spent a little time telling her more about Hogwarts; Hermione had excused herself for a few minutes, during which time Cho and Ginny took turns telling Sakura about themselves, and finding out more about her. Keroberos, for his part, also chimed in with the occasional remark or question.

Just as Hermione returned, Keroberos asked, "That boy...Harry, I think you called him? The one we met on the platform, with the glasses."

"What about him?" Cho asked.

"I'm just curious about him," the flying plushie said. "I noticed he has a really strong aura. He might even be more powerful than Clow Reed was at that age."

Cho, Ginny, and Hermione looked at one another. "I guess they don't know the story then, do they?" Cho asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I'd not heard it either until I bought my set books for my first year."

"What story?" Sakura asked.

The three girls took turns narrating the tale of the Boy Who Lived, with Hermione adding abbreviated accounts of some of the things Harry had done since coming to Hogwarts.

"That's terrible, losing your parents when you're just a baby," Sakura whispered softly. "Especially that way..."

"Wow," Keroberos said at length. "I really missed a lot when I was asleep in The Clow, huh?"

"What IS this 'Clow', anyway?" Ginny asked. "You keep mentioning it...I've never seen a magical creature quite like you before, either."

Now it was Sakura and Keroberos' turn to tell their tale. The other girls listened with rapt attention and no small degree of awe as Sakura told of the Clow Cards, the people she'd met, and battles she'd fought.

"So now, I have all the cards sealed away again in the book, and bound to me," Sakura finished. "That's why Professor Dumbledore asked me to come to Hogwarts. He thinks a bad wizard might come after the Clow Cards, and says I'll be safer there than back home."

The others looked around uneasily. "You-Know-Who might want those cards?" Ginny asked.

"If they're as powerful as all that, he just might," Hermione said. She then smiled at Sakura. "But don't worry. We'll be sure to take good care of you."

Sakura smiled. "Thank you."

The snack trolley came around not long after the incident with Malfoy, and Dudley's piggish eyes lit up at the sight of so many sweets, even if he wasn't sure about the lot of them being safe to eat.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" the kindly witch asked.

Ron wasted no time in procuring several Chocolate Frogs, as well as three pumpkin pasties and some of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Harry made similar selections, as well as purchasing a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. The twins took two each of everything offered. Dudley rooted through his pockets, watching the others buy their food with strange gold and silver coins, and frowned.

"Nothing for you, dear?" the witch asked him.

"I don't suppose you take normal money. Pounds, I mean," he asked.

The old woman shot him an odd glance. "Well..."

"Here, we'll exchange some for you," Fred put in at once.

"Right. Give us...how much d'you reckon, Harry?"

Harry blinked at the two, but shrugged. "Ten pounds, maybe?"

"Right, ten pounds. We'll buy what you want, and figure the rest later."

Dudley shrugged, and handed over two crisp five-pound notes. Fred pocketed the money, and George counted out a handful of silver coins, which he handed to the witch in exchange for a selection of sweets similar to Harry's, only slightly larger. "Thank you, dears," the kindly witch said with a smile, then moved off.

"Thanks," Dudley said (Harry blinked; Dudley thanking someone?) as he accepted the snacks. He blinked at one of the packages. "Chocolate Frogs?"

Ron grinned. "Yeah." He opened one of his own; he let the enchanted chocolate wriggle and hop a bit before seizing it and biting off a leg.

Dudley blanched. "They're—they're alive?" he asked.

"It's just an enchantment," Harry said. "They're no more alive than a regular chocolate bar. The spell just makes them funny."

Dubiously, Dudley opened one of the small packages. The frog within quickly attempted to jump to safety, but the blonde boy was faster; he seized it in his fat fist in mid-leap and stuffed it whole in his mouth. "Not bad," he mumbled as he chewed.

Ron, meanwhile, gave a sigh as he looked at the Famous Wizard card he'd just gotten. "Agrippa again?" he moaned.

