The journey from platform nine and three-quarters
Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't particularly fun like he hoped it'd be. True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't bother him when he read, force him to do anything, or shout at him-- infact, they didn't speak to him at all. Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while. They wouldn't allow him to go to the library, nor any place else. He was beginning to prefer that they be endlessly annoying him rather than ignoring him.
Harry mostly kept to his room, with Hydrus and Sly for company since the Dursleys didn't let him in his corner during the day. He had decided to name the owl Hagrid left for him Hedwig-- a name he had found in A History of Magic. His school books were very interesting, but then again, he found almost any book he read interesting. When the Dursleys went to bed, he'd read late into the night, as Hedwig swooped in and out of the open window of his room as she pleased. It was lucky that Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because she kept bringing back dead mice. As much as he appreciated it, Harry wasn't very sure how to get the message across that he didn't eat mice. Not that Hydrus seemed to mind.
He'd gotten yet another birthday present from the mystery gifter once more-- to his surprise, it was a stack of books that he hadn't seen in Flourish and Blotts, that he could easily tell were magic. He would've thought to question how they knew he was a wizard, but he wasn't complaining if he got more books, and there was no return address.
Sly was continuously finding shiny things and bringing them to Harry's feet. Especially Petunia's jewellery. She only seemed to notice they were missing when she found them on the kitchen counter hours later-- not all of them, of course. And every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first. This was the first time in many summers that he had kept count of the days without the use of Dudley and his television schedule knowledge. Not that he heard much of it nowadays.
On the last day of August he assumed he aught to bring it up to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed, almost in a mortified manner, running out the room.
"Uncle Vernon?"
Vernon grunted to show he was listening.
"Well, I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to go to Hogwarts."
Vernon grunted again.
"Would you mind driving me?"
Grunt. Harry frowned and supposed that meant yes.
"Thank you."
He was about to go back upstairs when Vernon actually spoke. "Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"
"They're banned in Britain, Uncle Vernon." Harry told him.
Vernon scoffed. "Where is this school, anyway?"
"Somewhere in Scotland. I'm not sure." said Harry. His books hadn't been entirely clear on that. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket. "I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o' clock. Wherever that platform is. I've read it multiple times, apparently it's supposed to exist."
His aunt and uncle stared.
"Platform what?"
"Nine and three-quarters."
"Don't talk rubbish, boy!" Vernon shouted. "There's no platform nine and three-quarters!"
"I know that. But it's on my ticket." nodded Harry. He was pushing his chances with responding at all since he snapped at Vernon back at the hut on the rock, and he didn't have Hagrid here now. But as far as Vernon knew, Harry had the upper hand.
"Barking," said Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."
Harry nearly left, but then he saw how Vernon was looking at him and knew he was meant to ask. "Why are you going to London?"
"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."
Harry hummed.
"Well? Go to your room," Petunia snapped. "You're not allowed in that corner of yours when we're watching television. And get your rat!" She pointed at Sly, who was trying to bite at sparkly silver ornaments on the wall.
"She's not a-- okay," Harry stopped himself, pulling Sly off the wall and taking her with him.
"Hey Sly," he whispered. "I think Aunt Petunia got a new necklace last week. You want to go get it?"
She'd been all too excited to run up the rest of the stairs herself, reappearing at Harry's bedroom door moments later with the necklace dragging behind. He supposed pearls were rather pretty, and he doubted Petunia would even miss them-- if she noticed them missing. And if she did, he'd probably already be gone. He was fairly sure they weren't real, anyway.
Harry woke at five o' clock the next morning and was too excited and too nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on one of his special pairs of jeans(one of the few that weren't absolutely tattered) because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes-- he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Sly was properly put up in her case with some of the spare jewellery he didn't like and a bit of food-- he'd gone ahead and emptied out his stash; it wouldn't be nearly as good when he returned to find that everything had rotten and that bugs had gotten their icky little pincers on it all.
