Chapter 12 - Chamber of Secrets

        Mrs Weasley led Harry and me to the kitchen table where Percy was sitting in his PJs. Fred, George and Ron followed each other to the table as well as Mrs Weasley pulled out two chairs,

"Here we are, Harry and Ella."

With polite and thankful smiles, my twin and I sat down with me in between Harry and Ron. "Now, tuck in. That's it."

I was starving after only having had small bowls of soup to share with Harry, who seemed to be just as hungry. Mrs Weasley generously served Harry and me some breakfast as Ron's younger sister came rushing in asking,

"Mummy. Have you seen my jumper?" The small, red-headed girl was in her robe and paid my brother and me no mind as her mother answered,

"Yes, dear, it was on the cat."

The young girl smiled and nodded before starting to turn away until she spotted Harry and me. The girl looked shocked as I smiled,

"Hi!"

But when Harry kindly spoke,

"Hello!"

The youngest Weasley's eyes went wide before she quickly dashed up the stairs. My brows furrowed in confusion as Fred and George quietly chuckled. "What did I do?" Harry asked, turning to Ron.

"Ginny," Ron answered, "She's been talking about you, Harry, all summer. Bit annoying, really."

I exchanged another confused look with Harry until a tall, ginger man walked through the front door, cheerfully greeting everyone,

"Morning, Weasley's!"

"Morning, Dad," everyone replied. We all went back to eating our breakfast as who I assumed to be Mr Weasley spoke,

"What a night! Nine raids! Nine!"

Harry and I turned to Ron again as we both asked,

"Raids?"

"Dad works at the Ministry of Magic. In the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office," Ron smiled proudly. "Eric's dad, too."

"The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts...?" I mumbled to myself before Ron continued, clearly having heard me,

"That's when wizards bewitch something to drive Muggles mad. Shrinking door keys, that kind of thing. Dad loves Muggles. Thinks they're fascinating."

I smiled in understanding as Mr Weasley sat at the head of the table beside Harry,

"Well, now." Mr Weasley tucked himself in as Harry and I returned to eating until Mr Weasley questioned, "And who are you two?"

Realizing we hadn't introduced ourselves, I politely smiled,

"Oh, sorry, sir."

"We're Harry and Ella, sir," Harry continued, "Harry and Ella Potter."

Mr Weasley's face filled with excitement,

"Good Lord, are you really?"

I shyly nodded with a small smile. "Well, Ron's told us all about you, of course. When did they get here?"

"This morning," Mrs Weasley answered with a dark tone, "Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey and back last night."

"Did you really! How'd it go?"

Before the five of us could answer, Mrs Weasley smack her husband's arm warningly, causing Mr Weasley to correct himself, "I mean... That was very wrong indeed, boys. Very wrong of you. So, Ella and Harry. You must know all about Muggles. Tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?"

"Oh," I said, furrowing my brows once again. "Uh-"

The sound of an owl screeching stopped me from saying anything else as I turned to see an owl soaring toward the kitchen window.

"Oh, that'll be Errol with the post," Mrs Weasley said aloud.

We all watched Errol head for the window, but shockingly, rather than flying with the grace that I've seen other owls have, Errol smacked into the glass. "Oh. Fetch it, will you, Percy, please?"

Percy nodded and stood, walking over to the owl, who got on his feet and shook his head before handing Percy the post.

"He's always doing that," Ron complained before Percy announced,

"Oh, look, it's our Hogwarts letters! And they've sent Harry and Ella's as well."

"Dumbledore must know you're here, Harry and Ella," Mr Weasley smiled as Percy passed out the letters. "Doesn't miss a trick, that man."

As Fred read his letter, he looked up at his mother with a slight frown,

"This lot won't come cheap, Mum. The spellbooks alone are very expensive."

"We'll manage," Mrs Weasley assured. "Right then. There's only one place we're going to get all of this. Diagon Alley."

All of the Weasleys finished their breakfast, along with Harry and me, before getting ready to head out. Harry and I grabbed our cloaks from our trunks before joining the Weasley family in front of a large fireplace. Mrs Weasley grabbed a pot that was hanging on the brick before turning toward us,

"Right. Here we are, Harry. You go first, dear."

Harry and I frowned in confusion, causing Ron to speak up,

"But Ella and Harry have never travelled by Floo Powder before, Mum."

