The holiday flew by, and in a blink, it was September 1st, the start of the new school year.
Charlie dragged his suitcase to King's Cross Station, where crowds surged and all sorts of sounds mixed together.
He skillfully found the wall between Platform Nine and Platform Ten, and just as he was about to pass through, his peripheral vision caught a furtive figure.
It was a House-elf, hiding behind a pillar, secretly observing something.
Charlie narrowed his eyes; the House-elf had unusually large ears, a thin body, and was wearing a tattered pillowcase.
The House-elf also noticed Charlie's gaze, shuddered in fright, and instantly disapparated.
Charlie shrugged, not giving it much thought.
It was probably a Pure-blood Family seeing off their child; these noble families all had House-elves.
He passed through the wall and stepped onto the Hogwarts Express.
In a dark corner of the station, Dobby disapparated, panting heavily.
He had almost been discovered!
Dobby knew that was Charlie White; he had seen Charlie's photo on the front page of The Daily Prophet when he was at Malfoy Manor.
He also knew Charlie was Harry Potter's friend.
If Charlie had discovered him, his plan to stop Harry from going to school would be ruined.
Fortunately, Charlie didn't follow him.
Dobby hid in the corner, nervously rubbing his fingers, silently praying that Harry wouldn't come.
But ten minutes before the train departed, the Weasley family still arrived at the station.
Dobby's heart sank.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Percy, Fred, George, Ginny, and Harry—a large group marched towards Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
"Hurry up, the train is about to leave!" Mrs. Weasley urged.
Everyone else had successfully passed through the wall, leaving only Harry and Ron last.
"Let's go together!" Ron said excitedly, pushing his luggage cart.
Harry nodded, and the two accelerated towards the wall.
Just at this critical moment, Dobby quietly extended a finger and snapped.
Instantly, the magical wall, which had been passable, turned into a solid, real wall.
"Bang!"
Harry and Ron crashed heavily into the wall, falling over, their luggage scattered everywhere.
Hedwig's cage fell to the ground, emitting an angry screech.
The surrounding Muggles turned their heads, pointing and whispering.
"Oh dear, what happened to those two children?"
"Did the luggage cart go out of control?"
Harry's face was pale, his nose hurt from the impact, and his glasses were askew.
Ron was worse; he had a bump on his forehead and was groaning, clutching his head.
"It's nothing, nothing, just the luggage cart tipped over," Harry hastily explained, reaching out to touch the wall.
A cold, hard sensation confirmed that it was indeed a real wall.
"How is this possible?" Ron also touched it, his face instantly turning pale.
"Everyone else just went through!"
Harry's heart pounded, and a wave of panic washed over him.
"We can't get in, but the train is leaving!"
The distant sound of a train whistle, though not the Hogwarts Express, still made Harry anxious.
"What should we do? What should we do?" Harry paced frantically.
He was worried he wouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts.
Ron gritted his teeth, suddenly remembering something.
"Harry, we can take the flying car!"
"What?" Harry's eyes widened.
"It flies very fast, we can catch up to the train," Ron said excitedly.
"And it's invisible, Muggles won't see it."
Harry hesitated.
"But we're not of age yet, we can't use magic outside, including magical items."
"There's some legal clause that says underage Wizards can use magic in emergencies," Ron patted his chest.
"My dad works at the Ministry of Magic, I know all about this kind of thing!"
Hearing this, the stone in Harry's heart finally dropped.
Since there was legal protection, it was fine.
"Okay, let's go."
The two hurriedly gathered their luggage, pushed their cart, and rushed out of the station.
In the parking lot, they found the blue Ford car.
They stuffed their luggage into the trunk, and Hedwig's cage was placed in the back seat.
Ron got into the driver's seat, and Harry sat in the passenger seat.
He pressed the invisibility button, and the entire car instantly vanished into thin air.
Then he started the engine, and the car soared into the sky.
On the other side of the wall, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley saw their children onto the train, and Mrs. Weasley began to count heads.
"Percy, Fred, George, Ginny are all on board," she counted on her fingers.
"Where are Harry and Ron?"
Mr. Weasley looked around, people came and went at the station, but he didn't see the two boys.
"Weren't they right behind us?" Mrs. Weasley's voice began to show anxiety.
The train's whistle blew, signaling its imminent departure.
"Quick, go look on the train!" Mr. Weasley shouted through the window.
"Fred! George!"
Fred poked his head out of the window.
"What's wrong, Dad?"
"Are Harry and Ron on the train? Go find them quickly!"
Fred and George exchanged glances.
"Oh, our little Ronnie is playing hide-and-seek."
"Go now!" Mrs. Weasley stamped her foot in exasperation.
The train slowly began to move, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley could only watch helplessly as it left the platform.
"Let's go back and look," Mr. Weasley said, taking his wife's hand.
"Maybe they're still in the station."
The two hurriedly returned the way they came, searching everywhere in the station.
They asked several staff members, who said the two children with luggage had fallen there earlier but didn't know where they were now.
Finally, they arrived at the parking lot, and Mr. Weasley couldn't believe his eyes.
"Molly."
"The car is gone."
The parking space was empty; the blue Ford car had vanished without a trace.
Mrs. Weasley froze for three seconds, then let out a thunderous shriek.
"Arthur Weasley, your precious son has run off with your old car!"
...On the train, Percy fully utilized his Prefect advantage, gathering the Gryffindor students.
"Listen everyone, Ron and Harry Potter are missing," Percy's voice was serious.
"Please help look for them, see if they're in other compartments."
The Gryffindor students immediately sprang into action.
Fred and George were also searching compartment by compartment.
Although they usually loved playing pranks, they were very concerned about their family.
They searched through most of the train but still found no trace of Ron and Harry.
Finally, they came to Charlie's compartment.
"Charlie!" Fred pushed open the door.
"Have you seen Harry and Ron?"
Charlie was playing with Judy, and looked up at the sound.
"No, what's wrong?"
"They both disappeared at the station," George said with some anxiety.
"We've asked all along the way, and no one has seen them."
"Most likely they didn't get on the train," Fred's face was grim.
"Mom will go crazy if she finds out."
Charlie put down his book, frowning.
"With so many people at the station, they should be fine. Maybe something delayed them."
"I hope so," George sighed.
Just then, Charlie's peripheral vision caught a dark shadow in the sky outside the window.
The shape of the shadow was strange; it didn't look like a bird, nor like a flying broom.
Charlie looked closely and was completely stunned.
"Holy cow, is that a car flying in the sky?"
Charlie didn't know Ron's family had a flying car.
Fred and George immediately rushed to the window at his words, following Charlie's gaze.
In the sky, a blue object was weaving through the clouds.
Although it was far away, both of them recognized it as their car.
Fred's face instantly turned ashen.
"It's over."
"Now we know where Ron is."
George's voice was trembling slightly.
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