Speak, Memory

Train Ride to Hogwarts

Harry got onto the train, where he found Ron and Hermione waiting for him. Ron, he noticed, was as freckly and gangly as ever, while Hermione seemed to have matured somewhat. Her once bushy brown hair had picked up some golden highlights from the summer sun and was now a striking lion's mane of tousled curls. Physically, she had passed the awkwardness of early adolescence and was now a slim and firm 5'6". Her peach-complexioned face had developed some bone structure; nice cheekbones and a not too prominent chin. How she's changed, Harry thought, so different now from the buck-toothed, unformed ten-year-old that had made such a negative initial impression on Ron and him.

After Harry had hugged both of his friends, they led him to their private prefects' carriage. "We're not going to have Malfoy coming in here, will we?" Harry asked.

"No," Hermione said, "this carriage is for the sixth-year Gryffindor prefects."

"I can't believe Malfoy's still a prefect," Ron said. "Now that everyone's seen what kind of slimeball his father is--"

"Well, Dumbledore can't take Malfoy's badge away just because his father's in prison," Hermione said. "Foul little beast that Malfoy might be, they can't punish him for something he didn't do."

"He helped Umbridge," Harry said. "And they're investigating her now too--I hope they call him in for questioning. And he must have been passing on information from Hogwarts to his father."

"Well, they haven't found anything to implicate him so far," Hermione said. "I doubt his father would have been stupid enough to have entrusted him with anything important."

"What about Malfoy's mother?" Harry asked. "She was the one who Kreacher spied for."

"The Ministry has her under house arrest," Ron said. "Cruel punishment, having a huge estate all to yourself--"

"What about Kreacher?" Hermione interrupted.

"He killed himself," Harry said. "The Ministry was going to interrogate him, and he said he'd die before betraying his true master. So he made his heart stop or something like that."

"Good riddance," said Ron.

"That's horrible," Hermione said impassionedly. "After all those years Kreacher slaved away for that awful family--they warped his mind so much that he killed himself to protect them."

"Hermione, Kreacher tried to get us all killed!" Harry said in angry disbelief. "Sirius, me, you--"

"Well, we treated him like dirt," Hermione said.

"He was dirt!" Harry yelled. "Worse than dirt. Besides, he liked being treated like that--why else do you think he was so in love with Sirius's mum? Whenever you tried to be nice to him he'd call you a--a Mudblood! He was a lying, foul little toerag who got what he deserved."

"Harry," Hermione said, in a softer voice, "I don't really understand it. You and Sirius--you're both so brave, so kind, and you see house-elves as real people--how can you act this way about Kreacher?"

"How do you think it was like for Sirius growing up in that hellhole with Kreacher mucking about?" Harry asked. "Sirius told me--Kreacher was always getting him into trouble with his parents--real trouble, his parents were no pushovers--"

"Look, I'm sorry Harry," Hermione sighed. "It's just so--so tragic to see how all this cruelty and bigotry--this evil just gets handed down through families, and even some of the house-elves fall for it, fall for that pureblood rubbish.

Ron, who had not been enjoying his friends' argument in the least, was eager to change the subject. "Speaking of families, Hermione," he asked, "how'd your parents take the news the Ministry sent about You-Know-Who?"

There was a moment of silence. "Well," Hermione began slowly, "it's an interesting story. You see, when I was little--before I came to Hogwarts--I was always very solitary, liked to be alone with my books instead of playing with other children. My parents were proud that I was so clever, but they were also worried that I didn't have friends. So when the letter arrived from Hogwarts, they were actually kind of relieved--they always knew I was 'different,' and here was proof that I was different in a good way. And when they saw how well I did in my classes, and I told them that I loved Hogwarts and had two of the best friends in the world there--they were just so happy that I had found my niche. And I didn't want to worry or upset them, or worse, make them turn against magic, so I never told them about--about V-Voldemort and all the dangers we've faced. So when they first read all that Ministry information about V-Voldemort, they were really upset. They were scared for my safety, angry at themselves for ever letting me go to Hogwarts where I could be exposed to all this danger, and angry at me for not telling them anything. So I thought it was time that I tell them the full truth." Hermione paused for a second before continuing,

"And--they were proud of me, they said they always knew I was smart but they had never realized that I was brave as well. They even apologized to me, for not showing enough interest in me for all these years. And they said they'd like to visit Hogwarts, to finally see what it was like, and that they wanted to see my friends, whom they'd heard such wonderful things about." Harry didn't know what to say. To have parents that were proud of you, who wanted to meet your wonderful friends--

"Can I stay over at your house some time?" asked Ron. "Cause your parents sound a lot easier to live with than my mum."

"Oh come on, Ron," Hermione said, "your mum's lovely. Why are you always complaining about her--she's so sweet, and she really loves you."

"I'd love to have your parents, Ron," Harry said, "I'm stuck with the Dursleys."

"By the way," Hermione asked, "what about the Dursleys? Is the Ministry telling them about--about Voldemort?"

"Dumbledore said he'd talk to them," Harry shrugged. "Like I care what happens to them."

"Oh dear," Hermione sighed. "My parents--they're Muggles, so of course they can't defend themselves and you both know how V-Voldemort feels about Muggles and Muggle-born wizards. I'm--" she swallowed a lump in her throat--"I'm so scared that something might happen to them, because of me, I'd never be able to forgive myself--"

As Ron and Harry searched for words to comfort Hermione, the train stopped. They had reached Hogwarts.