Tom glanced down on his ticket yet again and scowled. It said 'King's Cross Station, Platform 9 ¾', which absolutely made no sense to the young 11 year-old. He looked around himself, watching the people bustle around on platforms 9 and 10. His platform should be in the middle between them, but there was nothing aside from stone pillars.
He had been tempted to ask the help of someone who worked at the station, but this was a muggle station, and who was he to know they'd know anything about a magical platform? They'd probably just look at him weird and tell him to stop joking around. Adults always said they had better things to do than humour a child, as if they had all forgotten what it was like to be one themselves.
"Come on, gang! We're already late!" an auburn haired woman with brown eyes called.
Tom looked up, half interested in the family rushing past. The woman had four red haired children with her, all between the ages of 18 and 11, and all of them were pushing large carts like the one Tom had with them. The oldest boy had a caged owl sitting on top of his trunk and the only girl, who seemed about 15 years old, had a grey tabby sleeping on hers.
"Careful with all these muggles about, kids! Platform 9 ¾, almost there!"
Tom quickly rushed after the redheads and their mother. He watched in wonder as the oldest boy rushed towards a wall and ran straight through it, disappearing. Tom looked around himself, worried about that blatant display of magic, but no one seemed to be paying attention to any of them, as if they weren't there at all.
"Good! Sexta, you're next," the woman spoke to her daughter.
The girl grinned and nodded before she started speed walking towards the wall. In the end, she leaped into a small sprint before she ran straight through just like her older brother. His curiosity now very much awakened, Tom stepped forward and smiled at the woman.
"Excuse me, but is this the way to the Hogwarts Express?" he asked politely.
"Yes it is, dear," the woman smiled.
"A first year I suppose? Octavian is too."
Tom nodded towards the youngest boy, the only one who hadn't fiery red hair like the others, but auburn like his mother and the same brown eyes as well. The boy nodded back, his freckled face pale and stiff from nerves. He looked a bit scared, or at least very worried.
"I'm Diana Weasley," the woman introduced herself.
"And my other son here is Septimus. He'll be going into his third year."
The redhead grinned proudly and waved at Tom, who waved back. This one had blue eyes and just as much freckles as his younger brother.
"Nice to meet you all, I'm Tom Riddle."
"A muggle born, right?" Septimus asked, grinning wider now.
The eager glint in the older boy's eyes had Tom frown. He didn't like the way Septimus looked at him at all. Instead of answering, he looked back up at the woman and smiled shyly.
"Could you maybe explain to me how to get on the platform?" he asked hopeful.
"Of course dear! Just run straight ahead through the wall and you get there," she answered.
"Let Septimus show you how, alright?"
Tom nodded and watched as the older boy pushed off and started running towards the wall. Just as the two before him, he disappeared into the wall. Mrs. Weasley looked over at Tom again and smiled kindly.
"Go on then. Your turn now, sweetheart."
Tom wanted to frown at the endearments the woman kept giving him, but he bit his tongue and nodded. He took a deep breath and started pushing his cart towards the wall in a small sprint. When he reached, he couldn't stop himself from closing his eyes in fear of crashing hard. Nothing happened though, and as Tom opened his eyes again, he was in awe at the sight before him. A large, red train stood in the station as many people dressed in strange robes and pointy hats were saying goodbye to their children wearing black school robes. Here and there, he saw a few families with muggle clothes, like himself and the Weasleys, but not that many compared to the wizard getups.
He noticed the eldest Weasley talking to a boy the same age as he with dark brown hair that seemed to stick out every which way and brown eyes behind round glasses. He looked a lot like Mrs. Weasley, but with darker hair. His father was standing next to him, and Tom noted they looked almost exactly alike.
As he walked out of the way of the large gate, as it wasn't just a wall on this side apparently, Octavian and Mrs. Weasley walked through as well. He saw the woman started smiling and she walked over to her oldest and the two men he was talking to.
"Henry!" she greeted the man, before hugging the boy.
"Ah! You've grown so much, dear Charlus!"
"Good day, aunt Diana," the teenage boy greeted.
Tom turned away, bored from looking at the group. He noticed Septimus Weasley standing next to yet another red haired girl that looked to be around his age or a bit younger. She had curly hair and blue eyes and again, a lot of freckles. Close by stood another red haired man and a brown haired woman who was trying to manage three toddler boys with curly red hair and too many freckles. He suspected they too were cousins from the four Weasley siblings he had already met.
He saw a few other interesting looking people walking around, like the boy with platinum blond hair and dark blue eyes that seemed to look as if something smelt really bad. He already had his school robes on, but they were in a neutral black, like Tom's, meaning he was a first year as well. Next to the boy sat an older girl with the same platinum hair with silver and purple flowers braided into it in the back and her robes had blue and bronze on them. Their parents seemed regal, the father with equally light hair and their mother a golden blond done up in a high bun. Both parents had the same blue eyes as their children.
Not that far away stood two sets of twins, all first years as well, eagerly talking to each other. One set, a boy and a girl, had light blond hair and liquid silver eyes, while the second set, again a boy and a girl, had black hair and green eyes. The blond girl had her long, wavy hair loose around her shoulders and her brother had short, slightly curly hair. The dark haired girl had kept it short and spiky while her twin had nearly shoulder length waves. As the dark haired girl saw Tom looking, she grinned and suddenly, her features warped to mimic Tom's. His eyes widened in surprise, but the girl already stopped paying attention. He watched as her twin scowled and warped his own appearance to once again copy hers.
Shaking the weirdness off, Tom dragged his trunk over to the train and hauled it inside. He looked around and entered the first cabin he came across, where only one person was seated. The young girl had red hair done up in a ponytail and dark brown eyes. As Tom walked in, she looked up from her book and smiled at him.