"Floo Powder?" Harry and I simultaneously questioned. Mrs Weasley nodded in understanding, then gestured to Ron,

"Oh, well, you go first, Ron. So that Ella and Harry can see how it's done."

Ron nodded and stepped up. "In you go."

Following his mother's instructions, Ron stepped into the large fireplace before taking a handful of whatever powder stuff was in the pot. Mrs Weasley had everyone stand back before Ron said loud and clear,

"Diagon alley!" With that, Ron tossed the powder to the ground, causing him to erupt in giant green flames. My eyes went wide with shock and a bit of panic, especially when Ron was no longer standing there. But I knew that this was clearly something normal that I wasn't used to and that Ron was fine.

"You see?" Mrs Weasley asked with a smile and cheerful tone. "It's quite easy, dears. Don't be afraid. Come on, Harry."

Mrs Weasley gestured for Harry to come forward as Mr Weasley gave my brother a pat on his shoulder. As Harry started stepping up to the fireplace, Mrs Weasley guided him, "That's it. Mind your head. That's right. Now take your Floo Powder."

My twin did as he was told, taking a handful of powder, just as Ron did. "That's it, very good. Now don't forget to speak very, very clearly."

Everyone backed away again as Harry prepared to toss the powder. When Harry went to speak, I gave him a reassuring smile, but instead of speaking clearly as Ron did, Harry ended up saying,

"Diagonally."

My brother erupted in the green flames and disappeared just as Ron had. But then Mrs Weasley asked,

"What did he say, dear?"

"Diagonally," Mr Weasley replied.

"I thought he did."

Panicked, I worried and questioned,

"Is that bad? Will he be alright?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be quite alright, Ella. Harry will most likely have landed somewhere very close to Diagon Alley. Now, why don't you come up and go next."

Cautiously, I nodded and stepped up with Mrs Weasley before doing everything the way that I had seen Ron do it. When I was ready, I made sure to speak as loudly and clearly as Ron before I erupted in the green flames. When I opened my eyes, having squeezed them shut during the green fire, I saw I was standing in the middle of a fireplace in what looked like a shop in Diagon Alley.

"Ella!" Ron smiled as he came up to me. "You did it!"

"I did it!" I smiled back before slightly frowning, "Is Harry with you?"

"No? Why?"

"He didn't speak very clearly and ended up saying 'diagonally'," I explained as Ron took my hand, pulling me away from the fireplace.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Really?"

"Really," Ron smiled reassuringly at me.

It wasn't long before the rest of the Weasleys showed up. We still hadn't found Harry, but everyone assured me he was around here somewhere and would eventually find us, despite the fact they looked worried. We soon met up with Eric with his brother, Thomas, and his parents before finding Hermione with her parents. Our giant group had decided to start by getting our books.

"Come now, everyone. We're off to Flourish and Blotts," Mrs Weasley smiled. We all started our walk as Hermione excitedly smiled,

"Isn't it thrilling! Gilderoy Lockhart's going to be there! We can actually meet him! I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"

As everyone continued on, I stopped with Eric and Ron for a moment, asking with a confused look on my face,

"Who?"

"Some fancy wizard," Eric shrugged. "Come on."

As we waited in the long line, Hermione and I suddenly spotted Hagrid and a head of brown hair.

"Look!" Hermione exclaimed to me, and I smiled, taking her hand as the two of us dashed out of the shop. As soon as we ran through the door, Hermione and I ran and stopped in front of Hagrid and Harry.

"Harry!" I shouted, immediately hugging him as Hermione cheerfully spoke,

"Hagrid!"

"Hi, Hagrid!"

"Hello, Hermione and Ella!" Hagrid smiled.

"Oh, it's so good to see you," Hermione added.

"Oh, it's great to see you, too!" Harry replied before I noticed his glasses,

"What did you do to your glasses?"

"Oh, I, uh-"

With a playful roll of her eyes, Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at Harry,

"Oculus Reparo."

Just like that, Harry's glasses were fixed, and my brother looked at them with a smile before turning to our brilliant friend,

"I definitely need to remember that one."

"You'll be alright, now then, Harry?" Hagrid asked after a chuckle. The three of us nodded, assuring Hagrid. "Right. I'll leave you to it, then."

"Thank you, bye!"

"Bye!"

Hagrid turned to walk down the alley as Harry turned back to Hermione and me.