After double checking the locks, and that Hydrus had food in his own case, he sat down and read while he waited for the Dursley's to get up. And nearly two hours later, Harry's heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry-- he'd get a bag of all his favourite sweets after they left the hospital-- and they had set off.
They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. Harry knew this was too kind to be true, and his suspicions were proven when Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.
"Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine, platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, have they?"
Harry looked at him quite blankly-- he knew Vernon was very right. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing but four pillars. But as long as he wasn't in the house, not allowed to go out of his own room half the time, he'd prefer being lost in a crowded station.
"Have a good term," Vernon had an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.
Harry's mind had officially run fresh out of ideas, even the voices had left him alone. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, with a holding case that many people seemed to think kept a badger, and then another case with a snake. He suppose he'd have to ask someone sooner or later.
He nearly stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare to. The guard had probably never heard of Hogwarts and if Harry couldn't guarantee what part of the country it was in, he'd probably get annoyed. Annoyed when it came to adults was not very good for Harry, ever. He looked around desperately, hoping he'd see someone, or find anything unordinary. Four pillars between platform Nine and platform ten. He had to get to Platform Nine and Three-quarters. Maybe the third pillar? But how was he meant to...
And then, just his luck, a group of people with carts like his passed him. All with flaming-red hair and long, pointy ears.
"-- packed with muggles, of course," He heard. He figured he was better off chasing them than standing around and pushed his cart after them. They eventually stopped, and so did he.
"Now, what's the platform number?" asked a plump woman who looked to be the mother.
"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand. "Mum, can't I go..." She pleaded.
"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. Alright Percy, you go first."
What looked like the oldest boy marched towards platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it-- but just as the boy reached the third pillar between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time he could see, the boy had vanished.
"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.
"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"
"Sorry, George, dear."
"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin, who he could obviously assume to be George, called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone. Harry wore a triumphant smile. They were walking through the third pillar. He was right!
Now the third brother was talking briskly toward the barrier, and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.
"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman. She looked nice enough, so he figured she wouldn't spare the time of day being angry with him if he was bothersome.
"Hello, dear," She said kindly. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."
She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose. Harry wouldn't have guessed they were the same age.
"Yes," said Harry. "I know where the platform is, I just-- I just don't know--"
"How to get onto the platform?" She asked, and he nodded.
"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier-- third pillar there, see? Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."
"Okay," Harry said. He made sure that Sly and Hydrus's cages were steady in place, that nobody would accidentally knock him off course and into the side of the pillar, and took a running start. He kept his eyes open to make sure he went through the barrier without hitting anyone on the other side.
He went right through it. A large steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o' clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it.
He had done it.
It must've been the brightest place he'd ever seen. Smoke from the engine, a strong scarlet that almost blinded him as the sun made it shine, drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way and the scraping of heavy trunks filled the remaining bit of silence.
The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats, and a couple were closed shut-- probably by people wanting privacy. Harry pushed his cart down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a boy who was searching every nook and cranny of his trunk; "Gran, I've lost my toad again."
"Oh, Neville," The old woman standing over him sighed.
A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.
"Give us a look, Lee, go on,"
The boy lifted the lid off of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.
Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hydrus and Sly inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and he dropped it on his foot twice. He was tapped on the shoulder, making him drop it a third time, though it missed his foot.
"Sorry. Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.
"Yes, please,"
"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"
With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.
"Thanks," Harry sighed, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
"What's that?" One of the twins said, pointing at Harry's scar.
"Blimey! Are you--"
"He aught to be!" Harry looked at them questioningly. Had he done wrong already?
"I aught to be what?" He asked.
"Harry Potter!" The twins said together.
"Oh. Well, yeah, that's me." The two boys gawked at him, and Harry averted his eyes elsewhere. He hoped his face wasn't too red, but his ears were burning immensely-- he did not like being the center of attention. Attention on him was hardly ever good-intentioned; The boys looked nice, but the voices had warned him to not trust anyone-- one of the few times they'd said anything logical that he agreed with. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door, loud enough for them to barely hear it.
