2. The Journey to Hogwarts
As they approached King's Cross Station, Hope's excitement bubbled over, her heart fluttering with anticipation. Beside her, Remus watched with a mix of pride and nostalgia. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of his daughter, so full of excitement and wonder. But beneath his smile lurked a bittersweet ache. This was the moment he had been dreading—the moment when he would have to say goodbye to his little girl as she embarked on her own journey at Hogwarts.
They reached the barrier between platforms nine and ten, the entrance to Platform 9¾. Hope turned to her father, her eyes shining with excitement.
"Dad, I can't believe it's finally time," she exclaimed, clutching the trolley handle tightly. "So I just go through this wall, do I?" She asked, looking up at Remus. He nodded.
"Yes, it's best to do it at a run," he answered with a smile.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her heart pounding with anticipation. Then, with a running start, she disappeared into the wall, Remus following suit. When she opened her eyes, she found herself on Platform 9¾, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of students and families preparing for the journey to Hogwarts. Hope's eyes widened with awe as she took in the sight of the Hogwarts Express.
But as the moment of departure drew near, a wave of apprehension washed over Hope. She glanced up at her father, her excitement fading as a hint of sadness crept into her eyes. All this time, she had been so caught up in the excitement of going to Hogwarts that she hadn't stopped to consider the implications of leaving her father behind. She felt selfish for being so excited when she'd be leaving him all alone.
"Dad," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "what if I... what if I don't go? What if I stay here with you?"
Remus's heart clenched at the sight of his daughter's uncertainty. He knelt down beside her, gently taking her hands in his own.
"Oh, love," he said, his voice soft with reassurance, "you don't need to worry about me. I'll be alright, I promise."
"But... You'll be all alone," Hope said, her voice trembling slightly.
Remus smiled, brushing a stray tear from her cheek.
"I'll be fine, Hope. Really," he said, his voice steady with conviction. "And besides, I'm sure you'll be sending plenty of letters to keep me entertained," he laughed, and Hope nodded fervently.
"I'll miss you," she whispered, her voice barely audible above the commotion of the platform.
Remus pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her close as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I'll miss you too," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "Don't let anything hold you back."
"But also don't cause too much trouble," he added, letting go and pointing at her sternly. Hope rolled her eyes with a smile and nodded.
With one last hug, she stepped back, the glint of excitement returning to her eyes. She gave a final wave to her father, took a deep breath, and boarded the train.
As the train disappeared from view, Remus took a deep breath and turned away from the platform. He squared his shoulders, determination flickering in his eyes. He would be alright. He had to be—for Hope's sake.
A soft voice interrupted his thoughts, and Remus turned to see a sympathetic smile on the face of a fellow parent.
"It's hard to say goodbye, isn't it?" the woman said, her voice gentle.
Remus nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"It is. But I knew she had to grow up sooner or later," he replied, his voice filled with love and a twinge of sadness.
The woman smiled understandingly, placing a reassuring hand on Remus's arm.
"She'll be alright. And so will you," she said, her voice filled with warmth.
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On the train, Hope pushed past multiple carriages, all packed with students, until she finally came across one that seemed to have room. She slid the compartment door open, revealing a young boy with raven hair and glasses, and a ginger boy sitting across from him. She cleared her throat, bringing attention to herself.
"Excuse me, mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is already full," she stated. The two boys nodded; the red-haired boy shook his head to indicate it was fine.
"Not at all," the boy with glasses said.
Hope smiled gratefully, sitting next to the ginger boy, setting her suitcase and Markl's cage on the floor next to her.
"Ron Weasley," the ginger boy next to her introduced. She smiled brightly—she had heard many good things about the Weasley family.
"Hope, Hope Lupin," she replied with a smile, turning to face the raven-haired boy.
"Harry Potter," he introduced with a shy smile.
She nodded with a smile for a second before it clicked in her head who Harry was. Her eyes widened.
"Harry Potter?" she exclaimed. "With the..." She then pointed to her forehead, insinuating his scar. Harry nodded shyly, lifting his hair to show his scar.
