The platform
September rolled around a lot slower than Will wanted it to. He contemplated going back to Diagon Alley to ask if there was a spell or potion to speed up time. But instead he patiently waited for September 1st, spending his summer holidays engrossed in the books he had bought all those months ago, desperately trying to learn as much as he could to avoid being behind in his studies. Jonathan had also taken a liking to the idea of his brother being a wizard, spending most of his free time cozied up in a blanket on Wills bed reading along with him.
But soon enough it was the first morning of September, Will had barely slept, not from fear but excitement, he was finally going to get to go to the infamous school and learn all about the world he was going to fit into. The sun had barely rose as Will jumped out of bed, likely waking up the rest of his household, rushing to grab his things and dragging it out into the hall. His mothers door immediately open, a dashing smile erupting onto her face. “ todays the day!” She cheered, reaching down to pat his shoulder. He flashed a wide grin, dragging his suitcase into the living room and depositing it onto the couch. Rushing back into his bedroom he grabbed the cage next to his bedside. A brown chirpy owl sat perched inside it. He had named his owl Chester, after their old family dog. He had cried for weeks when they had to get rid of him, but he knows he went to a good home.
They had set everything up the night before, being in the countryside meant it would be a long drive into London , which also meant they would need to leave early so at seven on the dot, they all piled into the car and off they were to Kings Cross Station. During the annoyingly long drive Will took it upon himself to re-read the directions to Nine and three quarters, which at first didn’t make sense to them because any normal train station goes from nine to ten with no recollection of a nine and three quarters between it. But he guessed it was just something else magical to hide witches and wizards from the rest of the world. Jonathan had put one of his mixtapes in and the sound of The Clash booming throughout their car, with both him and his brother humming along. If only time would go quicker.
The journey was finally at a close as they pulled into a car park nearby Kings Cross. Will practically leaped out of the car as soon as it stopped, racing to the boot and grabbing at his bags. Jonathan was the next out of the car, holding Chester’s cage in his left hand, and Wills stationary bag in his right. Their mother was the last to leave the car grabbing Wills lightest bag before slamming the boot shut and locking the car. “ I’ll run down and grab a trolley” his mother announced turning towards the station and dashing off.
Will turned and propped himself up against the car, allowing his legs to give out and slide down. His brother soon joined him also sliding down the side of the car to sit down. Will couldn’t lie to himself anymore, the nerves were finally starting to kick in, he was new to all of this, he didn’t know anyone else who was a wizard. He had no possible way of making friends before school started, not without making himself sound utterly insane. A laugh escaped his lips as he thought about it, causing Jonathan to turn to him, a puzzled expression gracing his feature before he spoke, soft and light “are you feeling okay?” Will looked up at him, he knew what Jonathan was going to say before he said it. It had been said enough times over the years. Through out the ordeal with his father, through out the bullying, through out the panic attacks, it was a never ending cycle. “ if I said I was fine would you believe me?” Sarcasm filtered through his voice and without a moments hesitation, his brother dropped the cage in order to drape his arm across Will pulling him closer while whispering “it’s gonna be okay y’know. And besides you’re a wizard now, if anyone treats you badly just put a curse on them.” Will turned to his brother, silently staring at each other before bursting out in fits of laughter, not noticing their mother arriving with an empty trolley. She waited till the laughter turned to giggles before making her presence known. “ it’s 10:49 y’know, eleven more minutes and you’ll be back in the car and off to your old school.” And with that both brothers jumped up from their places, piling all of Wills trunks and baggage into the trolley. Jonathan ended up strolling along with the trolley whilst Joyce and Will had a slightly faster pace. Into King’s Cross they go..
