Her stay at the Burrow was too short for Megan's taste, but it was the best of her life. The house, as messy as it first seemed, was warm and comfortable. Fred had been right about his father. He had asked her countless questions about the Muggles. And she even got a letter she let no one else read, not even Hermione, who she knew would gril her for information. It was from Cedric.

Dear Megan.

How are you? I hope the Weasleys aren’t spoiling you rotten!

It was great to see you all, and I’ll be glad to see you again at school.

I was mainly writing to reiterate my wish to help you guys if you need it. Of course, I hope nothing like the mess you had to deal with last year comes up, but if that does happen, I want you to know you can count on me. I love Hogwarts and the wizarding world as well, and I want to protect it. And something tells me that’s something that’ll mainly happen if I’m around you. Not that I don’t enjoy your company, of course.

Anyway, since you didn’t get my other letters, I’ll try and sum them all up in this one.

First, as I said, I was glad to have met you. I had never taken the time to tell you last year, but it’s true. It’s nice to have someone who doesn’t always ask for help with homework, or wants to hang out for the wrong reasons. You’d be surprised how many people do around me. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell the real friends from the liars, and it’s nice to have one I know is real. How, you ask? Because you never ask me anything! But joking aside, know that you can, okay?

Also, I wanted to express my admiration, which, again, I hadn’t been able to before. You were in a dangerous, complicated situation, and yet you came out victorious. And given said situation, that’s very impressive, at just eleven (or should I say twelve now). Happy twelth, by the way! I know it’s a bit late. One of the many things I didn’t get a chance to tell you. I’ll have to work on that.

He remembered my birthday…? Megan though, flushing.

But I do mean it when I say I’m impressed. Very few other wizards would have done what you did, even experienced ones. You probably know this, but when he was at his height, Voldemort was the most terrifying wizard around. Even Grindelwald, who was bad enough, didn’t scare people so much. But it does make me wonder what else is in store for you, because I can’t see it as a coincidence that you met this early. And what you told me about Dobby isn’t very reassuring either. So all I can say is, since you are so blantantly going against his wishes (and I think he meant well, he just went about it wrong), be careful. Even if You-Know-Who’s stomped for now, there could be some of his followers around trying to avenge him or something. Of course, I doubt they’ll try anything at Hogwarts with Dumbledore, but we have seen that it’s not impossible to get him out of the way.

That was for sure. The whole reason they’d gone to find the stone a few months ago was because Dumbledore had been called to the Ministry and they had realised that Voldemort would try and get to the stone.

In any case, my father always says that when it comes to magic, one should expect anything and I think he’s got a point. I mean, magic is always changing, good or bad, so how can we really know everything about it? I mean, look at you, no one ever survived the Killing Curse. And personally I’d never heard of the magic you told me about. I wondered about asking my parents, but I didn’t think it was a good idea. He gets very nosy when his curiosity’s peaked. And he’s curious about pretty much anything he doesn’t know, so good luck keeping something from him! So, I tried reading up on it but I’m afraid I didn’t find much. Basically, it’s all very uncertain. So, again, be careful.

I’ll probably see you at Kings’ Cross on September 1st. If not, I’ll see you at school. If not again, send word if you need help.

Yours truly,

Cedric.

Megan had used the privacy of the night to write her reply.

Dear Cedric.

Thanks for your letter and birthday wishes. No worries, I’m not mad (well not too mad. Nah, just joking.), it’s because my letters never came through. And thanks also for your will to help. It’s really appreciated.

And I am really happy to have met you, too. I'm sorry we didn't get much of a chance to hang out more last year. Hopefully, we can change that this year. Of course, Harry, Ron and Hermione are amazing… but there’s something different with you. I suppose it’s probably your being older. And like you said, it’s nice to have someone who’s not only talking to me because I’m famous!

It was not like she’d asked to be famous. She’d much prefer having her parents than being known because she had a stupid scar on her forehead.

And as for what you said about Voldemort and Dobby, I think you’re right. And yes, I’ll be careful. And yes, I hope there won’t be the same kind of mess as last year, too! But when I think about Dobby’s warning, I can’t help but think it doesn’t seem to be going that way… and we’ve not even started term! So much for a quiet life… Oh, well. I guess it can't be helped. And what's life without a little drama, right? Although, I admit I'm not mad about that kind of drama. But what was I supposed to do, sit back and do nothing? I could never do that. I'm not sure why. I guess what I experienced makes me want to keep others from it. Does that sound crazy? Maybe it is. I guess I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Even someone like Malfoy, can you believe that? Maybe I'm too nice. Or maybe the events of last year changed me. It's funny. I know I'm only twelve, but a part of me doesn't feel twelve. I guess that happens when you have to fend for yourself early on.

I'm probably not making much sense, am I? Must be because it's about midnight right now and I'm tired. I'll see you on the train or at school.

Yours sincerely,

Megan.

She gave it to Hedwig who was just coming in from hunting.

