A little over an hour later, when the bell rang and Potions Professor Snape promptly announced that class was over, Hogwarts finally declared the start of the holidays.
Aside from a small number of students who chose other methods, such as traveling through their family fireplaces with Floo Powder or, if they lived nearby, applying for permission to use a broom, most students headed to Hogsmeade Station after lunch.
Normally, Hogwarts's fireplaces weren't connected to the Ministry of Magic's Floo Network. The Network's use was also heavily restricted, and could even be monitored or intercepted, so students couldn't use it to enter or leave the school.
But since it was the holidays, the school had applied for permission to open a few relatively safe fireplaces. Under the supervision of certain professors, older students could use them instead of having to make their way to Hogsmeade.
Of course, this didn't include first-years. Even among the older students, only a very small number who met the requirements were allowed to use the somewhat dangerous form of fireplace travel.
Naturally, Annie was no exception.
After all, she was still a first-year, and first-years absolutely weren't allowed to apply to use a broom or the Floo Network!
So, in the end, she had no choice but to board the steam train with Hermione and the others right after lunch. They said their goodbyes after getting off at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, then went their separate ways home.
But Hermione and the others were going home. Annie wasn't going "home." Instead, she found an unoccupied spot and teleported straight to a desolate island in the North Atlantic.
"Ah!"
Seeing Annie appear in an instant, and all by herself, the Gringotts Goblin assigned to wait there hurried over with an awkward little scamper, showering her with