Year V

Chapter Thirteen

"All Aboard"

Jesse found himself standing outside the small café located on Isola Bella and cursed silently as he recognized the place. He knew right away that it was a dream, and it wasn't going to be a pleasant one because Isola Bella meant reliving that night ten years earlier.

"Shit," he muttered, as he watched the morning sun start to rise in the distance, illuminating the lake surrounding the tiny islet. "Might as well get this over with." He turned to head in the direction of the garden where he knew he would see his five-year old self being tortured over and over again.

It was always the same, but then again, it wasn't just a nightmare, it was a memory...and it would at least plague him a couple times a month. He had gotten used to it, but the last time he had this dream a couple weeks ago, it was different. He not only watched it happen, but he re-lived the pain of the Cruciatus curse as well. He figured it had something to do with him using his Elemental magic and pushing farther than he ever had before. He always experienced flashbacks when using the power, perhaps they amplified the dream?

But Jesse cared less about the how and why of the situation...he was back on Isola Bella, reliving that night...that night...he suddenly stopped as he looked back at the rising morning sun.

Morning Sun? What the hell!?!

"Hell's got nothing to do with it, Jesse," he heard a familiar voice say. "Then again, in your case, you can probably see it from here."

Jesse slowly turned and saw the dark-haired boy sitting at a table outside the café, sipping some juice and eating what appeared to be some sort of pastry. Jesse shook his head as if he were waking up from a bad dream, then stopped himself when he realized he was in a dream and it probably wouldn't accomplish anything. It took him a second to remember the boy's name from the last time, but Jesse knew a little bit more about him since he read those scrolls Arthur Weasley had given him.

"Cedric, right?"

Cedric Diggory nodded. "Yeah. I take it you've been reading up on me?"

"How did you know?"

Cedric smiled at him as he got up from the table. "Hey, I may be dead, but I'm not uninformed. Besides, we're in your head, it's your dream and your memories...and like I said last time we met, it's amazing that you're still sane."

"Hey!" Jesse snapped. "No going through my mind without my permission...jeez...I can't believe this...I'm having a conversation with some dead guy who happens to be a figment of my imagination."

Cedric shook his head and laughed. "I'm not exactly a figment of your imagination, Jesse. Let's just say you're one of the few people who can actually see and hear me."

"Well, why don't you bother them instead? I've got my own problems."

"Yes, I suppose you do," said Cedric. "But you're the only sane Elemental I know of that's in the area."

It was Jesse's turn to laugh. "Yeah, I guess we sane people are few and far between, but some people would tell you that I'm not-" He stopped himself in mid-sentence. "Wait a second...you said that I was the only sane Elemental in the area. You mean there's another Elemental nearby?"

"Well, somewhere in London," said Cedric as he leaned against a railing and looked at the lake. "Kind of an unhinged bloke, if you ask me. Trust me, Jesse, you are very sane compared to that man."

"Cedric, do you know where he is?" asked Jesse. "Who is he?"

Cedric shook his head and gave Jesse a sad smile. "Sorry, Jesse, I can't do that. I only know he's in London and that's all I can tell you."

"Why?"

Cedric shrugged. "I don't make the rules, Jesse...but I can't interfere with the path you're destined to follow, not when something this important is happening. I can only advise, give you a couple hints along the way, but that's it. However, right now...you've got other things to worry about at this moment."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"Waking up."

"What do you mean by tha-" Jesse was suddenly cut off as the whole world around him suddenly flashed out of existence and he found himself lying on a bed in a darkened room. It took him a second to realize that he was in a room at the Leaky Cauldron and someone was banging on the door from outside.

"Oy! Jesse! Wake up! The train leaves in an hour!"

"Go away," grumbled Jesse as he pulled his pillow over his face.

The door burst open and Fred and George entered the room.

"Get up, Jesse," said George as he grabbed one of Jesse's legs while Fred grabbed the other.

"We're leaving in twenty minutes," said Fred as he and George yanked Jesse out of bed and onto the floor.

"OW!" Jesse yelled as his head hit the floor. "Okay, I'm up, I'm up! It's bad enough your mom cut my hair yesterday...I don't need you beating the crap out of me on the first day of school."

"Just helping you get ready for your new home for the next ten months," said Fred with an evil grin as he and George grabbed Jesse's footlocker.

"Yeah," said George. "Being a Yank, you should expect a beating at least two times a week."

"Ha-ha," deadpanned Jesse as he pulled on his jeans and put on his runners. "Keep it up and I'll switch a couple of your Ton-Tongue Toffees with some Devil-Drops."

He followed Fred and George downstairs to the tavern, stifling a yawn, and saw Mrs. Weasley standing there with Ginny and the three trunks belonging to Ginny and the twins.

