Megan gaped at him.

“I'm sorry, what?”

“It is most important that Megan Potter stays where she is safe. There is a plot, Megan Potter, a plot to make terrible things happen, oh, such terrible things!”

“What d'you mean, what terrible things?” Megan asked, confused; “And who's plotting them?”

“Dobby can't say, miss.”

“Hold on... tell me, Dobby, has this got anything to do with Vol-You Know Who?”

“No, miss. Not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. But Megan Potter must not go back to school!”

“But Dobby, I can't not go back!” Megan protested.

Just then, she heard footsteps from the hall. Quick as a flash she caught Dobby and hid him in her closet.

“What are you doing up here? We can hear noise from downstairs! It's a good thing they don't know we don't have a cat, I've been blaming Tibbles! Now, keep it down!”

“Sorry.” she said.

He closed the door and headed back down. Megan then opened the door for Dobby.

“Sorry, Dobby...” she said. “But, see? That's why I have to go back. I don't belong here, my place is at Hogwarts... it's the one place I have friends...”

“Friends who don't even write to Megan Potter?”

Megan was about to answer when she frowned.

“How would you know that?” she asked suspiciously.

Dobby seemed to realise he had slipped up because he shuffled his feet again.

“Dobby meant well, miss...” he said, producing a large pack of letters. “He thought if Megan Potter believed her friends had forgotten her, she might not want to go back...”

Part of Megan was thoroughly relieved. She realised she really had been afraid her friends had forgotten or no longer wanted anything to do with her. It appeared neither were true. Quite the opposite, in fact, given the size of the stack of letters in Dobby’s hand.

“Give me those, Dobby,” she said. “Please.”

But far from it, Dobby ran out onto the landing!

“Dobby, no!” Megan panicked, darting after him.

She chased him along the hallway and down the stairs. They ended outside the kitchen. Megan stood behind the staircase. They could hear Vernon chattering away to the Masons.

Megan looked around to see where Dobby was, and gasped. On top of the counter was Petunia's lavender and raspberry pudding. And Dobby was looking at it.

“Dobby, don't!” she pleaded.

Dobby looked round, his big eyes staring.

“Megan Potter must say she's not going back to school.” he said to her.

“But Hogwarts is my home!” Megan said.

Dobby sighed, his eyes turning sad.

“Dobby is sorry, Miss. But it is for Megan Potter's own good...”

He snapped his long fingers, and the large confection fell towards the gleaming kitchen floor... Megan dashed past Dobby and tried to catch it... but it was too late.

“Oh, my goodness!” said Mrs Mason as the plate broke with a clatter, spraying pudding all over the floor.

Megan glared at Dobby, who just snapped his fingers again and vanished. They turned around to look at the mess.

“Oh, dear... That will have been Tibbles again... well, we hope you don't mind ice cream?”

“Oh, no, Mrs Dursley.” Mr Mason said.

Megan didn't disappear in time. Vernon had already seen her. She could have still vanished and Vernon might have been able to sign his deal with the Masons, if the owl hadn't come in. A large tawny owl swooped in through the open window.

Mrs Mason let out a loud scream. It turned out she was terribly frightened of birds, and Mr Mason was not best pleased. They left quite rapidly after that. Megan then picked up the letter before Vernon did, but he glared at her. Megan had a nasty feeling she knew what it was. Trying not to show her dread, she opened her letter. It turned into a face with purple lipstick and cleared her throat before speaking:

Miss Potter,

We've received intelligence that a levitation charm was performed in your home tonight at nine twenty-eight. As you are aware, magic is strictly forbidden outside of school. Further magical activity will result in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizadry.

Hoping you are well,

Mafalda Hopkirk,

Improper use of Magic Office

Ministry of Magic.

Vernon was smirking with glee.

“Didn't think to mention that, did you?”

Megan didn't answer. She knew she would just be rude if she did. And they were already furious.

Indeed they were. The very next day, Megan was woken at the crack of dawn by a loud drilling noise that almost gave her a heart attack. She gasped and fell out of bed. Then, she looked up and saw Uncle Vernon sneering at her.

“Morning,” he said nastily.

“What the hell...?” Megan stammered, getting to her feet.

Then, to her utter astonishment, she saw that he was putting bars to her window!

“What the...!”

“This is so you don't send that filthy owl of yours away.”

“Hedwig is not filthy!” Megan said angrily.

“Be quiet and let me work.”

So for the next half hour, he went about drilling thick metal bars to her window.

And as if that wasn't enough, when he was done, he came back inside, still armed with his toolbox and spent another half hour setting up large padlock on her door along with, to top it all... a cat flap.

“What am I, a dog?”

She loved dogs, but not to the point of liking being treated like one.

“Can I at least let Mira out a few times a day?” she asked.

“Fine.” he growled. “She'll go into the garden.”

Sighing, Megan moved away from the door and let herself flop down onto her bed. She had already felt like the Dursleys' house was a prison... but she hadn't meant it quite so literally...

“And this is so you don't go back to that school. You'll never get to see those freak friends of yours, never!” He said happily when he'd finished.

And he'd stomped away cheerfully. Megan had strongly been tempted to kick the door but knew it would be useless. She sat on her bed, stroking Mira, her only company besides Hedwig.

“Ha... well, you got your wish, Dobby,” she said to herself bitterly. “I don't know how I'll get out of here without magic but if I do that, I'll be expelled... talk about dead end...”