"Fred? George? Are you there?"
"Coming, Mum!" One of them called. With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train. He sighed, and sat down next to the window where, half hidden by the curtains, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.
"Ron, you've got something on your nose." The youngest boy tried to jerk his head out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.
"Mum! Geroff!" He wriggled free. "Aww, has ickle Ronniekins got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.
"Shuddup," muttered Ron.
"Where's Percy?" wondered the mother.
"He's coming over now."
The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it.
"Can't stay long, Mother," He said. "I'm up front, the Prefects have got two compartments to themselves--"
"Oh, are you a Prefect, Percy?" asked one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."
"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin.
"Once--"
"Or twice--"
"A minute or two--"
"All summer--"
"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect with a snarl.
"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" whined one of the twins.
"Because he's a Prefect," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term-- send me an owl when you all get there."
She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins. "Now, you two! This year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've-- you've blown up a toilet, or- or--"
"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea though, thanks, Mum."
"It's not funny. And look after Ron." The woman told them.
"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."
"Shuddup," Ron said again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it. His had gone pink and lowered themself lower than Harry imagined ears could go. The two laughed, waving him off.
"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"
Harry leaned back quickly and pretended to be reading.
"You know that boy with the curls-- the one who was near us in the station? With the black hair and big eyes?--" Harry pulled his bangs lower; His eyes weren't that big, were they? "-- Know who he is?"
"Who?"
"Harry Potter!"
Harry then heard the little girl's voice.
"Oh, Mummy, can I go on the train and see him? Mum, oh please...." She pleaded.
"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something for you to goggle at in a zoo. was he really, Fred? How do you know?"
Harry couldn't stop the smile at how genuine she sounded. Atleast someone knew who he was and didn't think he was on display like a special new toy. Maybe he could trust her?
"Asked him! And we saw his scar. It's really there! Didn't see it at first, but it's crazy! Like lightning, all down the side of his face,"
"Poor dear. No wonder he was alone. He was so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."
"Nevermind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"
Their mother suddenly looked very stern. "I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school!"
"Alright, alright, keep your hair on."
A whistle sounded, indicating to get on the train.
"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.
"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."
"We'll send you a gen-uine Hogwarts toilet seat."
"George!"
"Only joking, Mum!"
The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it had gone too far to follow, then she fell back and waved.
Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to, but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind. Anything was better than the Dursleys. He began to actually read the book in his lap while Hydrus and Sly fought over a galleon on the seat across. Suddenly, the door of the compartment slid open and the youngest red-headed boy came in.
"Er, mind if I sit there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Don't know any upper years, and the other first years haven't got any free seats. I could keep looking-- if, um, you want to be alone--"
Harry shook his head, moving Hydrus and Sly to his side of the compartment. The boy sat for a couple seconds, glanced at Harry, and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.
"Hey, Ron!" The twins were back. Harry didn't look up from his book, but he kept an ear open. "Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train. Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there!"
"Er, right," mumbled Ron, looking uneasy. His ears had fallen again.
"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is itty-bitty Ronniekins, our brother. See you later, then."
"Ron! My name's not--! Oh, bye," said Ron, while Harry nodded a goodbye. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out. Harry nodded, and flipped a page in his book.
"Oh-- well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "They love messing around. Have- have you really got the-- the, you know..."
He pointed at Harry's forehead.
Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared. "So that's where... You-Know-Who--?"
Harry nodded again.
"You can talk, can't you?" Ron asked.
"I can. I just don't like to." Harry told him.
"Oh. Sorry. I'll, er, stop." Ron turned to look out the window, but then he stared at Harry. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.
"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who was beginning to having a hard time focusing on the words of his book.
"Uh-- yeah, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him. He's really far off."
"So you must know loads of magic already."