"Ah, there you are, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "You had better get a quick bite to eat, the others will be here shortly."

Jesse nodded, but he couldn't help wondering where the others were. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had been gone for over a week visiting a "friend". He knew it wasn't any of his business, but he was curious at the way Mrs. Weasley would get apprehensive when she and the twins briefly discussed things going on at "the other place"...almost as if they were hiding something.

Jesse, the twins, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley had arrived from the Burrow the day before and stayed at the Leaky Cauldron where they spent the day getting ready for school or going into Diagon Alley for some last minute shopping. The last day of the holidays in Diagon Alley was interesting, although the atmosphere was a little tense and there were still some signs of the destruction from a couple weeks earlier. Despite the slight paranoia, it had been a good day...until Mrs. Weasley had ambushed him at the Leaky Cauldron and cut his hair. He wasn't sure, but he had a suspicion the twins were in on that one...maybe it because they were laughing maniacally every time Mrs. Weasley chopped away at his hair.

Jesse managed to eat a piece of toast and down a glass of juice when Mr. Weasley entered the Leaky Cauldron.

"Ah, you're all set," said Mr. Weasley. "Mundungus got a us a Muggle vehicle."

"Who did he steal it from?" snapped Mrs. Weasley.

"Now Molly, that's not fair..."

Jesse rolled his eyes as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley continued their argument. "Whoa...hold on, where's Joscoe? Yo! Jos!"

There was a soft mewl and a flash of white light as Joscoe appeared on top of Jesse's footlocker, chewing on a piece of fish.

"No, we weren't leaving without you," said Jesse as he picked the calico up and handed him to Ginny. "Here, can you hold him for a second?"

Ginny nodded as she took Joscoe and scratched him behind the ears as she followed the others outside where an old Volkswagen van was waiting for them. "You're going to be good now, aren't you?"

The kitten's eyes narrowed to slits and he started to purr loudly, causing Ginny to hesitate. "Um, Jesse...?"

Jesse shoved his footlocker into the back of the van and shook his head as he took Joscoe from her. "Jeez, Jos...knock it off, will ya? You know we can't take off yet...at least, not until we get there first."

Mrs. Weasley shot him a stern look. "Jesse..."

"I'm just kidding," said Jesse as he opened the side door to the van and found himself face to face with a large and menacing looking black dog. "Whoa!"

Jesse jumped back a couple feet and Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "For heaven's sake Sirius, Dumbledore said no!"

The dog made what sounded like a cross between a bark and a whimper.

"Oh, honestly..." said Mrs. Weasley despairingly, "well on your own head be it!" She then looked over at Jesse. "Okay, Jesse...get inside."

Jesse cautiously entered the van with Joscoe in one arm and kept his eyes on the dog. He wasn't sure why, but he could sense something about the dog. Those eyes didn't look like that of a dumb animal...they were looking him over...studying him. After a couple seconds, the dog gave small bark and looked over at Harry who was sitting on the other side along with Ron and Hermione.

"I think he likes you," said Harry with a laugh.

"Lousy judge of character," muttered Ron as Jesse took a seat behind them.

"Shut up, Ron."

"Ron, Jesse...that's enough," snapped Mr. Weasley from the driver's seat.

Jesse leaned back in his seat and looked around at the inside of the van. Obviously, it had been enchanted to accommodate all nine of them, their pets, and their luggage. Fifteen minutes later, they had arrived at King's Cross Station and were rolling their luggage carts to the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten. Jesse couldn't help laughing as he stepped through the barrier and he found himself standing on platform nine and three-quarters in front of a scarlet steam engine.

"Whoa...now that's cool."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Fred. "But the novelty wears off after the first four or five times."

They spent the next few minutes stowing their luggage on the train, then stepped back outside to say good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. A few moments later, they were joined by three other adults, two men and a young woman with purple hair. While everyone said their good-byes, Jesse couldn't help feeling a little isolated as he watched friends and family members shake hands and hug each other farewell. He felt a slight chill in the air and, for a moment, it was like he had been ripped from the rest of the world and it went on without him.

It must suck being the outsider

, he heard that silent voice say in the back of his mind. No friends, no family...just a stranger. No matter how much they appear to accept you, you'll always be alone and easily forgotten. But then again, can you blame them? How else should they treat a monster?

"Shut up," Jesse muttered under his breath. He heard a questioning mewl from the ground and saw Joscoe looking up at him. "Nah, it's okay Jos...just a little bummed, that's all. Let's get inside, shall we?"

He reached down, picked up Joscoe and was about to step onto the train when he caught sight of Lucius Malfoy off in the distance, no doubt there to see his son off to school. A cruel smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

Well,

he thought to himself, going to Hogwarts does have its upside. A little pay-back is always nice.