Hope stared at the scar before looking into Harry's eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
Harry scrunched his brows, looking at the girl curiously.
"For what?" he questioned.
"For, you know, how you got the scar," she replied awkwardly, lightly pointing to his head.
Harry looked at her taken aback before his eyes softened.
"Thank you," he replied gratefully.
"Are all your family wizards?" Harry asked Ron.
Ron nodded. "I've got five older brothers and a little sister," he grumbled. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left—Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."
Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep. Hope grimaced at the sight of the shabby old rat.
"His name's Scabbers, and he's useless; he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn't aff—I mean, I got Scabbers instead."
Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much because he went back to staring out of the window.
Hope had to admit, after hearing Ron's perspective, it must be hard having so many siblings. She had never thought of it like that before. She also understood the shame he held for not having money. As Hope and her father never had much, it never bothered her. She never felt the need for much, but she could see Ron held the same shame and embarrassment in his eyes as her father did.
"Honestly, the only reason I don't have second-hand robes is because Dad saved up for a while for Hogwarts. Don't think even with savings he'd have been able to afford robes or Markl if I had any siblings," she said. "Besides, money's not all that important, and I'm sure there's loads you're good at that your brothers aren't."
Ron smiled slightly, and Harry nodded in agreement. He told the two across from him how he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and before, he had to wear Dudley's old clothes and never got proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.
"...and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort—"
Ron gasped, and Hope paled.
"What?" said Harry.
"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people—"
"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Harry. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn... I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."
"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families, and they learn quick enough," Hope replied reassuringly.
While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past. Around half-past twelve, there was a great clattering outside in the corridor, and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Ron's ears went pink again, and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Hope shook her head, holding up a chocolate bar her dad had given her, though she had to admit the pumpkin pasties did look good.
Harry went out into the corridor. When Harry walked back into the compartment, it looked like he had the whole lot on the trolley in his hands as he tipped it onto the empty seat next to him.
"Hungry, are you?"
"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty. Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches in there. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."
"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on—"
"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."
"Go on, have a pasty, you too, Hope," said Harry. Hope smiled, leaning over to grab a pasty. The three continued to eat their way through Harry's pasties and cakes.
"What are these?" Harry asked Ron and Hope, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.
"No," said Ron. "They place an enchantment on them so they jump around and everything," Hope elaborated, taking a bite of a licorice wand. "But see what the card is, I'm missing Agrippa," Ron said.
"What?" Harry questioned, looking at Ron. "Oh, of course, you wouldn't know—Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect—Famous Witches and Wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy," Ron said.
Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card.
"So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.
"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa—thanks—"
"He's gone!"
"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again, and I've got about six of her... Do you want it? You can start collecting."
"Surprisingly, I've only gotten Morgana twice," Hope said, now taking another pumpkin pasty.
Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.
"Help yourself," said Harry. "But, you know, in the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."
"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "Weird!" Hope scrunched up her face in confusion.
"But don't Muggles have those big moving pictures?" Hope asked Harry.
"Those are movies; they're a bit different. Muggles use a camera. Do you know what a camera is?" Harry asked. Hope nodded, holding her hands up to her face to make a box shape with her fingers to indicate a camera.
"Yes, that's it. So they use the camera to capture what they need, then they edit everything together and project it on a big screen," Harry answered, hoping it made sense.
"Huh, interesting, seems like a lot more work," Hope replied, nodding slowly. They continued to eat when Harry turned his attention to the bag of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans.
"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor—you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavored one once."
"Nothing can be worse than the vomit-flavored one," Hope reminisced with a shiver.
Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. "Bleaaargh—see? Sprouts."
Hope picked up a red bean, examining it carefully. "Please be cherry," she said before nibbling. Hope scrunched up her face.
"Euugh—not cherry, it's not cherry!" she exclaimed, grabbing a chocolate frog to get the taste out of her mouth. The boys laughed.
"What was it?" Harry asked, amused.
"No idea, but it was a bit earthy," she replied, biting into the chocolate frog.
They had a good time eating the Every-Flavour Beans. The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills. There was a knock on the door of their compartment, and a tearful-looking, round-faced boy stood in the doorway.