"Eh, I guess."
The Weasleys were clearly one of the real wizarding families that Draco had talked about. Harry shook his head, and took the galleon that Sly held. Apparently she'd won against Hydrus-- but Harry figured that was only because she was smaller.
"Come on Sly, you've got stuff," He muttered. As if she didn't already have things! He couldn't blame her, really, but money was really worthwhile. He'd have to see about finding a way to get it turned into Muggle money somehow. Sly gave a low, satisfied trill when he brought her case down. And of course, the moment he looked inside, it was filled with a lot more than just Petunia's stuff. He huffed, almost a bit annoyed, but he gave Sly one of the shinier bracelets he knew she liked more than the rest.
"You keep a niffler and a snake? Is that allowed?" Ron asked. Harry had forgotten he was there, but hummed, and then shrugged.
"I heard you went to live with Muggles-- heard mum reading the paper one morning," said Ron. "What are they like?"
Harry shrugged again. "I grew up with relatives that don't like me. I'd rather have a couple brothers."
"Yeah, but maybe not five," Ron said. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. I guess, er, you could sorta say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left-- Bill was head boy and Charlie was Quidditch captain-- best player around while he was there, right. 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. Ginny's awfully pretty, they'll bet she'll have a line of blokes asking for her by time she's in her third year. 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." He explained, pulling a fat grey rat out his jacket pocket.
"His name's Scabbers, and he's totally useless. He hardly ever wakes up. Percy got a new owl from dad, but they couldn't af... I mean, er, I got Scabbers instead."
Harry was holding Hydrus from eating the rat as Ron spoke.
"Hydrus, that's someone else's pet," He hissed quietly. When Harry looked up again, he was looking out the window with a pink face. Harry wondered if his ears ever went up.
"Well, you know, I get hand-me-downs too. I get my cousin's old clothes, and I don't get real birthday presents from my Muggle family," Harry insisted. "I sort of live with bugs, and none of them stay in their own space, and I only just got an actual room. But until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or about Voldemort--"
Ron gasped.
"What?" Harry asked. Had he spoken too much?
"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people--"
"What? No, I don't know who. Oh, wait, do you mean Voldemort? S-sorry-- I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying it. I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn... I should've gotten more books," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately. "I bet I'd be the worst in the class. And I'm used to being the worst in class, it's not nice."
"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough. And you've got a niffler under control! I think that says something on it's own, cause I bet even Bill couldn't..."
Harry smiled, but thought to all the times he caught Sly juggling and carrying coins that looked much like galleons. But he kept quiet, which he was very good at. Only, perhaps he'd been a bit too quiet, because then Ron was quiet, and then they'd both fallen asleep. It wasn't for long, however, because by twelve, Harry was awake and started reading again, before Hydrus and Sly started fighting over something else they both wanted.
At half past twelve, a dimpled woman slid their door open and said, "Anything from the trolley, dears?"
Harry hopped up. Maybe he could start on a stash early? A very sweet stash, maybe, but a stash was a stash, he supposed. Ron stirred, mumbling that he'd brought sandwiches as Harry walked into the corridor. With the Dursleys, they never let him have candy, and he'd often have to get lucky enough when Dudley was in a "good" mood enough to throw away whatever he didn't want, but now he had a pouch filled with gold and silver coins, and a wild selection to choose from. Sure, he wasn't a big fan of sweets, but it wouldn't hurt to try some. And these were magical, not muggle.
"I'll take some of everything, please," He said. Only eleven sickles and seven knuts. Not even close to a galleon! Wizard money was so fascinating. Ron stared at him as he brought it all back to the compartment and dumped it on an empty seat.
"Wow, hungry, are you?"
Harry nodded, already eating away at a pumpkin pasty. Ron pulled out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside and he sighed when he pulled one apart. "She never remembers I don't like corned beef."