"Jesse?"

Jesse turned around and saw Arthur Weasley standing there. "Mr. Weasley...what can I do for you?"

"I noticed that you broke off from the others...is something wrong?"

"Nah," said Jesse, managing to force a smile on his face, "just thinking about stuff, nothing really big."

"Really?" said Mr. Weasley. "You know, Jesse, I have to admit that your ability to lie and tell the truth at the same time is quite impressive."

Jesse couldn't help laughing at that comment. "It shows, huh? Yeah, you're right...there's quite a few things bothering me, but just don't ask me what they are, I don't think I have time to list them all."

"Well, I don't mean to make things worse," said Mr. Weasley, "but I think you should at least be warned. The Minister of Magic has learned of your presence here and he's not too happy about it."

"What? How the hell did he learn that?"

Mr. Weasley shrugged. "It doesn't matter, he was bound to learn of your presence sooner or later." He handed Jesse a copy of the Daily Prophet. "He's certainly wasting no time in using this to his advantage, that's for certain."

Jesse placed Joscoe on his shoulder and opened the paper to the front page. A picture of Albus Dumbledore was plastered across the top half of the page, giving a lopsided grin to the camera. Jesse had no doubt the photo was selected to portray Dumbledore as possibly losing his mind. His suspicions were confirmed as he read the article.

Ministry Questions Controversial Decision

The Ministry has recently learned that an American student from the former Colonies has been admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This controversial decision by current school Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, has sparked concern among prominent members of the Wizarding Community and the Ministry. There are some high placed officials who are concerned that Albus Dumbledore might no longer be able to handle the challenge as Headmaster of such a prestigious school.

"As a parent who is concerned about the education of their child, I cannot help but question the recent decisions made by the current headmaster," said Mr. Lucius Malfoy, 41, speaking from his Wiltshire mansion last night. "I, myself, have voiced concern over the falling standards for the last five years. Four years ago, I tried to help improve them and I found myself forcibly 'relieved' of my duties on the board of school governors."

"This is absurd," said Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. "There will no doubt be an investigation in the matter, however, as it stands, the Ministry's hands are effectively tied for the time being. As Headmaster of the school, Dumbledore can make decisions without Ministry approval. Perhaps it is time we made some serious changes in the way we..."

Jesse crumpled the paper and tossed it aside. "What a load of crap."

"Maybe so. However, we must be cautious."

"Yeah, well...the last time I checked, Dumbledore still had ultimate say on who he admits to the school. If Fudge has a problem, there's nothing he can do about it." Jesse allowed himself a small smile. "Besides, he's probably too busy counting his latest bribe from Malfoy to care."

"Actually, he has done something about it." Mr. Weasley took Jesse by the shoulder and pulled him near one of the station pillars, a couple cars down from where the others were saying their good-byes. "I just learned last night that Fudge managed to place one of his people on the Hogwarts faculty."

"What? How?"

"Dumbledore was unable to find someone to fill in one of the teaching positions and Fudge managed to use his political pull to place his Undersecretary in the vacant slot. You need to be careful around her. I've warned the others, but I want you to be especially careful."

"Great," muttered Jesse as the warning whistle sounded and students started to board the train. "It's bad enough I'll be targeted by other students for being 'that damn Yank from the colonies', now I have to worry about the faculty and the Minister gunning for me."

"I mean it, Jesse, be careful around her."

"Don't worry, Mr. Weasley," said Jesse as he started to board the train. "I'll try to keep my distance." He entered the car and grabbed Joscoe off his shoulder. "Okay, bud, you remember where we left our stuff?"

Joscoe purred softly, pausing only a moment to yawn.

"Thanks, you're a big help," grumbled Jesse as he made his way back towards the car the others were on. As he passed a few passenger compartments, he noticed that he got some glances from the other kids on board. It only took ten seconds before the whispering started.

"That's him...that must be the Yank."

"And the news spreads like wildfire," muttered Jesse as he passed one car.

"An American Mudblood, the Ministry wasn't lying..."

"Strange, he doesn't seem as obnoxious as most Yank wizards..."

Jesse pretended not to notice their comments, but he was getting sick of people looking at him as if he were a museum relic or a piece of trash. He noted one compartment had students wearing green and silver scarves and they were all shooting him venomous looks.

These must be the Slytherins,

Jesse thought.

As he passed another compartment, he heard a startled gasp.

"Was that-?"

"No...he's dead..."

"That must be the student from the colonies..."

"But he looks like-"

Jesse didn't bother stopping, he kept going towards the end of the car, hoping he'd get into the next car before anyone said anything to him.

"That must be the Yank..."

"Dumbledore must be crazy..."

