The days flew by quickly and soon it was time to leave for Hogwarts. McGonagall had not yet replied to his letter so it remained a mystery what his OWL scores were. He would have to wait until he was at Hogwarts to ask her and then order his needed supplies for his NEWT classes as soon as possible. At this point he more than dreaded his results for Potions. Even if he managed to score high enough to be allowed in his class, Snape would surely not appreciate him attending without books and supplies.

Over the past few days there had been some discussion over the wisdom of letting them go to Hogwarts with the Hogwarts Express, but apparently Dumbledore had deemed it necessary for them to be seen on the train. It was agreed that there would be Aurors and professors on the train to ensure the students' safety.

With a lot of banter, shuffling and yelling from Mrs. Weasley to Hurry up! they finally left Number twelve Grimmauld Place and arrived at King's Cross Station. As several Order members went with them, it was weird to see them walk around the muggle station. Tonks especially got a few stares with her vibrant pink hair.

At Platform 9 3/4 they said their goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the latter accompanied with bone-crushing hugs. The platform was almost emptied of students so Harry figured they were among the last to arrive. With a final wave they stepped up into the train and were immediately united by Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.

After exchanging their hello's, Hermione and Ron went off to the Prefect's carriage for the meeting, and Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna set off to find a compartment. Which proved to be difficult as the train was bustling with students already.

"I swear, every year there are more students coming in than the year before," Ginny said in annoyance.

Somewhere at the back of the train, they found an almost empty compartment. Ginny peered through the glass, trying to see if she knew the girl seated inside. She had long, curly auburn hair, tied with a white ribbon, and strikingly blue eyes. She was reading a book when she noticed them standing before the window. Ginny slid the compartment door open.

"Hi, is it okay with you if we sit here?" She asked indicating the others behind her. "Everywhere else is full."

The girl smiled and nodded. Harry and Neville stowed their trunks in the luggage rack and sat down, Harry gladly took the place near the window, ending up on the opposite side of the girl.

"Thanks.  I'm Ginny Weasley and they are Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and -"

"Harry Potter," the girl finished, looking over her book in Harry's direction.

"Yeah..." Ginny faltered for a moment but recovered quickly. "I don't believe I've ever seen you at Hogwarts," she said.

"That's right, I have never been at Hogwarts. I'm a transfer student from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and I'm starting at Hogwarts in fifth year. I'm Kai-Enna Venturi by the way."

"Nice to meet you. You'll be in the same year as me and Luna," Ginny said. Kai-Enna beamed at that.

"I'm glad to meet you, I was a bit worried about starting at Hogwarts without knowing anyone. I'd hate to stand out," she said nervously.

"Don't you worry, Luna and I will show you around," Ginny assured her. "If you don't mind me asking, though... how come you're transferring to Hogwarts now?"

"My parents got divorced before the summer. I used to live in Nice, France, you know. But my mum wanted to get as far away from my father as possible. She has family who live in Wales, so that's where we went. Beauxbatons is a lot farther away now and we didn't want to risk seeing my father or any of his friends there. Mum is afraid they will kidnap me or something," Kai-Enna snorted, conveying she doubted the likelihood of that.

"Sorry to hear that," Ginny said.

"Have you ever seen a tri-horned Bracknum?" Luna asked Kai-Enna with interest.

Kai- Enna looked at her with a blank face.

"No, I don't think I have."

"That's unfortunate, they're rumoured to be quite common in France." Luna shifted her attention back to her copy of the Quibbler, which she read upside-down as usual.

Kai-Enna giggled and took something out of her bag and showed it to Luna, who averted her eyes from the Quibbler to look at it.

"But I have seen all these rare creatures on my travels."

Harry shifted in his seat and realized she was holding pictures. Looking closely he could make out birds in all kinds of colours, some with horns on their backs or sprouting tentacles. Another picture showed a creature that looked remarkably like a crossbreed between an Elephant and a giraffe.

"You must've travelled a lot then," Neville commented.

"Yes I have, there aren't many places I haven't been yet," Kai-Enna told them proudly. "What about you? Do you travel a lot?"

"My family often travels to Romania to visit my brother who works there with dragons," Ginny told her.

"My grandmother and I have been to the Netherlands once," Neville said proudly.

