Prologue Part 3
Time passed, as time often does. Before Brielle knew it, the time had come for her to go to Hogwarts. Cogsworth had been assigned the task of driving her to the station. The Ministry had sent over a car that was meant to magically get her to Kings Cross Station in only 15 minutes, as opposed to the thirty or so hours it actually would take to drive from Auradon City to London. London! Brielle still couldn't believe it. The farthest Brielle had ever traveled was Agrabah, but the weird blending-of-the-kingdoms thing that Mrs. Potts had tried to explain to her at least fifty times meant even that was only a couple of hours in the car. No one she knew had ever traveled beyond the thick mountain range that served as Auradon's eastern border. It wasn't just geography that kept anyone from leaving, though the mountains did serve as a quite effective deterrent. But the steady stream of subtle hints that Auradon's subjects would be better off traveling within their borders, paired with the mountains, essentially confined the Auradonians to the borders of Auradon.
Goodbyes were tense, as were the last month and a half Brielle had spent at home. Though no words were spoken, it had been made clear that her family would rather see less of her than more. So she spent most of her time in her room, reading her textbooks and trying to become as advanced in her studies as possible. The other children would have grown up in magical families, after all. She couldn't fall behind.
15 minutes later, there she was at Kings Cross Station. Cogsworth had, quite promptly, taken her trunks and given them to her. Well, actually, practically shoved them at her. It seemed the faster he could get back to Auradon, the better. And so off Brielle went through the station. Her ticket said Platform 9 3/4. Logically, that would be approximately between Platform 9 and Platform 10. Considering that she was at Platform 1 currently, she should be able to walk in the general direction of the increasing numbers and find her platform. And so in that direction she went.
But where was the platform? There was Platform 9, right over here. And there was Platform 10, right over there. And there was the solid brick wall between the two platforms. And there was the clock that said 10:45. And in her stomach was the sinking feeling that everything was wrong. That she would have to go back to Auradon. That it was all a lie.
"Honestly, Arianna, would you hurry up? We'll miss the train to Hogwarts."
Hogwarts? So it was real! Brielle felt herself let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. She looked around for the source of the rather crabby-sounding voice and found it coming from a rather crabby-looking woman. Brielle had met two adult wizards in her lifetime, Professor McGonagall and Mr. Diggory. The two couldn't possibly be more different, yet somehow this woman was exactly the opposite of both. She kept her dark hair in a tight French twist, and not a single hair was out of place or in her cold hazel eyes. She wore a professional-looking black skirt that stopped around mid-calf, paired with a white blouse with a frilly sort of collar. It looked like something that would be found at a press conference, rather than a train station. With her she had two children who both inherited her dark hair and haughty look, a trollish-looking older boy and a young girl who looked about Brielle's age; she must've been Arianna. Regardless of how unwelcoming this woman looked, Brielle decided to ask her for help anyway.
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
One look at the woman's face told her immediately this was a mistake. Still, Brielle decided to continue. In later years, she would wonder whether this was from pure bewilderment at the idea of in-between stations or a simple lack of impulse control.
"Do you know how to get to platform nine and three-"
The woman scoffed and glared at Brielle.
"Don't have any parents to help you?" she said rudely. "Or are they," the woman's upper lip curled and she spoke with a tone one would use to speak of roaches, "muggles"
Brielle said nothing, and the woman glared at her still. She started muttering something to the older boy, and the older boy started muttering back. The younger girl, however, turned towards Brielle with a friendly smile, the resting haughty look on her face disappearing.
"You must be muggleborn, then. Don't worry, getting through the platform is rather simple. I've seen my brother, Marcus, do it loads of times."
Brielle supposed the older boy was Marcus. He was still muttering to his mother. The girl continued.
"He's in his third year at Hogwarts. I'm starting my first year. I'm Arianna, by the way. Arianna Flint. And what's your name?"
Brielle let out a sigh of relief at meeting a girl her own age.
"I'm Brielle. Well, technically Gabrielle, Gabrielle Du Beaumont, but I prefer Brielle." Brielle stuck out her hand to greet her newfound friend, and Arianna shook it eagerly.
"Now let's go, before-" Arianna looked around and Brielle noticed Marcus and Mrs. Flint were gone. Arianna sighed.
"Of course," she said in a resigned voice. "Anyway, all you've got to do is run at the wall separating Platforms Nine and Ten. Then you'll get to Platform Nine and Three Quarters!"
With an excited look, Arianna gestured towards the solid brick wall. Taking a deep breath, Brielle nodded at her newfound friend, who nodded back. Turning towards the barrier, the two of them took off and ran at the wall.
And there it was, Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Casting a final glance behind her at the world she was literally and metaphorically leaving behind, she boarded the train with her new friend and mentally prepared herself for the new world she was about to face.