"Trade you a Wendolyn the Weird," Harry said as he examined his own card.

"What're those?" Dudley asked, already opening his second Chocolate Frog.

"Famous Wizard cards," Ron explained. "They're..." He paused.

"Like football cards, but they've got wizards and witches on them," Harry explained.

"Oh." Dudley then noticed the card in the package from his first frog, and blinked at it. "Hey, this has you on it, Potter!"

Harry blinked. "What?!"

Dudley handed the card across the compartment. Harry and Ron peered at it intently. Indeed, Harry's visage smiled back up at them from the card, nervously smoothing his bangs to try to hide the famous scar.

"Since when was I on one of these?" Harry wondered.

Ron took it from him and flipped it over. "Since last term, I reckon. It mentions the Triwizard Tournament on it." He handed the card back to Dudley. "Here, start collecting."

"Er..." Dudley shrugged, and took the card, reading the back aloud.

"Harry James Potter, son of James and Lily Potter. Also known as The Boy Who Lived. Famous for his defeat of the Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, on Hallowe'en of 1981, at the age of one. The Dark Lord killed Harry's parents, but the curse he cast upon the infant Potter rebounded back upon its caster, at which time You-Know-Who vanished, leaving Harry with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. In 1991, Harry began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Since then, he has become the school's youngest Seeker in nearly a century, slain a murderous basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets hidden deep beneath the school, unmasked four Defence Against the Dark Arts professors as frauds, and won the Triwizard Tournament."

"HEY! Lupin wasn't a fraud," Harry protested.

Dudley, meanwhile, was blinking as he re-read the card. "This isn't all true, is it? It's one of those novelty cards that has a bunch of made-up stuff, right?"

Ron shook his head. "Every word of it's true. Well, except what Harry said. Only three of those professors were fakes."

Dudley's eyes were wide as saucers. "And you lot—d'you have cards too? Like this one?"

Ron laughed. "Not bloody likely. I've not done anything particularly interesting myself. I just tag along when Harry does the interesting stuff."

"We'll be on Famous Wizard cards some day, after we open our joke shop," Fred commented. George nodded his head sagely. "But for now, we're too busy having fun to be important like Harry here."

Harry looked sheepish. "It's not like I try to do all those things, you know. Stuff just keeps happening to me."

Dudley, for his part, had developed an almost thoughtful expression, clouded with indecisiveness. Finally, after a long pause, he asked:

"What's a basilisk?"

"Wizard sport," Ron supplied. "Played up in the air, on broomsticks."

"Rubbish," Dudley scoffed. "Brooms can't fly..." He trailed off as he looked uncertainly around at the four wizards.

Harry reached into his trunk and pulled out his Firebolt, then commanded it to hover. Dudley stared at it, wide-eyed. "It's...flying."

"Nah, it's hovering," George said with a grin. "It ain't flying until Harry's on the Quidditch pitch."

"Yeah, he's the best flyer in the whole school, easily," Fred put in.

Harry grinned. "It'll be good to get back to the game. Last year..." He sighed.

"Reckon our team's in a state this year," Fred said. "We'll need a new Chaser and a new Keeper. And a new captain."

"And hope our Seeker doesn't forget his girlfriend is the enemy on the pitch," George grinned.

Harry scowled. "Hey! Just because Cho and I are..." He blushed. "I won't let that stop me when we play Ravenclaw, and she'll play just as hard as I will."

"We know, we're just teasing."

Dudley interrupted, "So how d'you play a game up in the air on brooms?"

"Seven players to a team," Cho said. "One Keeper, two Beaters, three Chasers, and one Seeker. Then there's three goalposts on each end of the pitch, and four balls—the Quaffle, two Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch."

"The Keeper is like a football goalie," Keroberos explained. "The Chasers pass around the Quaffle and try to get it through one of the goals, and the Keeper stops them. The Beaters use little clubs to knock around the Bludgers—they fly around on their own, trying to knock people off their brooms. The Beaters keep them off their teammates and try to send them at the other team."