"I only go to places in the world where rare creatures live to study them," Luna said with just a little bit of jealousy shining in her voice.

Harry kept quiet. He knew that he couldn't answer that question the same way the others had. The Dursley's would rather drown themselves in front of the whole neighbourhood before they ever took him with them on vacation. They always told him he was either too expensive or he hadn't deserved it. The latter was used on more than one occasion of course.

"And what about you, Harry," Kai-Enna looked at him with big, round eyes. "Where have you travelled to?"

"Oh, I haven't been outside of Britain," Harry turned his head back to the window to try and hide the flush that crept up to his face at the looks the others were giving him. Ginny's and Neville's were understanding, Kai-Enna wore a look of indifference and Luna had already returned her attention to her copy of the Quibbler.

"Oh, that's a pity, you should really try it sometime. England can be a very boring place when you're locked up in it for a long time."

Harry knew Kai-Enna meant no harm with that comment but it stung. He was locked up in this land. He had even less space in his prison for he would not be able to go anywhere alone, not without bodyguards. At the Dursleys he was not allowed to leave the house and at Hogwarts he would be reprimanded by all professors for setting one foot outside of Hogwarts grounds. Well except for Snape maybe, he would probably push him to take a second step.

"Yes I think I will," Harry said while wondering if he would live long enough to see the world.

He was just looking in the direction of the compartment door when he saw Draco Malfoy pass by. The blonde boy glanced briefly inside and locked eyes with Harry before he swiftly walked on. Harry frowned at that. Malfoy never passed up the opportunity to torment Harry or his friends. Bullying Gryffindors, especially Harry Potter, came with the standard package of the Slytherin's behaviour. It was definitely suspicious, but as everything else seemed in order, Harry shrugged and counted his blessings.

The rest of the journey went by quickly and when Hermione and Ron found their compartment the light chatter became a friendly discussion about muggles. Harry wasn't listening to them and was looking out of the window at the emerging rainclouds.

Soon they changed into their school robes and by this time it was downright pouring.

Suddenly screeching sounds could be heard and the train was coming to an abrupt halt. Soon the lights went out and everything was quiet. Harry looked at the others, barely making out their faces in the scarce light that came through the window, and saw them giving him a knowing look. It was third year all over again and Harry half expected a dementor to glide by. But that didn't happen. Instead loud shouting voices could be heard outside. Harry squinted through the window but couldn't make out anything through the heavy rain. Having a sudden urge to find out what was going on, he took out his wand and stood.

"Ron, Hermione, Neville come with me, I'm going to take a look at the front of the train. The rest stays here," Harry said firmly.

"But we can fight too, Harry," Ginny said somewhat irritated. "Don't you remember last -"

"Yes I do, and that's exactly why I'm telling you to stay put!" Harry told the youngest redhead, leaving no room for argument.

Ginny glared at him, searching his eyes before finally relenting with a sigh.

"Fine.  But just so you know, you won't be able to tell us that every time there's something going on. You can't force us to stand back while you are risking your lives." Ginny sat back down, still looking irritated. But Harry didn't care as long as she stayed where she was.

The four of them lighted the tips of their wands and stepped into the corridor and headed towards the front of the train. Along the way they saw other students peer through the glass-panelled doors of the compartments, debating whether they too should come out and have a look. The majority of them stayed within the safety of their compartments, though a few members of the DA, a secret defence club they had started last year, followed the trio through the corridor with their wands held defensively in front of them.

The shouting became louder and they could see different colours of light that indicated the use of spells and hexes. Harry was now pretty sure there were Death Eaters outside and knew they needed help.

Just before they reached the front, Dean Thomas exited the last compartment and met them.

"There are Death Eaters just outside the train. Some seventh year students are out there, but there are no adults anywhere! No professors, no Aurors..." Dean told them frantically. Harry frowned at that and looked over his shoulder at his friends.

Hermione spoke up. "I'll go back to find them. In the mean time, don't do anything stupid."

Hermione hesitated for a fraction but then turned and went back.

Ron nudged his arm and he turned back towards the windows. He could no longer see any lights coming from outside. Did that mean it was over? Had they panicked for nothing and sent for help when it wasn't even necessary?

