"Gone?" Sirius repeated hollowly later that night when Harry snuck out to meet him. "Gone? What do you mean he's gone?"
Harry sighed. "I suppose it was too much to hope for that you had completely ignored my explicit instructions and taken them early."
"Why would I have? You said you were going to take care of it," Sirius pointed out. "I still can't believe he's gone. I mean, I was so close…so close...and now he's gone."
"Not he," Harry corrected. "They. The Diary Horcrux is gone, too."
Sirius groaned. "You know, I may have been rotting away in Azkaban at this point the last time you were a second year, but given that Wormtail was with the Weasley's in Egypt, I can still be fairly certain that this didn't happen."
"You're right," Harry agreed. "The only question is, why did it happen? Why would Pettigrew have taken off with the diary?"
Sirius shot Harry a look. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it was when you announced that I was your pet Padfoot. Maybe even though Wormtail managed to not spook when I escaped Azkaban because I didn't really show any inclination to make your life harder by showing a vested interest in getting into Hogwarts, he heard my name and decided that it was either the most incredible coincidence, or I was here and out to get him. As to why he took the diary…I don't know. Maybe he recognized it from when Voldemort gave it to Lucius."
Harry glared at Sirius, completely ignoring the last part of his statement. "Well maybe that wasn't the best idea to call you that, but I don't recall you coming up with any better suggestions."
"Sure I did," Sirius argued.
"What, Snuffles? Sorry Sirius, no pet of mine will ever go by such a cutesy name. Seriously, if you want me to come up with a more badass way to have survived Voldemort than the Power of Love, then you've got to come up with a more badass alias than 'Snuffles.' Seriously, that sounds like something Ginny would have picked out."
Sirius started laughing. "Really? She can't have been that bad."
"Wanna bet? We got a rabbit last year and guess what Ginny named it. Flopsy."
"W-what did you want to call it?" Sirius managed to ask between his laughter.
"Mega Ultra Flame Deathsman. Hey, that's a perfectly respectable name for a rabbit!" Harry insisted, crossing his arms as Sirius literally fell to the ground howling. "You know, if you're not going to take this seriously, I'm going back to bed."
After a few moments, Sirius composed himself. "But Harry, I'm ALWAYS Siri-"
"One serious pun and I'm going back to bed," Harry warned.
"Fine…" Sirius pouted. "So what are we going to do? We know that Pettigrew is off somewhere with the diary, but we don't know if he knows it's a Horcrux or not."
"Probably not. After all, if the likes of Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, who, by all accounts, were two of Voldemort's favorites, never knew, I can't imagine why a spy would be told. No one ever trusts a spy. After all, if they can be a double agent, they can be a triple agent just as easily."
"Speaking of-" Sirius began.
Harry rolled his eyes. "YES, Sirius, I'm positive Snape really is on our side. You really should let this go. It's not healthy to carry a grudge for twenty years or so."
"Try telling that to him…" Sirius muttered.
"Well, to be fair, you did try to kill him when he was sixteen and that was probably very traumatic," Harry said diplomatically. "I mean, I know I was traumatized when Remus transformed that night at the Shrieking Shack, and he didn't even get a chance to try and kill me. Thanks for that, by the way."
"Don't mention it. After all, what are godfathers for?"
"And I do tell him this. On a regular basis. But to my credit, I think I've managed to annoy him so much that he's somewhat stopped seeing me as my father and now sees me as my own extremely irritating person," Harry said proudly. With a little effort, he'd managed in one year what he previously hadn't been able to accomplish in six.
"Way to go," Sirius said appreciatively.
"Getting back on topic, even though Wormtail won't know what the diary is, he'll probably end up writing in it at some point. When he does, he'll realize that this is the closest he's going to get to Voldemort's orders. He'll keep writing and probably get possessed. When he does…" Harry sighed heavily. "When he does, the Chamber of Secrets will probably be opened again."
----
Harry knew he had forgotten something. It was bugging him all morning; he just couldn't quite remember what it was. This was a rare instance in which Neville's Remembrall might have been useful, except that Harry already knew that he'd forgotten something and as the magical mood ring wouldn't tell him what, exactly, he'd forgotten, Harry knew he'd probably have just gotten frustrated and thrown it.
Of course, it wasn't realistic to expect Harry to remember everything. On the other hand, now the platform had sealed itself and he and Ron were trapped outside while everyone else was trapped inside and the train had just left. Last time, of course, they'd flown the Weasley's car to school. Of course, that was incredibly dangerous and highly irresponsible and they should really wait for Ron's parents and…Oh, who was he kidding?
"I'll drive."