As they expected there wasn’t a platform nine and three quarters, well at least not between platforms nine and ten. Jonathan had asked Will if he had to use his wand to conjure it, in which Will reminded him that he wasn’t allowed to use magic outside of school til he was 16. Will was stumped and as he glanced at his watched he realised he had 6 minutes before the train was supposed to depart. His gaze lifted to meet his mothers eyes, both as lost as he was until he heard squabbling behind them. “-and I told you mum it’s clear that platform nine and three quarters has to be between platforms nine and ten because that’s what the lady at the till told me!” Wills ears caught the last of the sentence, eyebrows raising as his focus quickly shifted to the boy behind them. He had brown curly hair and a look of almost familiarity as his sight reached Will. “See! I told you, platforms nine and ten!” The boy abandoned his trolley, rushing over to meet Will. “ honestly, can you believe her, I’m Dustin, Dustin Henderson.” And he raised his hand. Will almost missed the gesture, but quickly adjusted himself before replying, “Will. Will Byers.” And he took the boys hand and shook it. The pair grinned at each other before turning their attention back to the platforms. “ You don’t happen to know how to get to platform nine and three quarters do you? I don’t think I can bare my mother telling me she told me so.” Dustin whispered into Wills ear. Will shook his head, seeing Dustin let out a sigh in the corner of his eye. “ well we’re screwed then.” Will snorted and soon the curly haired boy joined in. “Dusty, you’re going to be late sweety,” she tumbled over almost stumbling into her son,” oh look you’ve made a friend already what’s your name?” Will gave her an honest smile but before he could say anything Dustin interrupted “ His names Will, we don’t have time for introductions we need to get to the platform.” With the few moments he’d spent with his new friend he’d already gathered he was organised, glancing at his trolley which was neat and orderly and then glancing at his own which was a great mess of a heap. He cringed as he saw the untidiness of his trolley but a voice snapped him out of his thoughts. It was Jonathans.” I know it’s going to sound crazy but I just saw a group of people go through the platform.” Four confused faces stared back at him but the only person to voice their concern was Dustin.” What do you mean go through the platform?” There was a hint of curiosity in his voice and Will was now glad he had stumbled across him. “ d’you see that brick wall over there,” motioning towards it, “I think it’s a passage, I swear I watched them disappear through it.” He could hear his own mother mutter under her breath whilst Dustin moved out of his peripheral vision to grab his trolley. “Well there’s only one way to find out,” and he turned to Will, “ meet you on the other side?” He quested dramatically, to which Will gestures a thumbs up. Dustin took a deep breath before racing towards the wall. Will waited for the crash, waited for a scream that didn’t come. Dustin disappeared before their very eyes. Everyone’s mouth was agape in shock. All except Wills, whose hands were now on his own trolley steering to face the wall. Before his new found courage could disperse he charged at the wall closing his eyes incase his mind had actually deceived him and Dustin was never really there. He braced himself for impact when he felt a tingling sensation go through his body and his feet stopped moving. Opening his eyes he saw exactly what they hand been looking for.
Platform Nine and Three Quarters.
Will had immediately spotted his new friend, who was waving enthusiastically ahead of him. He hadn’t noticed before but he was missing his two front teeth. Will pushed his trolley towards him grinning back at him. “Oh. My. God. That was like so cool!” Dustin heaved out. Will nodded in agreement before a commotion behind them caused a slight bit of attention. In full dramatics Jonathan had ran through the magical barrier arms linked with his mother and Dustin’s own mother, all three letting out high pitched squeals. Will internally face palmed as Dustin mumbled ‘ I can’t believe she’s my mother’ causing Will to snort once again. After realising they weren’t in the after life and were in fact still in a train station full of people they quickly regained their composure, sheepishly hobbling over the two boys who were staring at them scornfully. “ mum I can’t believe you’ve just done this to me.” Dustin stated, still glaring at his mother as though she had burnt down his favourite store. “ I’m sorry dusty, but I’m not at all familiar with walls that aren’t really walls.” Her voice was lined with sarcasm, making Will snicker at the two bickering “and I’ve told you, you have to stop calling me dusty, I’m eleven years old now I’m not a child.” His mothers reaction to this was to step forward and ruffle his hair, causing Dustin to try to shake her off while laughing loudly. Will turned to his own family, who were looking at him, smiles plastered on their faces and that was all it took for Will to abandon his trolley and whisk them both up into a huge hug of his own. “ I’m gonna miss you both” he whispered into the air, loud enough for them both to hear him. His mother stepped back, wiping the tears he didn’t know had started falling. “ it’s okay we’ll see you soon, Christmas break is only a few months away,” “- and we’ll send you so many letters that you’ll be fed up by next week.” Jonathan finished, wrapping him back into another hug. Will let out a small giggle as his brother hugged him tighter. “ all aboard the Hogwarts Express, all aboard!” Will gasped as he looked back down to his watch pulling himself out of his brothers arms. He turned back to his trolley to see that only his suitcase with his robes was left. He picked it up and felt a hand grab his shoulder. He let out a gasp. “Dude it’s okay, it’s just me man, come on we need to get on the train I bet all the compartments are full now.” The sound of Dustin’s voice released a sigh of relief as he followed the boy onto the train.
