Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter or any of the characters and stuff in this.
I should probably say right from the off that there are some things that I'm not going to waste time writing about and I'm therefore not gonna make you read about all over again i.e. Harry's wand being connected to Voldemort's, how Harry's parents died, Hagrid buying him an owl for his birthday and him calling her Hedwig. Basically if I don't specifically call something out then I'm just going with the book's canon. Of course there are some exceptions with major story changes such as Ron being in a different house, therefore he's not around as much and Harry and Hermione become closer, don't worry though it won't be hard to follow, I have faith in you *thumbs up and dashing smile* *okay maybe "dashing" is the wrong word* *probably something more like "thumbs up and accidentally creepy smile"* *yeah that works better* *actually, y'know that GIF of Kit Harrington failing to wink?" "Yeah, something more like that*
Also a quick warning, Harry's abuse at the hands of the Dursley's has been very physical, not just receiving beatings from Dudley but from Uncle Vernon as well, hence leaving Harry littered with scars and marks over his chest and back. Most have faded but are still very visible and this will play a role in the future, if I (hopefully) am able to continue writing this (college is starting again and I somehow managed to get a part-time job which both take up time). When I first tried writing about this it became very elaborate and drawn out so I thought I'd just address it now.
This starts off on September 1st and Hagrid is coming to take Harry to King's Cross. Harry has a bedroom as Vernon gave him Dudley's second one after first letter arrived.
Harry pulled his vest on before putting on his other, baggier clothes to cover them up. His scars. He didn't like giving them a name, like they were alive; to him they were just them.
As Harry was finishing getting dressed he heard three heavy knocks at the front door and knew Hagrid had arrived.
"Dursley, Harry here then?" Harry could hear Hagrid address Vernon, who called his name a second later. Harry grabbed his stuff and headed downstairs when he saw Hagrid stood outside. "Harry!" he cheered when he saw him, "ready to go?"
"Yeah," Harry said with a smile and within minutes his trunk and Hedwig's cage had been attached to Hagrid's motorcycle. Hagrid talked about things Harry didn't fully understand until they were getting close to the station.
"Now, I'll be going with you to the wall but I won't be coming onto the Platform with ye, I've gotta get back to Hogwarts I'm afraid."
"The wall?" Harry was now officially confused.
"Don't worry, I'll explain when we get there."
They were there not long after and Harry was pushing his trunk and Hedwig along on a large trolley. Hagrid was looking this way and that, trying to find something but Harry didn't know what. He lead him along with several "err, this way" and a few "ah, that way" phrases before they finally seemed to come to where Hagrid wanted to go.
"Ah! Here we go, Harry," Hagrid announced, gesturing towards a wall between platforms nine and ten, "Platform Nine 'n Three-Quarters is right through this wall. All ye gotta do is walk right at it, don't turn at the last minute and don't make a big scene. Just walk straight onwards like the wall's not even there and you'll be fine. Now, if ye-"
"Excuse me," a voice behind Hagrid said. Hagrid moved to reveal a girl with curly, brunette hair behind him, slightly smaller than Harry, with a trunk lay on a trolley too, "I'm sorry but I heard you talking about Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Am I going the right way?"
"That y'are, miss…?" Hagrid said.
"Granger, sir. Hermione granger."
Hagrid blushed and smiled.
"Oh, I'm no sir, miss. I'm just Hagrid, Rubeus Hagrid. I work up at the school. But anyway, as I was just telling mister, uh… Harry, here, was that all you have to do to get onto the Platform is walk straight at that wall there, and you'll be on it in a jiffy. Feel free to go ahead."
Harry knew why Hagrid had avoided using his name; he didn't want to announce who he was for him out of privacy.
"Oh, only if you're sure?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded in agreement. Hermione smiled in thanks and walked straight ahead at the wall where, much to Harry's amazement, she disappeared into it.
"See Harry, it's as simple as that. When you're ready, go for it."
Harry looked up at the giant of a man.
"Thank you, Hagrid. For everything."