He hurried his way past the other passenger compartments and breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the next car.

Okay,

he thought to himself as he passed the first couple compartments, just one more to go before I reach the others.

"Oy, Jess," he heard a familiar voice call from behind. Jesse turned and saw Fred (or was it George?) sticking his head out of a nearby compartment.

"Where'd you go? George and I wondered what happened to you."

Jesse shrugged as he entered the compartment which was occupied by the twins and a black boy with dreadlocks. "Your dad wanted to talk to me and showed me that article in the Daily Prophet. I boarded the train a couple cars down."

"Ah, don't take the Prophet article too seriously," said Fred.

"Look at it this way," said the boy with the dreadlocks. "At least your presence here gives us something new to read instead of the usual 'let's drag Harry and/or Dumbledore over hot coals' smear campaign."

Jesse smiled in spite of himself. "Yeah, now it's 'Lynch the Yank bastard and drag Harry and/or Dumbledore over hot coals'."

The other boy laughed as he and Jesse shook hands. "Well, the Prophet's never been known for originality. Lee Jordan."

"Jesse McCade."

"Fred and George were telling me about you...they said you might be a potential business partner."

"Yeah," said Jesse as he sat down and set Joscoe on the floor. "But I've also learned that 'potential business partner' in Weasley terms usually means 'test subject' or 'victim'."

George pretended to gasp in outrage. "That's not true...we gave you fair warning...after you sampled the product."

"Uh-huh...riiiiiiiight. Was that before or after the Squirrel-Brittle?"

"Don't play innocent with us, McCade, what about your Devil's Drops? Our mouths were on fire for the better part of the day."

"Devil's Drops?" asked Lee.

Jesse smiled as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a couple pieces of hard candy in blood-red wrapping. He offered them to Lee and winked. "Don't worry, Lee...it's only candy."

Lee shook his head and grinned. "Nice try, but after dealing with Fred and George's Ton-Tongue Toffees, I'll pass."

The four of them spent the next hour talking and playing a couple games of Exploding Snap until they were interrupted by a kindly old witch who was selling treats off a snack cart. After filling up on pumpkin pasties and butterbeer, Jesse sat back and listened to Fred and George talk to Lee about 'getting ready for business'. The twins had told him about how they were planning to open a joke-shop, and Jesse had no doubt that they had the expertise to pull it off. But he suspected that the twins were farther along in their plans than they claimed.

"We did manage to get premises lined up," Fred was saying.

"But where did you get the money for it?" asked Lee.

"Let's just say we have a silent partner," said George, "who was very generous and gave us a very large sum of gold to get started."

Lee turned to Jesse. "You?"

"Don't look at me," replied Jesse, "I'm just a potential partner/victim here."

"I prefer to think of you as more of a freelance sub-contractor," said Fred. He reached into his pocket pulled out a mirror-ball. "This, for example," he said to Lee, "is one of Jesse's little creations." He tossed the mirror-ball to Lee.

"What does it do?"

"Just close your hand around it and hold it firmly for a few seconds, then open it up again."

Lee did as he was told and laughed as he saw several duplicates of himself suddenly appear in the compartment. They could hear shouts of surprise from the other compartment and the corridor outside the compartment. Several seconds later, the duplicates vanished. "Not bad," he said. "Illusion charm?"

"Yeah," replied Jesse, "It creates life-sized images of the person holding the ball and they all mimic that person's moves. It only lasts for thirty seconds, but if you wanted to make a getaway, these are perfect."

"How much?"

"For you, I'll charge eleven Sickles. Fred and George will be charging them a Galleon."

"Seems a very low price to pay for something like that, don't you think?"

"Let me put it to you this way, Lee. It costs me maybe three Sickles to produce one of these things. The twins here get thirty percent off each one of these they sell, I get the other seventy percent." He pulled out another mirror-ball from his jacket sleeve and handed it to Lee. "Besides, wait until I get the bugs worked out on the next version."

"Bugs?" asked Lee, who was starting to remember the side-effects of some of the twins' previous inventions. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing," said Jesse. "The images don't cast any shadows, so if you use that in a brightly lit area..."

Lee nodded in understanding. "People can see your shadow...good point."

"Do you have any more of those?" asked Fred. "We might be able to sell a few on the train."

"Not on me, but there's some in my footlocker in the other car, want me go grab some?"

"If it's not too much trouble," said George.

"And grab us a bag of your Devil's Drops," added Fred. "We can sell those to the Slytherins."

"That'll drum up butterbeer sales," laughed Jesse as he got up out of his seat. Joscoe got up as well and mewled at him. "What, you wanna' come too?"

Joscoe purred, jumped down to the floor and stretched his front legs.