Harry offered a pumpkin pasty. Ron tried to deny it, but Harry had a sudden urge to want to share and didn't let him, placing it in his hand. It was a nice feeling, he had to admit. And he actually could share now, because he had more than he'd need anyway.
The mood was cheerful as they ate their way through most of the pasties, cakes, and candies, while the sandwiches lay forgotten. Harry saved around an eighth of everything.
He held up a chocolate frog package and involuntarily cringed before he faced Ron. He seemed to understand what Harry was wondering, because he said, "They're not real frogs, but could you see what the card is? I'm missing Agrippa,"
Harry was even more confused.
"Oh, right, you wouldn't know. Chocolate frogs have cards inside them, right, to collect. Famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got a single Agrippa or Ptolemy." Ron explained.
Harry unwrapped the chocolate frog-- he wasn't mental, he was sure that it just moved on its own-- and picked up the card. It showed a man's face-- he wore half-mood glasses, with a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair that was also a beard and mustache. Underneath it was the name Albus Dumbledore in a swirly cursive. Harry had seen the man before, he was sure, but the voices were convinced otherwise and it made him unsure. He hated to admit it, but they were usually right when it came to what he had and hadn't remembered; Just incase, however, he racked his brain in attempt to remember, but all he could get was blurry memories he couldn't place.
"Can I have a frog?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded, reading the back of the card:
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.
He turned the card back over. Dumbledore was gone. He was a little shocked, but watched as the old man slid back into the picture with a small smile. "Oh, he's back! That's weird. In the Muggle world, people don't move in photos,"
"What?" Ron looked and sounded amazed. "They don't move at all? Weird!"
"I think it's weird they do move," Harry shrugged as he placed the card down, and it lasted a couple minutes before Hydrus tried to bite at it, and then Sly tried to grab it. Harry knew better than to try and stop them before they tired themselves out; He'd learned the hard way that they were very willing to attack him too. He and Ron snacked away at the chocolate, Harry taking the cards Ron already had, making sure to drop them in his pocket. Luckily, the frogs stopped moving if they were broken in any way-- Harry shouldn't have been so happy about it, but he'd seen Hydrus eat enough frogs while they were still moving, he'd say.
"They can get to fighting over anything. Hydrus just likes taking things that shine, but Sly's, well, a niffler. If I wasn't always there to stop them, they'd probably fight eachother to the death." He explained as he took the first card from Hydrus's mouth-- he had trapped Sly in a sort of pyramid. The card didn't look the same; it had fang and claw marks and slobber all over it, and Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen. "The stealing's helpful sometimes, but it's more of a problem when Sly takes Hydrus's stuff."
Ron nodded. "Are you allowed to have them, though? I hear we're only allowed owls, cats, and toads,"
Harry pointed at Scabbers.
"Eh, fair point," Ron said, putting a chocolate frog in his mouth. Harry opened a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and Ron's face and ears(to Harry's surprise) turned upwards in both amusement and probably disgust.
"You ought to be careful with those," he warned. "That title's not no joke, they mean every flavour-- you know, you got all the normal ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he got a bogey-flavoured one once."
He picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and took a very small bite out a corner. He gagged almost immediately. "Bleugh!-- er, see? Sprouts! Who'd eat a sprout-flavoured bean?"
The sky turned dark outside as they both ate at the beans, Ron having really bad luck and continuously getting bad flavours. He had gotten plenty that he didn't like, but Harry had gotten a good number of tasty flavours to even it out-- well, to him they were considerably tasty. Toast, coconut, baked bean, raspberry, a strawberry one that he spat out immediately-- he'd learned one particularly bad day in primary school that he was allergic, and his throat and skin got very itchy if it was in his mouth for too long-- curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to eat an entire bean that Ron refused to touch. It was pepper, and had him coughing for about a minute, and he decided that he may have liked jellybeans a little less.
There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy from the platform who had lost his toad stood there, looking very tearful.
"Sorry," he said quietly, "but have you seen a toad at all?"