Climbing into the passenger seat, Ron looked at Harry skeptically. "Do you even know how to drive?"
"Of course," Harry said matter-of-factly. "Everyone who's lived in the Muggle world knows how to drive."
"So it's like the Muggle version of flying?" Ron asked as Harry took off.
"Um…kind of…" Harry lied. He did, in fact, know how to drive, having been bullied into getting a license by Hermione shortly after he defeated Voldemort. "They have a sport based on it at any rate."
"Like Quidditch?"
"A little. It's more about racing the cars and hoping they don't crash into each other or into the wall or spontaneously combust in the process," Harry explained.
"Muggles are strange," Ron commented.
"That they are, Ron. That they are," Harry said absently as he sped up, looking for the train. It was pretty simple, just following the tracks. After about ten minutes, they found had caught up to the Express. Harry started to slowly descend, aiming to land on the top of the train.
"Are you crazy? You can't land here!" Ron shouted.
"Why not?" Harry asked innocently.
"You'll get us both killed!"
"Oh, I will not. It'll be fine. See?" To prove his point, Harry slowly brought them down to the last compartment. The landing was a little bumpy, but then, the train was moving at roughly 60 miles an hour.
Ron looked green and stumbled out of the car and to the edge of the train. He then promptly vomited.
Harry wrinkled his nose. "Nice. How about you go first?" he suggested, helping Ron down into the compartment below them.
Once his friend was out of sight, Harry took out his wand, tapped the car, and whispered, "Portus." Harry watched the car vanish with some satisfaction. It had taken him awhile to get the hang of that spell. He then followed Ron into the compartment below them.
A stray spell immediately grazed his ear. "What the hell?" Harry asked, looking around. He groaned. Of course; they had picked the second-year Slytherins's compartment. "Can you guys just chill for a second?"
"Chill?" Draco repeated. "What does that mean?"
"Oh, um, never mind," Harry said, deciding it was best not to mention that that was Muggle slang. "Why are you guys attacking each other? I was only up there for two minutes!"
"We were minding our own business when suddenly a Gryffindor fell from the sky. We thought we were under attack," a blonde Slytherin girl Harry vaguely recognized as Daphne Greengrass told him innocently.
"It was nine on one; how can that possibly be considered self-defense?" Harry asked curiously.
"We thought it was a Weasley invasion and the rest of his siblings would follow him," a redhead Harry was fairly certain was Tracey Davis explained. Hm. He really should pay more attention to the students in his year.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm sure. Anyway, Ron, I got rid of the car so with any luck, you're parents will just think that they're going crazy and we didn't take the car."
"How did you get rid of the car?" Ron asked, confused. "I don't think we learned any spells to do that last year."
"Magic."
"Yeah, I kinda got that part. But how exactly did you-"
"Am I to understand that you flew a car from Kings Cross Station to here?" Draco interrupted, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep," Harry beamed.
"Is there any point in asking why?"
"Remember when I asked you to order Dobby not to steal my mail?" Harry asked.
Draco nodded.
"Well I forgot to ask you to have him not try to save my life," Harry explained.
"So you flew a car to the Hogwarts Express because my house elf wants to save your life?" Draco repeated incredulously.
"Basically."
"You're going to need to explain that," Draco said bluntly.
Harry sighed theatrically. "He's apparently gotten it into his head that Hogwarts is a walking death trap and therefore I'm better off with my Muggle relatives and in particular my Muggle uncle who could snap at any time and try and strangle me. Therefore, he sealed the portal to the platform and Ron and I got bored so we decided not to wait for everyone to fix the mess and just fly here."
Draco just stared at him. "That has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"And that is a fine example of the pot calling the kettle black. Seriously, though, you sound like Hermione…"
Draco just made a face at him. "Do you think he'll try to, *ahem* 'save your life' again?"
"Almost certainly."
"Right, this is bloody ridiculous. Dobby!" Draco called.
"Yes Master?" Dobby asked hesitantly when he appeared.
"I order you to stop trying to save Harry's life. It's very annoying. Just let him stay at Hogwarts. Got that?"
"Y-yes, Master Draco," Dobby said, his ears drooping.
"Great, now go."
With a pop, Dobby was gone.
"Thanks," Harry said, relieved. "I really owe you one."
Draco waved it aside. "Don't mention it. Just get the Weasel out of my compartment before we're forced to hex him again."
"Okay. Bye Draco, bye rest of the second year Slytherins I don't like as much as Draco," Harry waved cheerfully as he dragged Ron to the next compartment.