Dustin wasn’t kidding, they felt liked they’d walked for miles and yet there was still no sign of an empty compartment. Wills legs were starting to ache whilst he could hear Dustin panting at the side of him. “ you’d think them being magic and all, that they would give each person their own compartment, I mean really how hard would a spell like that really be?” Will snorted then replied, “ I bet the schools all about inclusivity, force us all to work together.” Dustin snickered agreeing with him and then stopped in his tracks mouth opening in what looked like disbelief. Will looked forwards to see a door, and turned back to his friend in confusion only to see that the door wasn’t the problem. He faced the door for a second time and his gaze settle above it, seeing a sign which displayed in bold letters. Seconds years. Will was the first to speak up.”does that mean that- that all of the people we just walked past were just the first years?” Dustin turned to him, face still of shock “ they definitely need a bigger enlargement charm.”
After what felt like hours of walking up and down the train they found a compartment, occupied by only one person, a girl, with brown wavy hair. Dustin turned to him, his eyes obviously asking whether they should go in to which Will just shrugged. He did not feel like doing any more walking and the thought of possibly making another friend was a plus so they dragged open the compartment door, startling the girl who now looked at them with what Will hoped was friendliness. “ sorry, do you mind if we sit in here.” Dustin smiled awkwardly at the girl awaiting her answer. She looked deep in thought before nodding, patting the seat next to her. “ I’m El.” She held out her hand which they both shook. She sat back in her seat, peering out through the window. She seemed at peace, Will envied her and effortlessness to look so carefree. He studied her mannerisms, how calm she was after meeting two strangers, he looked back to how he had reacted when he felt Dustin’s hand on his shoulder. How scared he had been. He was a coward. He shoved that thought out of his mind as the girl was now facing him, smiling so innocently. He smiled back, she would make a great friend. Dustin’s mind was somewhere else however, as he perched himself in the seat staring around the small space. His eyes landed on the girls bag. “ is Jane your mother?” He blurted out, pointing at the name tag on her duffel bag. She looked up at him and Will would say she was hesitant but never the less she answered. “ no that’s my name,” she paused before continuing, ”my middle names Eleanor, El for short, I just prefer to be called that.” Dustin seemed satisfied with that answer shuffling along to the window, peering out of it and into the countryside, but Will saw how her leg had begun bouncing and how she was looking anywhere expect the two boys who were now in the compartment with her. Will nudged her slightly meeting her round brown eyes. “ it’s nice to meet you El, I’m Will, and that jumble of fun over there is Dustin.” He whispered the last bit out of Dustin’s ear range. Or so he thought. “ Was that sarcasm? I’ll have you know I’m a whole bunch of fun when I’m not lost or walking around a train for what felt like forever.” Will and El began to giggle at Dustin’s outrage, Dustin soon giggling along with them.