When they shook their heads, the tears ran down his face and he wailed-- "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"He'll turn up sooner or later," said Ron hopefully. "You'll find him."
"Yeah," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..."
He left, looking very sad.
"Dunno why he's so bothered," Ron admitted. "If I'd gotten a toad, I'd lose it as quick as I could. But, mind, I got Scabbers, so I can't talk..."
He stared down at the rat, which was still snoozing away on his lap.
"Could've died and you wouldn't know the difference, I promise you," Ron said, and he scoffed. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday, you know, to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work... bet my wand's got sumthin' to do with it..."
He rummaged around in his trunk before locating a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places, with a couple burn marks, and something white was glinting, barely sticking out the end.
"Eurgh. Unicorn hair's nearly poking out, see? Er, anyway..."
He'd only just raised his wand when the compartment door slip open again. The boy was back again, but this time he had not been the one to open it; It was a girl already wearing her Hogwarts robes. She had dark skin, just barely darker than Harry's in the light, and long dark hair that was so bushy that it reminded Harry of Hagrid. Her ears were a little bit pointy and long enough to see that they were twitching. The voices, meanwhile, weren't saying very pleasant things.
"Have you two seen a toad around here? Neville's lost his." she said. Her voice was very bossy. Harry spotted that she had glimmering silver braces over her very large front teeth.
"Yeah, we already told him we haven't seen it," Ron said, but the girl wasn't listening. Instead, she was staring at the wand in his hand.
"Ooh, are you doing magic? Go on, let's see it,"
She took a seat, and Ron looked taken aback.
"Er-- a-alright."
He cleared his throat and looked very unsure as he spoke.
"Sunshine, daises, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow,"
He waved his wand and shut his eyes hopefully, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.
"Are you sure that's a spell?" the girl giggled, and Ron's ears fell, going pink. "It's not very good, is it? I've yet to see-- or, er, hear-- an incantation like that. I've tried a few simple spells, just for practice, and they've all worked alright for me. See- nobody in my family's magic at all- well, my foster family, that is- but it was such a surprise when I got my letter. A pleasant surprise, of course! I mean, Hogwarts-- it's the best school of witchcraft this side of the country, I've heard- or, er, read. I've learned all our course books by heart already, of course, I just hope it's enough. Oh, I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. Who are you?"
She said all of this very quickly, and by the look on Ron's face, it didn't seem he'd even taken the initiative to look at his course books. Harry was no different from Hermione, but he completely understood Ron. And he understood Hermione, only, after a minute of really thinking about what she'd said. She had spoken very fast.
"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Harry Potter." Harry waved.
"Are you really?" gasped Hermione. "I know all about you! 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! I even saw your name on books for young magical children--"
"I am? Why?" He asked, pretending to not have heard the second part. Surely not even the wizarding world already knew how bad he was? Had Hagrid gone and told on accident? No, he wouldn't have done that, he was too nice. And those were history books. Whatever she read couldn't have been be recent. And children's books-- children's books! What, had he been turned into some kind of knight, or something, trying to save some witch-princess? He hoped knight-Harry was a terrible influence.
"Goodness, yes! How could you not know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," Hermione looked as though she would've scoffed, but her braces made it sound more like metal scraping obnoxiously. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, Gryffindor sounds by far the best. I hear Dumbledore himself was in it-- oh, but, I suppose Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff wouldn't be too bad, of course... oh! Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, I expect we'll be arriving at Hogwarts soon."
She got up and left, taking the toadless boy with her.
"Whatever house she's in, I hope I'm not," said Ron, his ears twitching and still pink as he threw his wand back into his trunk. When Harry frowned at him, he threw his arms up in defence. "What? I just meant, like-- if I get Gryffindor, I hope she's in Ravenclaw or something! Fred tells me they rarely get classes together, you know? Eurgh-- stupid spell-- I must've been barmy when I thought it'd work-- George gave it to me, the bloody rotter. Bet he knew it was a dud."