His thoughts were soon proven wrong as he could detect movement at the front of the train. He quickly extinguished the light coming from the tip of his wand and saw the others behind him do the same. He crouched down to be a somewhat smaller target and sat waiting in the shadows for a sign.

And how quickly it came...

A shadow stepped into the train and took them by surprise.

"Crucio!"

Ernie Macmillan, who stood straight behind them, was hit with the torturing curse and lay writhing on the floor screaming from the pain.

Harry quickly put up a defensive shield to prevent any more of these swift curses from being hurtled their way, knowing that no shield could prevent an Unforgivable Curse from reaching them.

"Stupefy!" he heard someone shout at the Death Eater who had cast the Unforgivable.

The curse was lifted and Ernie's breath came in gasps, but he was otherwise fine.

Harry saw someone helping Ernie of the ground and bring him away, though he couldn't see who it was as Ron stepped forward to help stabilize the shield. But it wasn't strong enough and within a few minutes curses were breaking through. Harry quickly flattened himself against the wall and shot a few stunners in the direction of the Death Eaters.

Suddenly the Death Eaters retreated outside and all was quiet.

A few minutes passed and nothing happened. Harry heard small jumps of joy behind him as the others clearly thought it was over. He met Ron's eye and they both knew it was far from over.

As if on cue the train began to shake and windows shattered. Pulling up defence shields to protect themselves from the flying shards of glass, the students peered through the windows into the darkness.

Harry knew they would be trapped inside the train if they stayed. Besides they needed to lure the Death Eaters away from the rest. And where were the professors who should be on this train in case things like this happened? Where was Hermione?

Shaking off his thoughts, Harry ran towards the very front of the train, Ron right behind him, and stood next to the open train doors getting ready to fight. He shot one last glance at Ron, who looked as determined as Harry felt.

One last nod to his best friend and he jumped off the train into the soggy grass.

Immediately curses shot their way and Harry quickly deflected them and shot a few disarming spells their way, knowing that they wouldn't be able to find their wands in this darkness. Rain was still pouring down and Harry soon lost sight of Ron and the others though he could still hear their shouts. He crouched down behind a bunch of bushes and rocks and wiped his glasses, trying to remember the incantation that would make that unnecessary. Where's Hermione when you need her? 

His brainstorming was interrupted by a Death Eater, whom he vaguely remembered as Avery, who had spotted him and shot some unrecognizable spells his way. Harry quickly dove away and silently thanked his quick reflexes that were a result of being a seeker for five years.

Heart pounding he took up a duelling position and tried to make out the outline of his enemy through his wet glasses.

"Stupefy!"

Avery deflected it and sent another curse Harry's way. But it was poorly aimed and rebounded on a rock and hit another Death Eater standing a few yards away.

Avery was distracted as he watched his fellow Death Eater fall, and Harry took his opportunity.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Avery's body stiffened in position and fell to the ground.

"Incarcerous!" Ropes tightened around his body to secure him until help came.

Harry ran back towards the rest and he could just make out Justin Finch-Fletchley and Anthony Goldstein battling a Death Eater duo who looked suspiciously like Crabbe and Goyle senior, and somewhat further away he saw Ron, Michael Corner and a couple of seventh year students fighting a Death Eater he didn't recognize. Any other day he would have found it ironic that Ron was fighting alongside the person he despised last year for dating his sister. He was just about to run to them to help out when he was called.

"Harry!"

He turned around and saw Hermione and Ginny coming out of the train. Hermione had just knocked a Death Eater unconscious with some complicated spells and kicked him to the side.

"Where are the professors and Aurors? Weren't they supposed to be on the train?" Harry asked when he joined them, gasping for air.

"When I came back to our compartment Neville told me that Luna went off to search for them. But it took her so long so we decided to go find her but there was no sign of her or the professors. When we looked outside Ginny and I figured we would be of better use here. Neville stayed to look for Luna." At Harry's worried look she added, "Luna and Neville can find their own way, they're tougher than they look."

Harry felt uncomfortable with the idea of a missing Luna and Neville, but nodded. He turned to Ginny.

"I thought I told you to stay in the compartment," Harry said irritated, though he was glad to see she  was unharmed.

"And let you have all the fun?" Ginny said with a wink that made Harry flush.