"Come on! Everyone's been so worried!" Hermione said, grabbing my hand as I grabbed my brother's, pulling him into the shop with us. Quickly, the three of us shuffled back to where everyone was in still very long line as Mrs Weasley greeted Harry,

"Oh, Harry. Thank goodness. We hoped you'd only gone one grate too far."

Harry only smiled, saying hello to Eric and everyone else as Mrs Weasley brushed him off. Suddenly, a man started speaking at the front of the shop,

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Golderoy Lockhart."

Mrs Weasley suddenly gasped, turning to face the front as everyone started clapping,

"There he is!"

Ron smirked, turning to me, Harry and Eric,

"Mum fancies him."

For that, Mrs Weasley gave Ron a jab in the shoulder. Everyone continued to clap as a blond man in blue robes stepped out from the back when a short man with a camera brushed by,

"Out of the way! Excuse me, little girl. This is for The Daily Prophet."

Instantly, Gilderoy Lockhart looked up at the camera and flashed a smile. The camera flashed, and just as Lockhart was about to pose in a different position, his eyes seemed to land on Harry and me.

"It can't be," Lockhart spoke, shocked, before smiling, "Harry and Ella Potter?"

My eyes went wide as the crowd whispered excitedly. Out of nowhere, the short man with the camera turned around and grabbed our cloaks as he exclaimed,

"Harry and Ella Potter!" The man pulled the two of us up to stand behind the counter with Lockhart, who also grabbed our cloaks and pulled us into an uncomfortable side hug. Under his breath, Lockhart spoke lowly to us,

"Nice big smile, Ella and Harry. Together, you both and I rate the front page."

Harry and I did not smile as the camera flashed, but Lockhart didn't seem to notice as he spoke to the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen! What an extraordinary moment this is! When young Harry and Ella, here, stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography, 'Magical Me-'"

The crowd clapped once more. "Which, incidentally, is currently celebrating its twenty-seventh week atop The Daily Prophet's Bestseller List-- they had no idea that they would, in fact, be leaving with my entire collected works! Free of charge!"

Lockhart shoved a stack of books into my arms before posing for the camera again. Everyone continued clapping, and Harry mumbled a "thank you" before the two of us walked back over to our group. My cheeks felt warm, and I just knew that I was red with embarrassment, especially since Harry had a red tint on his face, too. As we came to Mrs Weasley, the woman smiled,

"Ella, you give me those, and I'll get them signed."

Not particularly interested in the books, I handed them to Mrs Weasley. "Now, all of you wait outside."

Without another thought, Fred, George, Thomas, Percy, Ron, Eric, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and I all walked toward the door to the shop. But just before we could leave to wait outside, Malfoy blocked our path, stepping in front of us with a sneer,

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potters? Famous Harry Potter and his twin baby sister. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

I glared up at the horrid boy, who was irritatingly taller than me, when Ginny stepped up beside Harry, also glaring at the blond,

"Leave him alone!"

"Oh, look, Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend!" Malfoy tauntingly smiled when a man came up behind him, placing the cobra-shaped top of his crane on Draco's shoulder and pushing him to the side.

"Now, now, Draco. Play nicely," the man warned. He looked like an older version of Draco with longer hair. The man then looked toward my brother and me and said, "Ah... Mr and Miss Potter. Lucius Malfoy." Mr Malfoy extended his hand out to me for a shake. Cautiously, I accepted the greeting as Mr Malfoy looked between Harry and me. "We meet at last."

I could see Draco watching the interaction intently from the corner of my eye.

"Forgive me," Mr Malfoy said right before he suddenly yanked my right arm closer to him, pushing up my sleeve with his cane to reveal my scar. I took in a sharp breath, trying not to show the fear bubbling within me as Mr Malfoy examined the scar I shared with my brother. "Your scars are legend. As, of course, is the wizard who gave them to you."

"Voldemort killed our parents," Harry sternly answered as he pulled me toward him and away from Mr Malfoy, who loosened his hold on me. "He was nothing more than a murderer."

"Hmm. You must be very brave, Mr Potter, to dare speak his name. Or very foolish."

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," Hermione spoke up, staring defiantly.

"And you must be Miss Granger. Yes, Draco's told me all about you... and your parents. Muggles, aren't they?"

Hermione frowned, causing Eric to stand beside her comfortingly and gaining Mr Malfoy's attention, "Shall I guess... the Underwoods? Hm?"