"What house are your brothers in?" Harry asked, trying to wrestle Sly into her case. Apparently she'd already gotten bored of the bracelets and had returned to wanting coins again.
"Gryffindor. All of them," Ron said, and the pink from his ears spread to his entire face as he started to look sort of gloomy. "Mum and Dad were innit too. Dunno what they'd say to me if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but I'm not smart enough-- Hufflepuff would be alright, no one really likes to bother them-- but imagine if they put me in Slytherin..."
"That's the house that-- er, You-Know-Who-- was in, right?"
Ron nodded. He slouched back into his seat, looking depressed. Harry had no idea what to do-- whenever he felt bad, that was just it. He wasn't allowed to complain, and the voices spoke more than they'd ever dare listen. He went to find somewhere he could change; Maybe Ron would feel better after a bit of time by himself. That helped some people, Harry learned, in a book he read once. He returned a few minutes later, and Ron was trying to see if he could get Scabbers to wake up. It was silent for a minute or two, before Harry found he had yet another question. He hoped Ron wouldn't mind that much-- he'd already asked a lot.
"What do wizards normally do when they finish school?"
"Er, depends," Ron shrugged. "Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, but Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts. Kind matters on how good you do on your O-W-L's and stuff." He looked to have suddenly remembered something. "Ooh, did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you'd get that with the Muggles-- the owls drop 'em off. But, er, right-- someone tried to rob a high security vault."
Harry stared, hoping that Ron would understand he was listening. It seemed he did, because he continued--
"Nothing happened really, that's why it's such big news. They didn't get caught. My dad said it must've been a powerful dark wizard to get 'round Gringotts, but they don't think nothing got taken, that's why it's kinda off. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens-- go straight to the worse and think You-Know-Who's behind it."
Harry thought it over in his mind. He wouldn't admit it, but he was starting to get a bit fearful whenever You-Know-Who was mentioned. The voices seemed happy to hear that, but it didn't make Harry feel any better. But perhaps that was just one thing that came along with entering the magical world, but he'd be much more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying. He was gone, but he wasn't gone enough because people were still afraid to even say his name. Maybe something bad happened whenever it was said, with the way they're acting. But nothing had happened yet.
"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked after a minute.
Harry shrugged and shook his head weakly.
"You don't know any?" Ron looked shocked, and Harry nodded. "Oh, have I gotta tell you! You know, the best team--" and Ron was off, talking about his favourite team, the Chudley Canons, and then he began going to describe Quidditch. He had just got to all the games he and his brothers had been to before the compartment door opened, but it wasn't the dimpled woman from the trolley, or Neville the toadless boy, nor Hermione Granger. It was three boys.
"Harley, finally! We've been looking for you!" The boy in the middle said. He was very pale and his hair was a very light blond and his face was familiar.
"Harley?" wondered Harry, but then he remembered the only person who he told that name to. "Oohh, Draco! I'm sorry, I completely forgot," He apologised. "And it's Harry- er, not Harley. You must've heard me wrong."
"Tch! See, Greg! I told you Draco's none the wiser," One of the boys on the other side of Draco said. They were both very large and looked very mean-- they reminded Harry of Dudley, much more than Draco did.
"What was that, Crabbe?!" Draco turned around quickly to glare at him.
"That boy's Harry Potter! Everyone's been saying he was in this compartment, and that kid's obviously not him." said the boy who Draco called Crabbe, pointing at Ron.
"So what? I knew him before--" Draco started, but the other boy, Greg, Harry could assume, had yelled out in pain. All eyes were on him. Scabbers was hanging off his hand, and his teeth were far enough in his knuckles to cause scarring. Crabbe backed out into the corridor, while Draco inched to the side of the compartment that the rat wasn't on. Greg shook his hand until Scabbers finally let go and hit the window. He then ran out, screaming that it probably poisoned him. Draco sighed.
