Millinda and Nicole Longhorn (better known as Milly and Nikky) pushed their carts toward the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. They were second year witches, but this would be their first year at Hogwarts.
Their first year of school had been at Aydenhold Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the American Counterpart to Hogwarts. The sorting globe (the Aydenhold equivalent to Hogwarts' hat) had sorted them both into Dorcas House. Many wizards thought of Dorcas as the Slytherin of Aydenhold. Aydenhold's other houses didn't escape such comparison. Burroughs was compared to Gryffindor, Nurse to Ravenclaw and Easty to Hufflepuff.
Milly turned to Nikky, slightly baffled. "Ok… I know there must be some kind of magic hiding platform nine and three quarters, but how are we supposed to find it?"
Nikky, who had apparently been thinking the same thing, shrugged and looked around the platforms, eyes searching for a clue.
Thinking the same thing or being stuck in the same spot was not uncommon to these two sisters, as they were identical twins.
They were both modestly tall for their age, they both had darkish brunette hair, and they both had the same sapphire eyes.
For the sake of identification, both girls had dyed their hair in their first year. (They had picked up color changing charms from Professor Whitley, of Charms, who was their favorite teacher of that whole year.) Nikky's once brunette hair was now a deep, blood red with a couple whitish streaks. Milly's hair was now a rich plumb with pink streaks dropping down at random. They told all the muggles who asked that it was hair dye.
Their Mother, Katherine Longhorn, had been offered a job with the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Creatures, and, being a single mom, had accepted in a heartbeat.
Their late Father, Jonathan Longhorn, was an Auror for the American Magical Committee. He had been killed, mere months after the twins' birth, by Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. Their mother never really talked about it to them, because she had never fully recovered from the shock of his sudden death
America held a lot of memories for Katherine, so when she had accepted the job, nobody complained. They had moved to a small farm house in Northampton, England.
Milly and Nikky scanned the station , hoping for anything from a shimmer of a clue to a fat, neon sign shouting "Hogwarts express here!"
Milly, huffing in impatience turned to Nikky. "I wish Mom had come with us. She probably got some kind of notice on how to get there…" She said with disdain.
"Well, you never know" spoke Nikky at last. "This is just the thing yah come to expect when trying to get somewhere" Nikky said, as she threw herself against the barrier opposite the one separating platforms 9 and 10. Milly, following Nikky's example, went to mimic her, but her back never hit the bricks.