Eric didn't say anything, and neither did Thomas, as Mr Malfoy turned to Ron and his siblings, "Let me see. Red hair, vacant expressions." Mr Weasley snatched a book from Ginny's cauldron, "Tatty, secondhand book... You must be the Weasleys."

We all simply glared at the evil man as I realized why Draco was so cruel. Suddenly, Mr Underwood and Mr Weasley came over and smiled,

"Children! It's mad in here. Let's go outside."

"Well, well, well... Weasley and Underwood senior."

"Lucius," Mr Underwood stiffly replied.

"Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur and Charles. All those extra raids? I do hope they're paying you overtime. But judging by the state of this," Mr Malfoy turned Ginny's book in his hand, examining it. "I'd say not." Glaring, Mr Malfoy turned to Mr Weasley and Mr Underwood, "What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it."

"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Mr Weasley retorted.

"Clearly." Mr Malfoy looked toward Hermione's parents. "Associating with Muggles..." Mr Malfoy stepped forward to put Ginny's book back in her cauldron, and I thought I noticed an extra one but ignored it as Mr Malfoy sneered, "And I thought your families could sink no lower."

Mr Weasley and Mr Underwood tried to keep brave faces, but both of them let a glare slip before Mr Malfoy finally said, "I'll see you at work."

The evil man left, and Draco stepped in front of us,

"See you at school." Malfoy gave Ron and Harry and challenge look before turning to me with a smirk. After a second, the boy left after his father, leaving us to finish our shopping for the day.

The next day, Harry, me, and the Weasleys were scrambling to get to platform 9 and 3/4 as quickly as possible through King's Cross, all of us pushing our large trolleys.

"10:58," Mr Weasley spoke, "Come on, come on!"

"The train'll be leaving any moment!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed.

"Fred, George, Percy, you first!"

Following their father's instructions, the three Weasley boys disappeared through the stone barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. Once they were through, Mrs Weasley gestured for Ginny to go next. Mrs and Mr Weasley went next together, leaving me, Harry, and Ron to go. "After you, dear."

"Let's go," Harry nodded. Ron and I nodded in return as Harry and I went ahead with our trolley with Ron right behind us. Quickly, the three of us started our quick run toward the stone barrier, but rather than going through, we suddenly crashed.

"Ow," I whined as Harry helped me up when a train master came over with a glare,

"Oi! What do you three think you're doing?"

"Sorry," Harry apologized, rubbing his arm. "Lost control of the trolley."

The train master shook his head before walking away. I quickly then turned to my brother and Ron with a worried tone,

"Why can't we get through?"

"I don't know," Ron answered, putting his hand on the barrier, "The gateway's sealed itself for some reason."

It was then that the clock chimed, causing Harry to frown,

"The train leaves at exactly eleven o'clock. We've missed it."

"Harry... Ella... If we can't get through, maybe Mum and Dad can't get back," Ron thought with a frown. I bit my lip with worry as Harry suggested,

"Maybe we should go and wait by the car."

"The car...!" Ron's face suddenly filled with excitement as he seemed to get an idea. "That's it! Let's go!"

Quickly, the three of us got our things together again before pushing our trolleys madly as we dashed to the car. As we loaded our belongings into the Anglia's boot, Ron explained his plan to get us to school.

"This is mad!" I exclaimed, "We can't drive to Hogwarts."

"Who says we're driving?" Ron asked, causing Harry to speak with a concerned tone,

"You don't mean... Ron, no."

"Look, who knows when Mum and Dad will get back. And we've got to get to school, haven't we? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's an absolute emergency. At least that's what Fred and George always say..."

"Something tells me we're going to regret this," I frowned as I got into the backseat of the Anglia with Hedwig and Scabbers while Ron and Harry sat in the front. Ron tapped his wand on the dash, and the car came to life.

"No offence, Ron," Harry asked, "But are you sure you know how to fly this?"

"No problem," Ron replied as he shifted the gearstick. With a jolt, the car lifted from the ground. "There. See. Now I reckon all we have to do is find the Hogwarts Express and follow it. Simple."

Harry nodded as he sent me a worried glance, clearly not entirely convinced. I peered out the window down below, only to see a few pedestrians staring in disbelief.

"Uh, Ron," I spoke up, "We should tell you. Most Muggles aren't accustomed to seeing a flying car."