"I'll see you around then- er, Harry." He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. Harry didn't miss the scornful glance he spared at Ron. Was Ron troublesome like him? He'd seen his aunt and uncle give him that look before, when they weren't thinking anything polite-- if they ever were. "I'm not saying anything-- but you best make sure you know who you're friends with. All sorts of people in the school can get you into all sorts of trouble with no remorse. And Weasleys have a knack for getting into trouble."
Ron went very pink in the face. With that, Draco had left. But as his footsteps retreated, another pair came sprinting. Hermione Granger was at the door, staring disapprovingly at all the sweets on the floor; Ron picked up Scabbers by his tail, smiling sheepishly.
"I think--"
"What is going on here?!" Hermione disrupted.
"I think he's been knocked out," Ron loudly. He looked closer at Scabbers, and gasped. "No-- I don't believe it! He's gone back to sleep!"
"Excuse me. You'd better hurry up and get your robes on, I went up front and spoke to the conductor, and he says we're almost there. You haven't been fighting, have you?!"
"Ugh, not us-- Scabbers!" Ron said, scowling. "If we were fighting, we wouldn't be talking right now! Now- seriously- would you mind, iunno, leaving? Since we're so close to Hogwarts? We've got to get our stuff together,"
Hermione scoffed, turning on her heels and stamping off. Ron rolled his eyes as he took off his jacket and pulled on his robes, which were a little too short for him. His trainers poked out from underneath them in a rather noticeable way. A voice echoed through the train just as he did so:
"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
Harry's nerves churned as he got Hydrus and Sly into their cases. He thought for a minute, but he figured it'd probably be alright. People must've brought unusual pets all the time-- surely not everyone would be alright with just a cat, owl, or toad? And Ron had a rat. Yeah, it would be fine.
He shared a look with Ron, who looked oddly pale underneath his freckles, and his ears were lowered a little bit more than what Harry had already seen. They shoved the rest of the sweets into their pockets and whatever wouldn't fit into their trunks before eventually joining the crowd that was collecting in the corridor. People pushed and shoved all the way to a tiny platform. Harry shivered as he huddled with Ron, and he heard a couple people complaining about the temperature.
A lamp was held over the heads of the students, and Hagrid was the one holding it-- "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Alright there, Harry?" Hagrid had a large smile.
Harry nodded.
"C'mon, follow me! Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years, follow me!" The students followed Hagrid down a steep, narrow path, and it was so dark on either side that there must've been incredibly thick trees surrounding them. Nobody said much of anything, and Neville the toadless boy had been sniffling.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sights o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud, collective "Oooooh!"
Many were in awe, and Harry was among them. Across the large black lake, there was a high mountain, and a castle laid on the top. The lights from the windows sparkled in the starry sky as if stars themselves, and the turrets and towers were quite the feat themselves.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid said, pointing to a ton of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione, who made it very clear the only reason she was there was because she couldn't find any other nearby boats with less than four people.
"Everyone in?" Hagrid yelled. He had a boat to himself. "Righ', then-- FORWARD!"
The bunch of boats moved all at once, gliding across the lake, which looked as smooth as glass. It was deathly silent, for everyone was staring at the castle. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff which it stood upon.
"Heads down!" Hagrid called as the first boats reached the cliff. Everyone in them bent their heads and the boats took them through a curtain of ivy that had gone easily unnoticed. Then along a dark tunnel, that seemed to lead them right underneath the castle, and to some underground harbor of rocks and pebbles.
"Oy, you there! Is this yer toad?" Hagrid asked as he checked the boats while people climbed out.
"Trevor!" Neville cried happily, taking his toad. Then everyone followed Hagrid's lamp as they crossed a smooth patch of grass in the shadow of the castle, up a flight of stairs, and to large oak front doors.
"Everyone here? Yeh still got yer toad?" Hagrid asked. Finally, he raised a fist up high, and knocked on the door three times.