Harry spent the last few weeks before school being ignored by the Hapschatts. This in itself was not entirely uncommon, it seemed a regular hobby of sorts to pretend that Harry didn't exist... but it was the manner in which they did it. It was almost as if they were afraid of him- that anything may set him off.

Harry spent most of his time reading his text books and looking through his rather large crate of supplies for school. It was almost as though he felt it would all disappear, that if he didn't continually check the existence of the evidence, he'd wake up from his dream to his miserable life with the Hapschatts again. Buddy had left an ripped calendar in the room, which Harry had put on the wall by his bed. He crossed off every day as it passed... until it was three days before he had to go to school.

He would have to ask Mr. Hapschatt to take him... considering all his equipment, there was no way he could manage it on his own.

Harry stepped quietly down the staircase and peered into the living room where Mr. Hapschatt was reading the paper. "Uh.. sir..." he began unsteadily. Mr. Hapschatt gave his newspaper an annoyed shake to show he was listening. "Well.. school starts in three days and I'm going to need to get a ride so I can go...." he felt his body tense as he braced himself for the reply.

Mr. Hapschatt let out a quick huff of breath and spoke in an even monotone. "Where do you need to go, boy?"

Harry quickly pulled the address from his pocket. He'd kept it there since Eddie had given it to him, for fear of misplacing it. "One Medowbrook drive. I need to be there by nine in the morning, Monday"

"Medowbrook??" and Mr. Hapschatt swun in his chair to face him, and Harry found quickly that he didn't care for the sneer on his face. "There's nothing out there but fields!"

"But it says...."

Mr. Hapschatt gave a menacing little snicker. "Alright, boy. We'll take you. I wouldn't bother, but I have to take Buddy to the store anyway."

Harry let out a breath of relief and retreated to his room.

For however annoying the treatment of the Hapschatts was, Harry found the last few days before school went by very quickly. Before he knew it, he was hefting all of his school things down the stairs to the front door, where Mr. Hapschatt actually helped him to get the things into the trunk of their car.

Harry's stomahc was a mess- all he could think about was what lay ahead of him at the school... it simply had to be better than life with the Hapschatts. Perhaps he might even make a friend or two.

However, all his feelings of anticipation came to a sudden halt when Mr. Hapschatt stopped before a large, empty field. "Well, boy... here we are!" and with a triumphant grin he parked the car, got out and dropped all of Harry's belongings to the ground with a resounding thud. His bird gave a large squawk and ruffled it's feathers at the treatment. "See you at the end of term!" and he retreated back into the car, Buddy and Mrs. Hapschatt joining him in resounding choruses of laughter as they drove away.

Harry watched them disappear down the road and frowned... it was nearly nine o'clock. Had he gotten the address wrong? Was this all some great joke put upon by the Hapschatts to get rid of him?? He looked around frantically for any sign of... anything. But there was nothing. No movement, no people... just field.

He slumped to sit upon his school chest and sank his face into his hands.

It was a moment later when he heard voices. Glancing up, he noticed an entire family of people in strange dress. Just like the ones in the pub, in Secksu Alley and those that he noticed on occasion in the street.

"Mom... don't fuss!" cried one boy, who was dressed in a near drag.

"You've got a bit of something on your cheek, dear, hold still. It'll be here any moment and I'll not have you going off with dirt on your face" and the woman proceeded to vigorously rub at the squirming boy's cheek.

As Harry watched the family, he began to notice other families appearing from seemingly nowhere, behind trees or just suddenly...there. They too were dressed the same, and seemed to be waiting for something. But what?

The boy with the stained cheek had managed to wrest himself away from his mother's grip. Two older boys... Harry noted they must have been twins, mocked him gently. Harry had to smile to himself, he'd often wondered what it was like to get along with one's family.

Harry's eyes turned back to the field and the search for their mode of transport. He saw nothing, no matter which way he looked. But then, he had looked everywhere but UP. Had he done so, he would have seen the large shape that was making it's way toward the earth.

The castle sank into the earth with a soft squishy sort of noise. Immediately, the children began to line up at the doors, with their parents doing last minute warnings, checks and the like beside them. Harry quickly made his way to the throng with his things. He was directly behind the boy who's mother had been fussing over him... and he noticed he still had a slight amount of dirt on his face. "Um... is this where we..." he began carefully.

"Transylvanian Academy, dear?" The mother piped up, shoving a paper bag lunch into the boy's hands.

"Well, yes.." and Harry found himself smiling at the plump woman.

"It's Don's first year too." and she smiled warmly at her son, who promptly looked down. "You just go right in the doors when they open them, dear, nothing to it. And you..." she rounded on the twins. "No messages home this year."

The two replied in a well-rehearsed "Yes, mother!" but Harry could tell by the decided twinkle in their eyes it wasn't at all sincere.

It was then that the doors opened with a slow creaking sound. The line of children began to move inside slowly, turning to wave at their parents as they entered and disappeared from Harry's view. He felt a sudden sinking feeling, as he had no one to wave to.

When he finally managed to get through the doors, he took a moment to look around. It was a large victorian style house... stuffed animals were littered around the place in haphazard fashion. To the normal person the decor would seem to be quite extreme, but Harry found himself taking great comfort in it.

A few people in all black were taking bags. "Go ahead and find yourselves a room." they were mumbling to the children between every journey. "Up the stairs. We'll be on our way in a minute" Harry waited until his luggage was taken and meandered up the creaking staircase. A quick survey of the rooms....and there were many of them, showed most to be taken already. However, he did manage to find an empty one and sank into a chair.

"Mind if I come in?" Harry started in his chair and looked to the door. It was Don, smiling.

"Uh, no, come on in." Harry responded with a smile.

"great. I thought I'd never find a place." And he sat in a chair across the room. "Hey..." he said slowly, his eyes narrowing a bit as they landed on Harry's forehead. "Are you....?"

"Am I what??" and Harry looked at the mirror to make sure he didn't have anything on his face.

"Harry Furter... the scar..." and Don motioned up to his forehead.

"Oh....yeah." and he smiled just slightly. "I am."

"Wow...." and Don moved closer to get a better look. "Amazing. Do you ... you know... remember anything?"

Harry shook his head. "Not really, no. What's your name?"

"Oh, sorry. Don. Don Wheezy" and he offered his hand to shake. Harry took it with a smile.

"So how exactly do we go anywhere?" asked Harry, leaning back in the chair again.

"Oh.. it's a big spaceship. It takes off" and as if on cue, the whole house lurched, nearly sending them off their seats. "See? It's going now." Don tilted his head. "You've never been on a spaceship before?" Harry shook his head no, his hands gripping the armrests tightly. "Weird...."

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