"And the Seeker," Cho continued, "spends the game looking for the Golden Snitch. It's really small, really fast, and hard to spot. Catching it ends the game, and it's worth 150 points to the team whose Seeker gets it."

Sakura blinked. "Hoeeee..."

"There's that word again!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly. "I think your translator pin's a little messed up, Sakura."

"Hoe?"

Keroberos laughed. "It's not a problem with the translator. It's just—well, that's not really a word so much as it is Sakura-chan's catchphrase." The plush toy pulled a face, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. In a high-pitched voice, he whined, "Hooooeeeeeeeeeeeee?"

Sakura fumed cutely. "Kero-chan! Honestly..."

"There's something else that's slipping through," Hermione commented.

"Probably on purpose," Cho said. "My mum has some Japanese friends. They almost never say anyone's name without adding some or another suffix, except their own."

"Oh, you mean like on the telly, when they call everybody 'san' and the like?" Hermione asked. "I confess I've never really read much about Japan."

Keroberos nodded. "That's about right. It took ME a while to get the hang of it, and I learned the language magically."

"And with an Osakan accent," Sakura said with a giggle. "You have no idea how silly Kero-chan sounds speaking Japanese."

"HEY! It's not my fault the book was in Osaka all those years," Keroberos huffed.

"Well, at least you speak proper English," Hermione said. "You don't sound like you're from up North or anything..."

Thus began a lively debate about various English accents, during which Sakura looked entirely lost and confused.

"FIRS' YEARS!" bellowed Hagrid as the students began filing off the train. "Leave yer things on the train, they'll be brought up sep'rate. Come on, then, firs' years, no more'n four to a boat! Oi, Dursley, over this way, yer goin' up with th' firs' years! Move yer duff, there's a lad."

Sakura bid her new friends a nervous farewell and headed off in the direction of the enormous bearded giant with the rest of the first years. "Relax, Sakura-chan," Keroberos said from her pocket. "There's nothing to be nervous about. You're gonna love this, trust me!"

Sakura hesitated long enough to watch Hermione get into a carriage with one of Ginny's brothers, Harry, and Cho, then swallowed nervously and stepped out onto one of the many small boats bobbing serenly in the inky black lake. A moment later, an extremely obese blonde boy, some years older than Sakura herself, waddled over to the boat she sat in and climbed aboard, rocking it and sending a small spray of water into the air.

"All righ' there?" Hagrid boomed as he boarded one of the boats. Holding up a lantern, he bellowed, "FORWARD!"

Sakura heard the large boy let out a gasp as the boats began crossing the lake on their own, then settled in to watch the scenery.

Keroberos eyed the blonde boy. "You look a little big to be a first year."

"I'm not a fre—wizard," the boy replied—then did a double-take at just what he was talking to. "Wh—what are YOU?"

"A magical guardian beast. What are YOU?" Keroberos challenged. "Besides fat, that is."

"Kero-chan!" Sakura snapped. "Be nice." She turned to the other boy. "I'm sorry, he can be a little rude at times. I'm Sakura Kinomoto. Who are you?"

"Dudley Dursley," the boy replied, still staring at Keroberos.

"You said you're not a wizard...how come you're going to Hogwarts?" Sakura asked.

Dudley scowled. "My regular school and the headmaster here picked me to do a year as an exchange student."

"A Muggle exchange program?" Keroberos asked. "Dumbledore must be a lot more open-minded than some of the old headmasters were." He gave Dudley a speculative glance. "How many Muggles are there gonna be at Hogwarts this year?"

"I'm the only one, as far as I know," Dudley replied. *When did I get used to being called a Muggle?* he thought to himself.

Slowly, the castle itself came into view. Keroberos smiled. "Ah, Hogwarts."

Dudley's eyes widened. As did Sakura's.

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