They easily drifted into conversation. Jonathan would come out with some cheesy saying like , they clicked. And yet somehow Will seemed to agree, El and Dustin talked to him as though had been friends for their whole lives, El explaining to them that her parents were magic users, but also that’s she had come from a long line a magic users, making her pure blood, whereas Will and Dustin had come from a line of muggles, which was a fancy term for non magic users. Will internally laughed at the fact he could call his brother a muggle, thinking of how confused he would be before he would eventually explain it to him. He began to zone out, staring out into the corridor of the train. He missed his family already and the day wasn’t even over yet. He didn’t know how he was going to cope without them for 3 months till Christmas break. His eyes seemed a lot heavier, perhaps the restless night was finally catching up to him. He allowed his eyes to droop closed and leant back into the comfort of the seat. He didn’t know how long he had been out but an unusual voice that didn’t belong to his friends snapped him out of his much needed sleep. He realised the once empty corridor was now occupied by two boys, and the carriage door was now open. Will turned to face his friends, Dustin who was also asleep, and now that his senses were coming back to him he saw he was snoring quite heavily and El who was sat in the corner of compartment, knees hunched into her chest as she read a book. “ never mind Lucas there obviously isn’t any room here. come on we’ll find another compartment.” The boy with curls like Dustin’s but black said. Will scoffed.” Well that was a bit rude don’t you think?” Will criticised. El only nodded, returning to her chocolate frog that she had bought when the trolley lady had come to their compartment. She opened the box and out of the corner of his eye he saw something leap out of it, causing him to gasp and jump across the compartment towards Dustin. “ WHAT THE HELL MAN, ” Dustin screeched, waking up from his nap before noticing what Will had panicked about “ Don’t tell me you’re going to eat that.” El once again nodded grabbing the frog by its leg and biting into it. “ both boys stared at her, eyes wide. “What? It’s an enchantment, they aren’t really alive.” She simply said, taking another bite. Will let out a sigh of relief, “ thank god. That would have been really gross otherwise.” Will adjusted his robes that he and Dustin had both changed into while El went to the bathroom possibly miles away. “As much as I’m now fond of you, you’re basically in my lap and I’m starting to overheat.” Dustin huffed, pulling at the top of his robes like a collar. Will rolled his eyes shuffling across the seat while Dustin sprawled out mumbling about ‘being free’, El erupting into laughter from the action. Will smiled at the scene and then to himself, he’s really going to like it here..
It felt as though the train had been going for hours, the once bright sky now switched for a night sky, full of stars. If Will had his art supplies he probably would have painted it. “Holy shit!” Wills eyes widened at Dustin. “ Sorry my bad, but look! Can you see that building over there? It’s like a castle! Could you imagine if that’s Hogwarts!” Dustin beamed, raising El from her slumber, pushing herself up from her seat and into the window. She giggled to herself “ That is Hogwarts dummy,” she sleepily said, perching herself back into her seat and closing her eyes again. Both boys looked at each other in surprise and eagerness. “I say the train will stop in about five minutes.” The train screeched, slowing down to halt. “Huh. Guess I must have timed that wrong.” She re opened her eyes grabbing her bag and standing up. She brushed down her robes and started to walk towards the compartment door. She swivelled round facing them now. “ Are you coming or are you gonna gawk at the castle for a little while longer?” And with that they scrambled to pick up their bags and rush out of the doors.
the breeze was cool and the wind mishaping his haircut was definitely doing more bad than good. he looked up to the Castle and turned to El. " They don't expect us to walk the rest of the way do they?" his voice sounded whiny and he cringed internally at the thought of his friends finding him annoying. But El only laughed, pointing to the side of them. Will Switched his focus, finding himself staring at a lake. Will gasped in horror, mouth watering with the big question, but Dustin beat him to it. "THEY EXPECT US TO SWIM??" Dustin bellowed, gaining the attention of a lot people. Will gazed down, not wanting to be the centre of attention. He only looked back up when he heard El practically heaving for air, face bright red from laughing s hard. "No Dustin, we are not expected to swim, why don't you use your eyes." gesturing to the dozens of boats that Will swore was not there just a moment ago. Will glanced at Dustin who was wearing the same puzzled expression Will was wearing before he turned to them, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck." guess i didn't see them." El was still regaining her ability to speak as the three of them barrelled into a boat. There were spare seats meaning others would likely come and join them, but Will found that he wasn't actually nervous, they were all new just like him, and El and Dustin were nice enough so what did he have to worry about? okay, so granted the two he encountered momentarily on the train weren't the nicest of people, but they weren't the entire population of Hogwarts, so why should he care what they thought.
Another three people ended up joining them, two which were already engrossed in conversation and a red headed girl, who was holding her bag tight to her chest. she glanced around the lake before meeting Wills eyes. Wills politeness never ran short which is why he found himself introducing himself to her. "Hi, i'm Will." repeating Els and Dustins actions when they introduced themselves by holding out his hand to shake. she glanced down at it before vigorously shaking his hand and grinning like a Cheshire cat. "I'm Max, but don't ever call me Maxine, it's already bad enough that the sorting hats going to have to say my full name in front of everybody." Her voice was full of confidence, which contrasted heavily to her nervous appearance. Will slowly retrieved his hand and asked the question burning at the back of Dustins throat. "Whats the sorting hat?"