"Okay, just don't get lost," said Jesse. He opened the door and Joscoe bolted outside. "Dammit, Jos! Get back here!" He glanced over his shoulder and shot Fred and George a threatening look as they laughed at him. "Oh yeah," he muttered under his breath, "definitely going to slip some Devil's Drops in your Pumpkin Juice."

He caught up with Joscoe a minute later when he reached the end of the car, the calico was pawing at the door.

"Okay, okay, hold on..." said Jesse as he scooped up Joscoe and opened the doors that led into the next car. "Jeez, it's not my fault you didn't pack a snack. We're almost...there..." Jesse froze in mid-sentence as he saw three boys standing in front of the compartment his footlocker was located.

He didn't know who the two overgrown gorillas were, but he didn't have any problem recognizing their leader, a pale faced boy with blond hair and an arrogant sneer. For a moment, Jesse felt a flicker of pain and saw a brief flash of Lucius Malfoy grinning smugly at him inside his mind.

It was only a matter of time before this happened,

he thought to himself. The three didn't notice him entering the far side of the car, in fact, it looked like the pale faced boy was about to open the door to the compartment, pausing for a moment to say something to his two companions about "making life miserable for Potter and the Weasel". The two other boys chuckled in response.

Jesse opened the door to the compartment he was standing next to and heard some startled gasps. He looked inside and saw three boys and two girls sitting there, each of them had a look of shock on their faces. Jesse noticed that one of the boys and one of the girls had a Prefect badge, but he wasn't sure which House they were in. "Um, hello."

They stared back at him, still looking like they had seen a ghost. A moment later, one of them, a tall boy with blond hair, nodded at him.

"Look, I'm sorry to bother you, people...but would you mind if I leave my cat here? I have to take care of something and I don't want him to get lost." He set Joscoe on an empty seat next to the girl with a Prefect badge. "Thanks...I'll be right back...it's just for a minute."

Before they could say anything, he had stepped out of the compartment and closed the door. He flicked his left wrist and felt the small marble-like object slide out of its hidden jacket-sleeve pocket and into his hand.

Okay, time to get this over with.

* * * *

Draco knew that he was disobeying his father's orders about staying away from Harry Potter this year, but he couldn't help himself, especially when he learned that the "Weasel" was made a Prefect instead of the "great Harry Potter". He couldn't wait for a chance to rub salt in the wound and make Potter's life miserable. Besides, it was starting to become something of a tradition to have a confrontation on the train. He also remembered what happened the last time when he was hexed by Potter and his little club. This time, there would be no surprise ambush. Flanked by Crabbe and Goyle as he approached the last passenger compartment, Draco made sure he had his wand handy.

However, it wasn't out of defiance toward his father that motivated Draco, that was just a fringe benefit. He wanted to meet the "Yank", mostly out of curiosity. Originally, he would have been disgusted at the prospect of meeting an "American Mudblood", but after hearing the argument between Granger and the Weasel in the Prefect's carriage, Draco was intrigued. Apparently, Weasley didn't care much for the American and it sounded like the feeling was mutual.

Imagine the possibilities,

he thought to himself.

"This should be amusing," he said over his shoulder to Crabbe and Goyle. "At the very least, we can make Potter and the Weasel miserable."

He opened the door and saw the usual Gryffindors that seemed to swarm around Potter like insects...Weasel, the Weasel's sister Ginny, Neville the 'almost Squib', and the Mudblood Granger. Draco made sure not to make eye contact with Granger...he still couldn't get over the fact that the Mudblood saved his life. In the far corner, he saw a girl in Ravenclaw colors sitting quietly and reading a magazine.

"What?" Potter said aggressively, cutting Draco off before he could say anything.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," smirked Draco. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishment."

"Yeah," said Potter, "but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone."

Draco's lip curled in annoyance as Potter's friends laughed at him, but he wasn't about to let Potter win this round of verbal fencing. "Tell me, how does it feel being second best to Weasley, Potter? he asked.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Granger.

Draco flinched slightly at Granger's remark, but he was able to hide it behind a cruel smile. "I seem to have touched a nerve," he said, smirking. "Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line."

"Get out!" said Granger, standing up.

Sniggering, Draco gave Potter one last malicious look and turned to leave. He allowed himself a small chuckle as Granger slammed the door behind them, but he felt a twinge of disappointment at not having met the Yank. Then again, thought Draco with a smile, he's probably cowering in a compartment somewhere.

However, the smile on his face was short lived when he looked up and saw the Yank standing there. Draco didn't bother to hide his disgust at the American's appearance...dressed as a Muggle, jeans, a leather jacket, and a pair of sunglasses.

Typical American trash,

Draco thought to himself. However, there was something about the way the American was standing there looking at him...studying him...almost as if he were a considering a potential threat.