"Uh, right." Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard, causing the car to turn invisible.

As we were flying over fields of grass, the car suddenly appeared again. Ron quickly tried to press the silver button again, but it didn't work. My ginger friend frowned,

"Oh no! The Invisibility Booster must be faulty."

"Well, come on then, let's go lower. We need to find the train."

I nodded in agreement with Ron,

"Ok."

Shifting the gearstick, Ron flew us down closer to the train tracks we had found, hoping to follow them and reach the train.

"Now all we need to do is catch up with the train," Harry said before I guessed,

"We can't be far behind."

"Do you hear that?"

I listened as Ron smiled,

"We must be getting close!"

Leaning forward, I tried to spot the train I assumed was in front of us. But after a moment, as I heard the sound of the train getting louder, I realised that it wasn't coming from in front of us...

"Hold on..."

The three of us quickly turned to look out the rear window, only to be met with the sight of the Hogwarts Express coming up quickly.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" the three of us screamed as Ron spun the wheel and, at the last possible second, whipped the Anglia out of the train's path. The car waffled, toppling upside down briefly, before tilting onto its side. As it jetted under the bridge, I went sliding around the back seat with Hedwig and Scabbers when Harry suddenly went sliding across his seat, into the door and out!

"HARRY!" Ron and I yelled in panic as my brother held onto the door of the car.

"Hold on, Harry!" I cried, trying to reach for him from my impossible position. Ron then leaned across the seat and shouted,

"Take my hand!"

Quickly, Harry gripped Ron's hand, his eyes on the train steaming far below. But Harry's fingers started to lose their grip and slipped away from Ron's. "Hold on!" Ron instructed, but Harry argued,

"I'm trying! Your hand's all sweaty!"

Trying again, Harry was able to grab Ron's hand again as I helplessly watched with worry. When they had a good grip on each other, Ron strained as he yanked Harry back inside before levelling off the car as my twin slammed the door shut. The three of us took deep breaths of relief as we calmed down. "I think we found the train."

"Uh-huh," I nodded, still in a bit of shock.

The rest of the journey to the school was tame as we followed the Hogwarts Express until Ron took the shortcut over the black lake. As the castle came into view, Ron smiled,

"Welcome home, Ella and Harry."

I smiled at the sight of my favourite place when the Anglia suddenly started sputtering and groaning. Ron tried to keep us steady as the ride got bumpy until we started heading straight toward the ground.

"UP!" Harry shouted, and I repeated,

"UP!"

Ron desperately tried to stop the car, but it was useless as he yelled,

"It's not working!"

Quickly, Harry leaned over and tried to help Ron shift the gearstick as he yelled,

"Up! Up!"

"Mind that tree!" I warned the boys, but Ron couldn't get the car to move. Ron grabbed his wand and whacked the dashboard as he demanded,

"STOP! STOP! STOP!"

But rather than getting the car to actually stop, Ron's wand snapped right before the car crashed into the large tree. The car slid down the huge branches until it finally got caught on a lower one, leaving us to hang there. "My wand! Look at my wand!"

"Be thankful it's not your neck," Harry answered when there was a sudden thump as something hit my brother's door, causing the car to shake.

"What's happening?" I pleaded, alarmed after today's events.

"I don't know," Harry replied, looking out the window. There was then another strange noise, and we all turned our heads in time to see one of the large branches coming toward the front window like a massive fist.

"Aaaaahhhhh!" Ron, Harry and I screamed as the branch started smacking the car, causing it to tilt. Another branch suddenly smashed through the rear window, and I ducked just in time while screaming,

"AHHH!"

The tree continued to smash the Anglia with its huge branches before the car slid forward and fell to the ground. While I thought we were finally ok, Harry urged Ron,

"Come on! Go! Fast!"

Looking out the window, I saw the tree preparing to come down on us as Ron drove away, making it just in time. The car stopped as we all caught our breath, but the calm moment was short-lived when the doors flew open, tossing me, Ron and Harry out. As we hit the ground, our trunks flew from the boot before Hedwig's cage rocketed out and into Harry and my arms, along with Scabbers to Ron. Taillights blazing angrily, the battered car sped off as we ran off after it.

"The car!"

We chased the Anglia until we watched it make its way into the Dark Forest.

"Dad's going to kill me," Ron sulked, and I took his hand to try and reassure him.