She groaned angrily and let herself fall back on the bed. Sighing heavilylooked at the frame with the picture of her parents. They were twirling in a park, autumn leaves falling around them, smiling broadly. Megan missed them... especially when she saw her mother put her hand to her stomach, and her father press his hand gently onto hers. She knew it meant her mother was pregnant with her during the time that picture was taken.

Megan was walking along towards platform 9 and ¾ , her pushing her trunk forwards. She was alone. There were people around her, but it was almost as if they couldn’t see her. She shrugged it off. She was pretty much used to being invisible or people pretending she was. Nathalie had made a point that anyone befriending Megan would be in trouble. Megan looked around her. It was bright and sunny, and she was relieved to be out of her stuffy room. The bars prevented her from opening it and it was small, meaning it kept the heat, which was fine in winter, but very unpleasant in summer when it was already more than hot enough. She glanced around the familiar station, and soon spotted the wall between platforms nine and ten. She remembered how nervous she’d been the first time she’d gone through the wall, certain she would crash and look like a fool. Mira was sitting on the trolley, looking around with her big brown eyes, her long pink tongue poking out of her mouth. Hedwig was on top of Megan’s trunk, sitting quietly in her cage. Then, Megan pulled her trolley back a little, before running forwards, straight for the wall. But when she reached it, instead of sliding through it, there was a loud crash as her trolley smacked into the wall. She flew backwards, Mira yelped and jumped off before she could fall, and Herdwig gave an indignant screech. Megan, who had hit her head in her fall, rubbed it as sudden laughter echoed loudly behind her. She glanced around and recognised the Dursleys, pointing and cackling at her. Megan bit her lip, got to her feet and turned back to the barrier. There, peering behind the wall, was Dobby.

“For your own good, Miss…” he said, and it was a wonder she heard him over the deafening noise the Dursleys were making. And then, the ground shook and she fell to the floor again, though this time managed to break her fall in time. Walls shot up around her, along with thick metal bars. Soon enough, she recognised her room, barred up like a prison cell. She felt the ground shaking again, and had to hold on to the bars to not topple over again. But then, suddenly the bars broke and Megan felt herself falling into what was now a large black hole. She couldn’t help screaming as she sank deeper and deeper into darkness.

Megan sat bolt upright. Panting slightly, she glanced at Mira who’d come forwards when she’d woken.

“I’m okay, Mira…” she said. “Just a dream…”

She reached out and stroked her head. It was dark, Megan noticed. She hadn’t even noticed herself falling asleep. She sighed and fell back on her bed, her arms stretched out, looking absently into the white ceiling. Her stomach rumbled in protest at having been given nothing since that morning. She glanced at her window, almost hoping the bars had been an unpleasant dream. But no, they were still there. As were the padlock and the cat flap. She'd already felt ashamed or embarrassed, but this was... just plain humiliating. She was a little stiff for having fallen asleep fully dressed and in an awkward position, and she was hot. She would have liked to shower, but of course, that was not an option at the moment. She sat up, wiped her brow and sighed as she stroked Mira, who whimpered quietly.

“I know, Mira... but what can I do?”

Mira sniffed her fingers. At least she could fit through the hole... Megan was small, but not small enough to squeeze through. She had assumed the flap was to pass food through, but they had obviously decided not to do so today. Her stomach grumbled uncomfortably again. And Megan felt a flare of resentment towards Dobby. Why had he put her in this situation? And why hadn't he told her what was going on? Why was he so intent on keeping her safe? Why her in particular? She had been hoping for a more peaceful year than the last one, but that had involved actually being at Hogwarts... but if she was locked in and not allowed to use magic... how on earth was she going to do it? She already had a warning, even if she’d done nothing. It was a losing circle: she couldn’t get to school without using magic, but if she did use it, she wouldn’t be able to use it, either, because she would be expelled… She had to hand it to Dobby, he’d planned it out well… Glancing over to her night stand, she saw her parents smiling up at her. She had not exactly had a good summer, but it was going to be ten times worse in this situation and if she couldn't go back to school... She sighed. Just then, she thought she heard a rumble in the distance. It sounded like a motorbike. Or a car... But as Megan listened, she realised it was coming closer, from above. She got to her feet and looked outside the window, which she'd left open because of the warm night, her wand clutched tightly in her hand. And suddenly, she saw a large blue shape moving towards her. She hurried backwards, and a bright light filled her room. She covered her eyes, and recognised the sound of a car engine... But that was impossible, Megan thought. Cars didn't fly! Well, not unless you counted films like The Fifth Element, or other science fiction like that. She stepped closer to the window, watching. And sure enough, what was unmistakably a car came into view. Then, the car came alongside the outside wall, and paused in mid-air. Okay, apparently, they could fly, Megan said to herself, staring at it aghast. But that wasn’t the most surprising part of the situation.

“Megan!”

She blinked and stepped forwards. She knew that voice. Squinting through the light, her eyes suddenly widened. Ron Weasley was grinning at her.

**********************************

Whoa, this is getting confusing! Dobby getting her locked up and Ron appearing in the middle of the night?! If you're glad to see Ron, let's hear it for him with a vote!

Why is Dobby going to such lengthsto keep Megan from school? How can Ron and his brothers help? Let's find out with the next chapter!