"Well, well," snickered Draco, "what have we here? You must be the American Mudblood."

Crabbe and Goyle laughed with him, but his amusement started to fade when he saw the other boy shake his head and smile back at him.

"American Mudblood," the other boy repeated as he took a step forward. "You know...if that's the best insult you can come up with, your best bet is to keep your mouth shut."

"Careful, Mudblood," said Draco, "you have no idea who you're dealing with. I happen to be a Prefect."

"You're also a Malfoy," said the American, "which gives me enough reason to ignore you. So if you and your little friends would be so kind as to step aside, I'll be on my way."

Warning bells went off in the back of Draco's head, the American knew who he was! Then he remembered his father's warning about staying clear of the American. However, Draco was not about to let some American Mudblood simply dismiss him like that. "Hold on," he said, grabbing the American's arm when he tried to push his way past them. "I think you need to learn some manners."

The other boy looked down at Draco's hand then looked back up at Draco. "Malfoy," he said with a smirk, "you had your warning. Let me pass, or this will be the start of a very bad year for you."

"Really?" Draco couldn't believe this, the American was still treating him like an inferior. "I think it's time you learned your pla-"

Before Draco could finish his sentence, the other boy had brought his left hand up and tossed what appeared to be a blue marble in the air. There was a flash of blue light and then blackness. He felt himself being violently pushed to the ground and then heard the sound of a fight. He heard Crabbe manage to utter a curse before there was the sound of something heavy hitting the side of the car. Goyle, in the meantime was crying out in pain. Several seconds later, Draco's vision began to clear, though he was still seeing black and blue spots. Crabbe was leaning against the wall holding his nose which trickled a steady stream of blood while Goyle was rolling on the ground in pain, both hands over his groin.

Draco started to get up when someone grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him against the wall. When his vision finally cleared, Draco found himself facing the American. However, the smirk on the American's face was gone and his sun-glasses hung at an awkward angle, the anger in his eyes mirroring the cold hatred in his voice as he spoke.

"Draco Malfoy," he said, his voice barely more than a cold whisper. "You know, you look a lot like your dad...same hair, same facial expression, same snobby attitude." His eyes suddenly glowed as he shoved Draco against the wall again. "Tell me, rich-boy...you ever experience pain?"

Draco had realized by now that he had crossed a line and that the American was indeed planning on hurting him severely. However, the fear for his personal safety took a back seat to his horrified fascination as he looked at those glowing eyes. "Bloody hell," he managed to say. "What are you?"

"What your father made me," replied the other boy as he brought back one hand and formed it into a fist.

"McCade!" someone yelled. Draco looked over the American's shoulder and saw Hermione Granger standing there, wand out and pointing at the American's back. Potter and the Weasel were standing behind her, wands also out and ready. "What do you think you're doing?"

The American's eyes suddenly stopped glowing and he released his grip on Draco, letting him drop to the ground. Then he reached up and placed his sunglasses back in their proper position on his face as he gave Draco a cold smile. "It's nothing, Hermione...Draco Malfoy and I were having a disagreement."

By now, other students were poking their heads out of their compartments to see what was happening. "What's going on here?" snapped Ernie MacMillan, the fifth year Prefect for Hufflepuff, flanked by three other members of his house.

* * * *

"Bloody hell," Malfoy gasped as Jesse held him against the wall. "What are you?"

Jesse pulled one hand back and formed a fist, he could already feel the fire within starting to build-up, screaming for release...for the chance to sear flesh. "What you're father made me," said Jesse, unsure if he was going to hit or burn the Malfoy where he stood.

"McCade!" he heard a familiar voice yell. "What do you think you're doing?"

The shout suddenly snapped Jesse out of his haze and back into reality. The fire subsided and he dropped Malfoy to the ground. He gave Malfoy a cold grin as he put his sunglasses back on his face.

Another time,

he thought to himself.

"It's nothing, Hermione," he said, keeping his voice as even as possible. "Draco Malfoy and I were having a disagreement."

He turned and saw other students looking into the corridor from their compartments, no doubt drawn by the sounds of the small fight that had broken out. One of them stepped forward from the crowd and Jesse recognized him as a Prefect from the group in the compartment he left Joscoe.

"What's going on here?"

"It's nothing, MacMillan," said Hermione Granger, who sounded a little annoyed. "I can handle this."

"Really?" said MacMillan. "I can see that you're doing a wonderful job, Malfoy on the ground, his cronies rolling around in pain, and your wand pointing at someone's back."

Hermione lowered her wand and frowned. "It's under control, Ernie."