“I know it's late, but it'll avoid the others asking questions.”

Hedwig hooted softly, then soared off soundlessly into the night. Megan watched her go, thinking that these were definitely the best summer holidays she'd ever had.

Yet, school had to start again sometime. And Megan was glad to return to the familiar ambiance of magic and mystery she loved about the castle. Yet, when she watched the Weasleys, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of them, thinking of the greeting she would get when she returned to the Dursleys... Ron would never feel unwelcome. And the twins, even though they drove Molly crazy with their jokes, were clearly as dear to her as any of her other children. And the way Megan had left was probably not going to help her case much either. She had never expected a warm welcome from the Dursleys, but after what had happened that night… She wasn’t sure what to expect. But she put that aside and just enjoyed the Weasleys’ company. Their last night was as cheerful as the others, with fireworks, songs and jokes. Then, the next morning, they were up bright and early, gathering last minute items, bumping into each other in the staircase... When they were finally ready, Megan wondered how eight people, two owls, a rat and seven huge trunks would fit in a car made for five. When she voiced her concerns, Arthur chuckled and led her to the boot.

“Not a word to Molly...” he said, waving his wand.

The trunk widened, yet the outside didn't change. Megan looked at it, aghast.

“Useful trick, that.” He said.

And finally, they were off. However, several small incidents made them leave a lot later than they had planned. Arthur suggested they fly to the station, but Molly was adamant that it was not a good idea. They were so late that it was almost quarter to eleven when they reached the station. Arthur hurried to grab trolleys, and the group rushed to reach the platform with all their things.

“Come on, come on, the train's going any moment!”

Arthur and Molly hurried through the portal first, followed by Ginny, Fred and George, then Percy, leaving only Ron and Megan.

“C'mon, let's go together,” Ron said.

They stood ready, then hurtled their trolleys forwards towards the wall....

BANG!

With a loud clatter, they hit the wall and bounced backwards, landing hard on the stone floor. Hedwig's cage almost fell off but Megan caught it. Mira barked.

“Shush, Mira,” Megan whispered.

Ron helped her up.

“What’s going on? Why can't we get through?” Megan whispered.

“Dunno...”

Megan glanced at the clock.

“We have got to hurry, the train will leave any second...!” Megan worried.

But eleven o'clock chimed... and the gateway was still closed.

“No...!”

The train had gone!

Ron and Megan stared at each other.

“What do we do now…?” Megan asked.

“Megan, what if Mum and Dad can't get back?!” Ron exclaimed.

“Maybe we should just wait by the car...” Megan sighed. “We're too noticeable here...”

She couldn't understand what had happened. How were they going to get to Hogwarts now? They couldn't just get on another train, and they had no idea where Hogwarts even was!

“The car...! Of course!” Ron exclaimed.

Megan looked at him.

“What?”

“We can fly to Hogwarts!”

Megan’s eyes widened.

“What?!”

“Yeah, it could work!”

“Are you crazy?!”

“Well what’s your brilliant idea then?”

Megan opened her mouth, and shut it again. She had to admit, she had none.

“I mean we're stuck, right? And we're allowed to use magic if it's an emergency. I think this qualifies, don't you?”

Megan began to let his idea make its way into her mind.

“You could fly that thing?”

“Sure, no problem at all.”

He turned his trolley and they headed to the exit. They managed to stack their things in the car. Megan went to a nearby store and bought some supplies to last the journey. Thankfully, she had thought to change some of her wizard money in case she needed anything from the Muggle world.

“Check no one's looking,” Ron said as she got in, setting the food by her feet.

“Okay... Go.”

He pressed a little button.

“Invisibility booster,” he explained. “Now, let's go.”

Soon, they were in the air, flying over London. She could see everything inside the car around her, but no one else seemed to notice. But after a little while, the car spluttered and the invisibility booster hiccuped.

“Uh oh... looks like it's faulty...”

It came back on again, and they sped onwards, then up to hide in the clouds in case the booster failed again. And what a sight! The clouds were a pristine white, shining gold in the sunlight, a beautiful blue sky surrounded the scene as far as she could see.

“Now what?”

“We find the train to know which way to go...”

“In that case we'll have to get out of the cloud bank or we'll never see it.” Megan pointed out. “We can't see a thing from here.”

“Right,” he agreed and steered the car downwards.

Soon, Megan saw the long red engine.

“There! I see it!”

They followed the tracks.

“Okay... that's north. We'll get back in the clouds, and check every half hour or so.”

“Fine by me.”

They soared back upwards.

“Now, all we have to watch out for is planes.

Megan looked at him, and they laughed.

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

What is the deal with that barrier?! Let's help Megan and Ron get to Hogwarts safely with a supportive vote! What would you have done in their position? Tell us in the comments!

Will they make it to Hogwarts? Won't they be in big trouble for flying a car? Why did they have to in the first place? Let's find out in the next chapter!