Hagrid blushed again and ruffled Harry's hair.
"Ah, it's been my pleasure Harry. Now go on, off with ye, I'll see you up at school."
Harry looked ahead and walked straight at the wall and closed his eyes, almost certain he was going to crash right into it. But the crash never came. Instead the sound of a loud steam train hooted next to him and he looked to see a huge, red train on the tracks, "The Hogwarts Express" engraved on the side and a sign above him reading "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters".
"Rather breath-taking isn't it?" Hermione said, who Harry hadn't even noticed was stood nearby.
"Very," Harry muttered.
"Would you like to get a compartment together? I'm afraid I don't know anybody else, being muggle-born."
"Yeah, sounds great. I was raised by my magic-hating muggle relatives, I didn't even know I was a wizard until my eleventh birthday but they knew the entire time."
"Really? Why didn't they tell you?"
"Something about my aunt hating that my sister was a witch and they got stuck with me when my parents died. I think they hoped they could "beat it out of me or something". Um, shall we find a compartment then?" Harry quickly changed the subject after realising what he had said. He hoped Hermione hadn't heard him right or that she wouldn't take it literally. Harry suddenly felt a huge presence behind him and he turned to see Hagrid stood there. "Hagrid! I thought you couldn't come onto the Platform?"
Hagrid smiled cheekily.
"Well, I just thought "so what if I'm a lil' late? I'll go see him off the station", so here I am. Come on then, let's find ye a compartment."
The Platform was starting to fill with families Hagrid helped Harry and Hermione find a compartment to themselves pretty quickly. They stowed their trunks and sat down, waiting for eleven o'clock to arrive and the train to set off, Hagrid on the Platform outside.
"Harry, you mentioned that your parents died… you mind me asking how?"
"I was told they were involved in a car accident, and that's what I thought up until my birthday when Hagrid came and told me everything: that I was a wizard and my parents had been killed by Lord Voldemort."
Hermione gasped.
"I'm so sorry, Harry. I can't imagine what that must have been like… wait… are you… Harry Potter?"
Harry sighed a little and nodded. Hermione flustered a little.
"Well, I'm glad I met you as just "Harry" first. If Hagrid had called you "Harry Potter" back on the platform I'm afraid I would've started quoting all the books I've read about you."
"There are books written about me?"
"Well, you're featured heavily in several books, but I don't think there's one dedicated entirely to you."
Harry was glad about that. He didn't like the idea of a whole book being written about him for something that he didn't even remember. The train whistled and the conductor called out. A few moments later the train stuttered slightly and then slowly crept forward out of the station. Hagrid waved the most enthusiastically out of all the people on the Platform and Harry laughed as he and Hermione waved back. They sat back down and watched as they crept along the track.
"Brave new world…" Hermione muttered. Harry was sure that was some kind of quote, but from what he did not know
Thanks for taking the time to read this. As I noted in the description, this story originally had a different name, simply being "Harry Potter's New World" but then as I was writing the end I thought it'd be nice to show that Hermione is educated and cultured by having her quote Shakespeare, and reference the "Brave New World" they were about to enter, hence the name change. I am also aware that this is the name of a novel by Aldous Huxley but I personally associate the phrase more with Shakespeare. This chapter is rather short and I know not a lot really happens but I don't want to clutter my chapters too much, previously I've ended up writing nearly 6000 words per chapter and wasn't happy with it.
Also, when I'm writing this (not sure when I'll upload it) it's September 1st 2017. Hopefully anyone reading this knows the significance of that date and why it's rather bittersweet to be writing a Harry Potter fanfic today.
Anyway, thank you for reading, please leave a review letting me know if you liked this or not (good thing my computer autocorrected that from "let me know if you licked this"), even a simple "No good" or "I liked it" really goes a long way. Also I'm putting this as a teen rating for now as I know that domestic violence is an adult theme but it's only referenced/mentioned, Vernon and Dudley's physical attacks on Harry aren't detailed so that's what I've gone with, feel free to let me know if you think it should be different.