"Yeah," said Jesse as he gave Malfoy a malicious look. "It's under control. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to use the restroom." He then turned and proceeded towards the next car where the toilet was located. When he reached the restroom, he locked the door behind him and leaned on the sink, his hands trembling. His hands were still shaking as he reached over and turned the handles to the faucet. He threw some cold water on his face, enjoying the slight chill as the cold liquid hit his skin, then opened his eyes and looked at his reflection in the mirror above the sink.

"You almost lost it back there," he said to his reflection. "You can't lose control like that."

"And you can't be talking to yourself in the mirror like that," the mirror said back to him. "It's a sure sign of madness."

"Shut up," said Jesse as he wiped the water off his face and left the restroom. The last thing he needed was getting into an argument with a piece of furniture. When he reached the other car, it looked like things were back to normal. Malfoy and his goons were gone and most of the others had returned to their compartments. However, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still outside in the corridor, talking quietly to each other. They were obviously waiting for him to come back and his suspicions were confirmed when they stopped talking and looked up at him.

What threw him off, however, was the reactions on their faces. Harry seemed curious, while Ron acted like Christmas had come early and was having a hard time hiding a big grin on his face. However, Hermione, seemed furious with him. "What were you thinking, Jesse?" she said. "Picking a fight with a Prefect? With Malfoy no less?"

Jesse pretended to ignore her as he entered the compartment, pulled his footlocker out from under a seat , and opened it. He grabbed a couple of shimmering mirror balls and a small bag of Devil's Drops and closed the footlocker.

"Jesse," someone said softly, "are you okay?"

Jesse looked over and saw Ginny Weasley sitting there. For a moment, he let his guard down and gave her a sad smile. "Yeah...I'll be fine."

"You're lying again," she said.

Jesse managed to chuckle at that. "Yeah," he said as he shoved his footlocker back under the seat. "I guess I am."

"McCade!" hissed Hermione, who apparently wasn't used to someone ignoring her. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Yeah," replied Jesse as he walked past her and back out into the corridor. "Draco Malfoy...Prefect...bad guy, blah, blah, blah...I get the idea."

"I don't think you do, Jesse. Malfoy's not only a Prefect for Slytherin house, but his father has connections to some bad-"

Jesse suddenly whirled on her, momentarily losing his temper. "Don't lecture me, Granger," he snapped, "especially when it comes to Malfoys and their connections. Believe me, I know exactly what the Malfoys are and, unlike you, I've had first-hand experience in that department."

He then glanced over in Harry's direction. "Except for Potter here, I don't think any of you have any idea what it's like to be tortured. So don't even pretend you know more about something you've never experienced!"

* * * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood there, dumbfounded, as they watched Jesse McCade walk off down the corridor. For a moment, no one said anything until Ron cleared his throat.

"Well," said Ron who, for some reason, couldn't help smiling. "You certainly told him, Hermione. Sure, he's still a git, he certainly had no problem dealing with Malfoy and his goons."

"Sounds to me like you're changing your opinion about him," said Harry.

Ron shrugged. "Like I said, he's still a git, but if he likes to hurt Malfoy, who am I to complain?"

Hermione, however, remained silent. It seemed that something Jesse said had hit home and she didn't look too happy about it. Harry also found himself mentally going over Jesse's words.

"Except Potter here, I don't think you have any idea what it's like to be tortured. So don't even pretend you know more about something you've never experienced!"

That's when everything clicked into place and it all made sense. He remembered a conversation back in Diagon Alley, when they were on their way to Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"Of course, you're making the assumption that Lucius Malfoy's brat will actually live that long..."

There was no doubt in Harry's mind now, Jesse definitely knew the Malfoys and he had nothing but a bitter hatred for them. However, that brought up the other question: Why?

Had Jesse been tortured as well?

Another memory flashed through Harry's mind, back at the Leaky Cauldron when they took refuge after the attack on Diagon Alley...something Mr. Weasley had said...

"There seems to be a lot of that going on. The healers are looking over Jesse and they don't know what's wrong with him. He got away with light burns, but it's like he won't wake up. Of course, there was also the effects of the Cruciatus curse, but I-"

If Jesse had been tortured by Lucius Malfoy, that would explain a lot of things, but that still left the question as to why Lucius Malfoy tortured Jesse. What was it about Jesse McCade that had Voldemort's right hand go after him?

* * * *

As Jesse made his way down the car, he kept mentally yelling at himself.

You idiot,

he thought to himself, you shouldn't have lost it like that. First you lost control with Malfoy, and then you literally ripped Granger's head off. What's wrong with you?

Before he could come up with an answer to that question, another voice broke into his thoughts.

"You...McCade, right? That's what Granger called you."

Jesse stopped and turned to see the Prefect named Ernie MacMillan sticking his head out of a compartment, then Jesse remembered something else...Joscoe! He left Joscoe in that compartment before this whole mess started.

