Chapter 1

Hermione Granger sat on the edge of her trunk, bouncing her foot up and down and playing with the hem of her T-shirt. Platform 9 ¾ was chaotic with owls hooting, children yelling, and the periodic hissing of the train. She tried to focus on one sound at a time to keep herself from losing control. Her parents weren't thrilled with her choice to attend Hogwarts and were still pushing for her to attend a special school for kids with "developmental disabilities" at that very moment.

"Sweetie," her mom began.

Hermione stopped bouncing and looked up annoyed.

"It's not too late to change your mind. The Page School for Developmentally Challenged Children will still accept you for the fall term."

Her father joined in saying "We just want you to have a good school experience where you're needs will be met. Your mom and I still aren't sure if this "Hogwarts" is the best idea."

He trailed off and exchanged a look with his wife. Hermione sighed and resumed bouncing her foot.

"Mom, Dad, I've felt like a freak my entire life,"

Her parents started to interrupt saying "You're not a freak" but she held up her hand to cut them off.

"I've felt like a freak my entire life. I feel isolated from my peers because I don't understand them and they don't understand me, and all those weird "accidents". Getting this chance to go to Hogwarts, well it's my chance to feel like less of a freak. In one area at least."

"Okay sweetie." Her mom said, and her dad just nodded. The train whistle blew one loud note causing Hermione to jump and cover her ears until she was certain that it was over.

"That's the call to get on, I think," her dad said. "Remember honey, we love you and we're just a letter away if you need us."

Her parents hugged her and waved goodbye as she walked towards the train. Hermione dragged her trunk onto the train looking for a section unoccupied by other student. She had to endure several compartments of awkward "excuse me's" and "sorry"s before she found a compartment where there weren't signs of life.

Shoving her trunk into the space opposite the aisle she popped the latches and grabbed a book of spells before retreating to her seat. Shortly after receiving her letter, Hermione begged her parents to take her to Diagon Alley to buy her school books. Once she got her hands on a book she couldn't put it down, and she knew she'd have enough to deal with at her new school with meeting new people and getting into an entirely new routine without also having to worry about all new classes so she wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting into academically.

"It never hurts to review." she thought. Cracking open her book, she slouched down in her seat and got comfortable for the long journey ahead of her.