A curse shot his way but he couldn't turn quickly enough and didn't see it clearly. Ginny quickly reflected it and joined the battle.

"Hermione, my glasses -"

"Come here."

When he finally could see clearly he went back to fight. At this point he was soaked and the ground became slippery.

It was then that he saw her. She was cackling madly and seemed to have spotted him too.

"Aw, there we have our wittle, baby Potter again," she mocked him, her filthy, black hair sticking to her face and her crazy eyes shining with delight.

"Lestrange," Harry felt his anger rise up in him again full force. He vaguely registered the arrival of the Hogwarts professors but it didn't matter anymore. He wanted nothing more than to get back at this woman for what she did to Sirius.

She ran away, laughing at him and teasing him, towards the bridge. He followed her with determined strides, not stopping to think of how stupid he was for letting her lead him away from the battle.

They stood face to face on the stone bridge, rain pouring down, trying to provoke one another to take the first step.

"What's the matter Harry? Don't you want to play with me?" Bellatrix called from the other end of the bridge.

Harry stayed still, his mind searching for the most harmful curses he knew. Bellatrix pouted at Harry's lack of reaction.

"I had much more fun with your godfather. It's a shame I murdered him. But no matter, I will remember him as the always playful cousin. Don't you want to avenge him Harry? Go on, take your revenge. Hurt me. We both know you have it in you, Harry. I could even teach you. You could become just like me."

Harry felt like throwing up at that thought, but her remark hit a little too close to home. He did use the Cruciatus Curse once. And it failed horribly as he was overcome by grief. Would he try it now he was sure he would succeed. He could feel the dark rage whirling within him, a feeling that detached him from anything else. This was raw power, and had the potential of truly hurting someone. Would he dare use it? Would it make him go dark? Did he even care anymore?

"Didn't you love him Harry?"

Balling his fists and tightening his grip on his wand he took a step forward. Bellatrix lashed out immediately with two curses shot rapidly after one another. Harry evaded the first but felt the second grace his shoulder and a searing pain shot through his arm. He quickly shot a stunner her way but she evaded it easily.

The curses and jinxes were going back and forth between the two. Harry managed to cut Bellatrix's cheek while he felt his shoulder going numb. A simple but fast depulsing spell sent Harry stumbling  and sliding towards the edge of the bridge. The slippery surface caused him to lose his balance and he slid off the edge. He tried to grab the stone side but his wounded shoulder didn't react fast enough and he fell off the bridge. Quickly reaching out with his good arm, he managed to grab the edge and dangled dangerously.

"Look at baby Potter now," Bellatrix came to the edge and looked him in the eye, "Doing dangerous stunts, tsk tsk." She threw her head back and laughed madly.

Then all of a sudden she was thrown off her feet and landed a few yards away. Harry looked around and saw a slender man, whom he didn't recognise, with narrowed eyes as if he was a fox hunting for its prey. His hair was greying and he looked to be in his late 50s. He was caught up in a fight with Bellatrix who had stood up rather quickly and curses flew back and forth.

Meanwhile Harry was losing the feeling in his hand and knew he couldn't hold on for much longer. Just as he felt like losing his grip entirely, a strong hand closed around his arm and hoisted him over the edge of the bridge.

"Get back, Potter."

Great. Snape of all people. He was pushed towards the direction of the train where he saw his friends and the Hogwarts professors and Aurors. Just as he was about to join them, a vicious coloured curse shot his way but he wasn't quick enough.

Then suddenly Snape was there and Harry was thrown to the ground from where he could see the curse flying past him.

Snape glared at him and stood up brushing the dirt and mud off his black robes.

"Why is it, Potter, that every time you manage to get yourself in trouble, I'm the one whose hands get dirty?"

Harry really wanted to point out that it wasn't his fault Death Eaters had attacked the train but held his tongue when he saw Snape's dangerous glare directed at him.

The unknown man was still fighting Bellatrix with the agility of a sly predator.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix shrieked.

The man ducked aside easily.

"Avada Kedavra!" She began to get desperate.

The man spun on his feet and vanished before the Killing Curse could hit its target, leaving Bellatrix angry and confused. When he reappeared behind her, she had no time to turn around and was hit in the back with a Disarming Charm, her wand flying away. He walked towards her casually but kept his wand trained on the back of her head.