"Yeah," said Jesse, not sure if MacMillan was friendly or hostile. "That would be me."

The other boy smiled at him. "Relax, McCade, I'm not going to reprimand you for your incident with Malfoy. Besides, we thought you might want your cat back."

"Yeah, that would be nice. Where is he?"

"Hannah's got him right now, he appears to be asleep."

Jesse shook his head and laughed. "It figures, I get into trouble and he decides to take a nap."

MacMillan laughed as well and extended his hand. "Ernie MacMillan, Prefect of Hufflepuff House."

"Jesse McCade," said Jesse as he shook Ernie's hand, "misplaced American."

"Come on in, McCade, I'll introduce you to the others."

Jesse almost declined the invitation, but decided not to...Fred and George could wait a few more minutes. Besides, these people did have his cat. He entered the compartment and saw the same group he had seen earlier. Although, this time, Joscoe was curled up in the lap of the girl with the other Prefect badge and purred contentedly, his ears twitching involuntarily as she scratched behind them.

"Everyone, this is Jesse McCade, he's the Yank the Prophet's been complaining about. Jesse McCade, this is Justin Finch-Fletchley, Zacharias Smith, Susan Bones, and the other Prefect over here holding your cat is Hannah Abbot."

Jesse was actually shocked by the attitude of this group. They didn't seem quite as cold and hostile as some of the other students on the train and were actually friendly. However, the boy with the blond hair, Zacharias Smith, did seem to eye him suspiciously for a couple seconds before nodding his head in greeting.

"So tell me, Jesse," asked the girl named Susan Bones, "where did you go before Hogwarts?"

"Marneons," replied Jesse.

"Marneons?" repeated Zacharias Smith. "The academy near Liverpool?"

"That would be the one," said Jesse as he reached over and softly tapped Joscoe on the nose. "Wake up, bud."

"So you were already attending a school here in England?"

"Yep."

"How did you manage that?" asked Zacharias.

"Don't you mean to ask 'why isn't a Yank at a Yank school to begin with'?" said Jesse.

The other boy laughed and nodded. "I wasn't planning on putting it that way, but yes, that is the question."

"I got kicked out of Salem Centre in my third year. Mom and Dad pulled some strings through some contacts of theirs and I ended up in Liverpool." He smiled for a moment as he remembered the big party he had thrown at Marneons which resulted in him being kicked out. "Tried to get kicked out there and I ended up here...don't ask, long story."

Hannah Abbot gave him a questioning look. "Tried to get kicked out? Why?"

Jesse smiled and shook his head. "It's a long story...let's just say the Wizarding World would be better off without me and I'd be better off without it. However, Dumbledore disagreed with that and here I am."

"McCade...McCade" said Zacharias Smith, trying to remember why Jesse's name sounded familiar. "Wait a second...you're the student who crashed the Floo network at the beginning of the summer holidays."

"That would be me," said Jesse.

The other boy nodded in approval. "An impressive bit of magic, but why would you want to leave the Wizarding World?"

"Like I said," said Jesse as he took Joscoe from Hannah, "we'd be better off without each other. Anyhow, I'd like to stay and chat, but I have a business deal to conduct with a certain pair of twins."

"Fred and George Weasley?" asked Ernie.

"Yep." Jesse placed Joscoe on his shoulder and opened the door to the compartment. "But who knows," he said over his shoulder, "we may meet up again."

* * * *

The Hufflepuffs were silent for a few moments after Jesse had left the compartment, but Ernie MacMillan didn't have to be a mind reader to know what the others were thinking. When he first saw the American boy at the station, he, like the other members of his house, thought he saw a ghost.

It was Susan Bones who spoke first. "Well, I can see how we were mistaken from a distance...has the same hair color and build, but he's definitely not Cedric."

"No," said Zacharias, "definitely not Cedric, but he certainly had no problem handling Malfoy and his two friends."

"I wonder what house he'll be in," said Hannah.

"Probably Gryffindor," said Justin Finch-Fletchley. "He's been spending a lot of time with the Weasleys, he'll end up in Gryffindor."

"I wouldn't be too sure," said Hannah, "we might end up with him."

The others laughed at her, but Ernie didn't. However, he couldn't help smiling at the irony of the idea. Cedric dies and this other person comes out of nowhere...someone who sort of looks like him.

The last year had been bad for Hufflepuff, it hadn't started out that way, but it ended with the death of Cedric Diggory. Ernie wasn't one for superstition, but he couldn't help thinking that something big was about to happen.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into this,

he thought. After all, we're supposedly 'the duffers' of Hogwarts. But wouldn't it be ironic if we got dragged into the middle of things for once?

Little did he know how true those thoughts were.

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