"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"
When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"He'll turn up," said Harry.
"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..."
He left.
"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad, I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk," Ron said, looking down at the rat snoozing on his lap.
"He might have died, and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..." He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and had what must have been unicorn hair, white and glinting at the end.
He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.
"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening. She was looking at the wand in his hand.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.
"Er – all right."
He cleared his throat.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice, and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learned all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She rambled, hurriedly.
The girl was a bit much, but Hope was impressed that she had already read all of their assigned books while Hope had only read maybe a chapter of each, if that. She turned to see Harry and Ron looking completely lost.
"Hope Lupin," Hope introduced, holding out her hand, which Hermione gladly shook.
"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.
"Harry Potter," Harry said.
"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"Am I?" Harry asked, feeling dazed.
"Goodness, didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," Hermione added. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor. It sounds by far the best. I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."
And she left, leaving the three staring at the spot she once sat.
"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," Ron said. He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell – George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."
"I don't think she's too bad," Hope replied idly.
"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.
"Gryffindor," Ron answered. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."
"That's the house Vol– I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" Harry asked, lowering his voice.
"Yeah," Ron nodded. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.
"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers's whiskers are a bit lighter," Harry shrugged, trying to take Ron's mind off houses. "So what do your oldest brothers do now they've left, anyway?" He asked, Hope nodding curiously, turning to Ron.
"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," Ron said. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles – someone tried to rob a high-security vault."
Harry stared. "Really? What happened to them?"
"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get around Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it," Ron explained.
Hope shivered at the thought and noticed Harry's worried expression too.
"Have you learned about Quidditch yet? What's your favorite team?" Hope asked, changing the subject.
"Er – I don't know any," Harry confessed.
"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world –" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money.
He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, and three boys entered, the middle one a pale boy with bleach-blond hair.
"Is it true?" the blond boy asked. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," Harry answered with a cold expression. Hope stared between him and the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
Hope's eyes darkened. The Malfoy family's reputation preceded them. She had heard of their awful blood purity ideology, and it made her blood boil. Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Malfoy looked at him.
"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford," Draco glared.
"Watch it, Malfoy," Hope warned, as Draco just sneered at her in return as if she were beneath him.
"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," harry said coolly, his eyes glaring into Draco's.
Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."
All three stood up. Ron's face was as red as his hair.
"Say that again," Ron said, through gritted teeth.
"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.
"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food, and you still seem to have some." Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron – Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell. Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle. Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.
"What has been going on?" she asked, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.
"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep."
"You've met Malfoy before?" Harry questioned, before explaining their meeting in Diagon Alley.
"I've heard of his family," Ron said darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."
Hope nodded in agreement. "My dad said to never trust a Malfoy. They're like cockroaches, always end up on top despite being spineless gits."
Ron turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"
"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up the front to ask the driver, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!" Hermione replied pointedly.
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Ron, scowled. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"
"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," Hermione said in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" she pointed out, gesturing to his nose. Ron glared at her as she left.
Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep-purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down. Hope left the compartment in search of the restroom with robes in hand. Once she returned to the compartment, the boys were also fully dressed in their school robes. A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."
Hope smiled brightly. "This is it," she squealed as they crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor. The train slowed right down and finally stopped.
People pushed their way towards the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Hope shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! All right there, Harry?" Hope's eyes widened, looking at the large, gruff man. She didn't know if she had ever met a man so tall in her life. After recovering from the surprise, she smiled at Hagrid, seeing kindness in his small eyes that were hidden behind his hairy face. He beamed over the sea of heads.
"C'mon, follow me – any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!" Hagrid called out.
Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffled once or twice.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here." There was a loud "Oooooh!"
The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Ron, and Hope were followed into their boat by Hermione.
"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted, who had a boat to himself. "Right then – FORWARD!"
And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. Hope's eyes gleamed with wonder at the towering castle, her stomach bubbling with excitement and a bit of anxiety. They sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled as the first boats reached the cliff. They all bent their heads, and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. "Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them. "Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.
They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.