"Hello," Tom greeted, smiling back at her.
"Would you mind if I joined you?"
"No, of course not. Go right ahead," the girl replied before looking back down at her book.
Tom looked at the book, noticing it was one of their curriculum, their history book, 'Witchcraft through the Centuries'. Tom had flipped through it on his own at the orphanage as well and remembered wondering how the magical community hadn't yet gotten rid of the muggles after the Inquisition and the Witch Trials. A lot of the witches and wizards had actually thought of the whole thing as a game.
"I don't see why they never considered the trials more serious," he commented.
"I understand they could easily escape the stake, but what about the children? They couldn't preform enough magic to get away, could they?"
The girl scowled in thought and looked back up from the book.
"That's actually a good question," she mumbled.
"I'm Gwendolyn Weasley by the way, but call me Gwen."
"Nice to meet you, Gwen. I'm Tom Riddle," Tom greeted.
"Another Weasley, huh? I already met Septimus and Octavian, and their two older siblings."
"You haven't even met half of us," Gwen chuckled.
"My uncle Nigel and aunt Diana have a total of eight kids. Poor Sexta is the only daughter. Primus, Adjutor, Tertius and Quartus are all already graduated. My uncle John and aunt Eleonore have four kids. Clara is twelve and in her second year now, and the triplets are only three. Then there's me. I'm an only child."
"Big family," Tom agreed, wide eyed.
"That's all of them, right?"
"Not really. I have an aunt who married a Russian. Cousin Georgi goes to his second year in Durmstrang."
Tom nodded in understanding and grabbed one of his own books. He decided on reading up on Transfigurations a bit. He was curious about the twins that could change their looks and wondered if he could learn how to do it. He looked up for a moment when the train started moving. Gwen looked up as well and smiled at Tom.
"What about your family?" Gwen asked curiously.
"Probably not as big as mine, but…"
"I'm an orphan," Tom shrugged.
"My mother gave birth in the orphanage and died immediately after. I don't even know if my father's still alive at all."
"Oh… I'm sorry," Gwen mumbled softly, looking away embarrassed.
"No need to be. I never knew either of them," Tom replied, smiling at her.
They both fell silent after that. Gwen moved to look out the window and just enjoy the sights flashing past while Tom turned back to his Transfiguration book. Suddenly, the door to their compartment slammed open loudly and a boy with platinum blond hair stumbled in, laughing cheerfully. When he saw Tom and Gwen, he quickly shut up and grinned impishly.
"Sorry, didn't see there were already people in here," he muttered.
A girl with long platinum blond hair popped her head in and stared from the boy that looked near identical to her to Tom and Gwen. She pursed her lips together and looked back over to her twin.
"Seth! You can't just storm in any compartment!" she scolded.
"Merlin, Hope! I couldn't know they were in here already! They're so bloody quiet!"
A black haired girl popped in too, grinning as she threw her arm over the blond girl.
"Let's leave these two alone, alright? We can find some place…" she said.
"As long as we don't go sit with 'Burga I'm ok!" a boy with black hair joined in.
"Of course, I guess Walburga is always a better choice than a Weasley."
The two dark haired kids pulled up their noses as they glared at Gwen, who glared back.
"No one asked you to come in here, Black," the redhead hissed.
The two dark haired twins rolled bright purple eyes and moved back away out of sight. The blond boy eyed Gwen and Tom for a few moments before moving past his twin, who rolled her eyes and turned away too. Just then, a third platinum blonde popped his head in. This one looked a bit different from the twins though, a pointy face instead of the more heart shaped of Hope and Seth, and dark blue eyes instead of silver grey. He scowled when he saw Gwen and quickly turned towards Tom.
"Either you're a mudblood or really stupid if you hang around a blood traitor like Weasley," he spat.
"Be nice, 'Brax," the blond girl muttered, slapping the boys arm before dragging him out.
Gwen scoffed and glared at the closed door. Tom scowled and closed his book.
"Who were they?" he asked curiously.
"The Knight twins, Hope and Seth, the Black twins, Artemis and Alphard, and Abraxas Malfoy," Gwen replied frowning.
"The Blacks and Malfoys are dark families and hate everything remotely muggle. Since my family has been supporting muggle rights for several generations that includes all things Weasley. I don't see the appeal of muggles, but I hate that they look down on us for our views."
"Dark families… is that bad?" Tom wondered.
"Most say it is, but I don't think so," Gwen replied shrugging.
"Dark, Grey and Light are magical cores. You've either got an affinity for Light magic, Dark magic or a combined affinity. But most Dark magic has been outlawed in Britain."
Tom hummed and nodded in understanding.
"So… all Dark is considered 'bad'?" he asked.
"Yeah, and Grey wizards are looked down on because they usually aren't as powerful in light magic. But we have other talents. My mum's a Grey witch, and a Seer, and so is my grandmother, she can see magic. Only Grey witches and wizards ever have the eye. She says I have a talent in divination too. Maybe I even have the Inner Eye, but it's too early to tell yet."
"Your mother can see the future?" Tom asked awed.
Gwen grinned proudly and nodded.
"Say… what does 'mudblood' mean?" Tom asked.
"I understand it's some sort of insult, but I don't know what it means."
"It means a muggle born," Gwen explained.
"People like Malfoy hate muggles. They consider everyone having muggle blood in them as tainted and dirty."
"Hence, mudblood," Tom finished, scowling.
Even here, he was looked down on. Tom wondered bitterly if he was doomed to be a freak and an outcast for the rest of his life.