The next compartment they tried had Cedric and Cho Chang in it, flirting shamelessly. Then they came across the Weasley twins, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell examining the twins' pranking supplies. They encountered Oliver Wood and Percy playing Wizarding Chess (Oliver had made some comment about how it was nice that they won the Cup last year because that was the first time they had won since Charlie Weasley left. Percy had pointed out that Charlie had only graduated two years ago and Oliver threw a book at his head). In fact, it seemed like they had passed most of the Hogwarts population before they finally came across Hermione and Neville, who were sitting in one of the first compartments with Ginny and Luna Lovegood.
"There you are!" Harry said exasperated. "We've been looking everywhere for you."
"I think that's my line," Hermione said, amused. "Neville and I looked up and down the train for you twice before we finally just grabbed this compartment."
"You were supposed to follow Mum and I through the portal but we didn't see you," Ginny pointed out.
"That's because the platform sealed itself and we flew Dad's car to the Hogwarts Express," Ron said bluntly.
"You did WHAT?"
"I take it you don't approve?" Harry asked mildly.
"Of course I don't approve! You could have been spotted! Or killed! Or…or expelled!" Hermione finished, looking horrified.
"We've already been over this, Hermione," Harry said gently. "It'll take a lot more than that to expel someone. Especially me. Hell, my godfather didn't get expelled for trying to feed Professor Snape to a werewolf."
"Isn't your godfather Sirius Black?" Ron asked.
Harry had forgotten that he had mentioned that on Christmas to Ron, the twins, Percy, and Tonks. He supposed he was fortunate that Tonks had forgotten that when he mentioned that Sirius (in dog form) was his godfather. Well, either that or she thought he was joking. Otherwise he might have had problems.
"Oh, well, yes," he finally managed to say.
Hermione looked even more horrified. "Dear God, he tried to feed Professor Snape to a werewolf and was still allowed to attend Hogwarts? What was Dumbledore thinking?"
Harry shrugged. "Everyone short of Voldemort deserves 53 chances?"
"Why 53?" Neville asked.
"It's a nice, even number."
"No it's not," Neville said, confused.
"That's not the point. The point is: we totally flew Ron's dad's car halfway to school and then I used my incredible awesomeness to send it back."
"As long as you didn't tell anyone, I guess we can just pretend that it never happened then," Hermione said reluctantly. She paused. "Wait. You didn't tell anyone, did you?"
Ron and Harry looked at each other for a minute, then Ron quickly asked his sister about what she thought of the Hogwarts experience thus far and Harry introduced himself to Luna. Neville was thus left to try and calm Hermione down.
After all, they'd totally told everyone they happened to come across.
----
The Welcoming Feast was very nice, no less because he hadn't been expecting to get to attend it when he and Ron had initially taken the car. Harry cheered loudly when Ginny made it to Gryffindor and he also convinced Fred, George, Hermione, Neville, and Ron to cheer with him when Luna made it to Ravenclaw. That attracted some strange looks as no one ever cheered for anyone not in their House, but when had that ever stopped Harry?
Best of all, he was receiving some suspicious looks from the staff-no doubt they had heard the rumors of his and Ron having commandeered Ron's parents' flying car-but as none of the Slytherins who saw them enter the train felt particularly inclined to tattle, there was really nothing they could do.
Harry was a bit tired from the all-night 'Harry and Ron flew a car halfway to Hogwarts and got away with it' party in the Common Room, but he was overall quite cheerful the next morning. Everyone had been there, even Percy (who Harry had to spend twenty minutes convincing that their little excursion was just an excuse to hold a party and if they had just ridden the train like everyone else, they would have been celebrating the Welcoming Feast).
Harry looked up from his breakfast in time to see the Weasley family owl, Errol, practically collapse in front of Ron. And what's more, it had a Howler in its beak. Ron turned pale and everyone in the Great Hall (who had looked up at the sight of Errol practically dying) looked torn between leaning closer to hear what Ron's parents were going to say about the incident or running from the room. Seriously, Howlers were annoying. Yes, it was plenty embarrassing for the person receiving them, but the parents should really keep their admonishments more private. Not to mention that everyone in the Great Hall didn't particularly care to hear a lecture every time any student screwed up.
Fortunately, Harry solved their dilemma for them. He casually opened the letter and it started screeching "RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY!"
Of course, that was as far as it got as Harry quickly tapped the Howler and whispered, "Muffliato."
The Howler was still going, but no one could hear it anymore. Well, no one but him. Still, small price to pay for the way everyone was looking at him in awe at how he had defeated a Howler. Oh, and he saved Ron the embarrassment of getting chewed out by his mother in front of everybody. That was nice, too.
And did he hear some murmurs already of the "Boy-Who-Silenced"?
Wizards sure did love their hyphens.