"Where is your insane laughter now, I wonder, Mrs. Lestrange," the man said gleefully with absolutely no physical sign that he had just duelled her.

Bellatrix seemed to smirk at that and Harry thought it looked quite unnatural on her features. In the blink of an eye she disapparated. The man appeared shocked for a moment but quickly smoothed out his expression and lowered his wand.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kingsley come running towards the man to discuss the events. They shook hands and Kingsley bent down to pick up Bellatrix's wand. He then proceeded to interrogate the man on his duel with Bellatrix. 

Snape walked back to the train and Harry followed him, not realising how far they had strayed from the rest. He looked around and saw that other students had come out of the train to see what was going on. The rain had reduced to a drizzle by now and Harry only just started to feel the cold wind on his body. 

Aurors were talking in hushed voices, looking disappointed and deflated. Apparently the rest of the Death Eaters had fled as well and not a single one had been captured. Harry felt a twinge of frustration.

One of the Aurors climbed up on a large rock and tried to get everyone's attention.

"Attention please!" He yelled through the dark sky. Students started to gather round and Harry saw Luna and Kai-Enna jump out of the train and realized they had been absent during the attack.
When they came closer Harry could see that Luna's hair was a mess and she had little scratches all over her arms and cheeks.

"There you are, where were you? What happened?" Ginny asked them looking shocked at Luna's appearance.

"I don't really remember. One minute I was in the back of the train looking for help, and next thing I know Kai was waking me up and I had scratches all over me."

She didn't look particularly shocked or upset about this strange experience but then again, nothing probably would shock Luna. Except, perhaps, the revelation that all those weird creatures she comes up with don't exist in this world.

Kai-Enna just shrugged and said she found Luna that way but had not seen what happened.

The Auror began speaking in a loud voice and checked if everyone could hear him.

"Alright, listen up everybody. I want to organize things as efficiently as possible so that you can all get to Hogwarts safely and quickly. All injured students, please step away from the train. You will be apparated to Hogsmeade, from where you will get immediate treatment or set off for the hospital wing in Hogwarts Castle. All other students will go back inside the train and wait until we have received new orders. No student is allowed to leave by himself, so please assess your condition and act accordingly."  The Auror stepped off the stone and went to instruct the other Aurors.

Harry saw Ron and Hermione turn towards the train with the others and went to follow them. A firm hand on his right shoulder, the one that wasn't injured, prevented him from closing the distance between him and his friends. One glance over his shoulder was enough to make him groan in frustration.

"Don't act the hero, Potter, I saw your arm," Snape sneered.

"It's nothing sir," Harry said as he tried to free his shoulder from Snape's grip to no avail.

"I'll be the judge of that." 

Snape steered him away from the train and towards the group of Aurors and teachers who now began to apparate the most severely injured students away.

"Sir, with all respect I think the infirmary will be busy enough as it is. And I can get treatment later, it really isn't that big of a deal."

But Snape ignored him and went to stand on a deserted spot a small distance away from the others.
He held out his arm and shot Harry an impatient glance. Harry slowly and reluctantly put his hand on Snape's outstretched arm, knowing he would not be able to convince the stoic man that he could stay. The second he touched the fabric of the man's robe he felt a nauseating tug behind his navel.

The Aurors, the students, the train, the bridge and the mountains all disappeared as if someone threw a bucket of water at a just finished painting. Harry felt like he was drowning in the mixture of colours as he and Snape where turning rapidly towards their destination. He closed his eyes tightly to shut out the oppressive feeling and panicked when he couldn't breathe properly, when he felt they were slowing down. Without warning Harry was thrown on the ground and landed face first in the grass that surrounded them.

He did not want to let go of the perfectly clear sensation of fresh air flowing through his lungs and the scent of the grass and the wet earth. It made the nausea go away. So he kept laying there, on the ground, with his eyes closed.

"Are you going to lay there all day or should I move the infirmary out here?"

Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"I should have known that precious Potter would want the whole world to be at his beck and call."

Harry let out a frustrated sigh and pushed himself off the ground with his good arm. Snape was already stalking towards the castle. Harry had half a mind of staying right where he was and disobey Snape's order, but that probably wouldn't go over well. So he stood up and dragged himself along behind Snape.