Year 1 (Hermione's P.O.V)
Hermione waved goodbye to her parents as they stood metres away from the platform nine and three-quarter's barrier. They knew they had to let her go, even if it meant her illogically crashing into a brick wall whilst they had no way of doing so themselves. She was a witch, and her parents mere muggles whom Hermione would have to live without for the next year. Hermione was less sentimental than her parents, though, as she skilfully hid her emotions under her wild tangle of hair and proceeded confidently through the barrier. Her parents' gasps were superseded by the roar of the Hogwarts Express as Hermione found herself on this strange new platform where everyone looked as curious as her.
She was one of the first to board, of course, forever the most punctual of kids, and her excitement only grew as she breezed down the corridor of the train. Some of the compartments were occupied by nervous looking first years, craning their necks out of the windows to say a final farewell to their parents. Hermione sighed. If only her parents could have seen her off like these magical ones. It wasn't so much that she was missing them already, but she wanted to show the other kids how cool her parents were, in all their muggle attire. They were dentists after all.
All there was to do now was find a compartment with a nice view and await the rest of her fellow first years to join her on the train. Making friends would come later; first she was just interested in assessing their peculiar mannerisms and even stranger looks. Even the way some of these magical people walked was different to the muggles she had lived among at home. Presently, she noticed a red-haired boy strutting along with a confused-looking spectacled boy. The former seemed confident as he instructed his friend about certain trivial things that Hermione had long read about, like the four houses of Hogwarts and the Sorting Hat ceremony. Hermione wondered why on earth the brown-haired boy would need to be told such things when it was the most common knowledge even to her own muggle-raised self. She studied their faces as they approached a carriage door. Something was strange about the spectacled boy.
Only a few minutes later, the whistle sounded for the train to depart. A meek rapping sound knocked at her compartment door, and a soft-faced boy peered round at her. It took a moment for her to realise the boy wanted to join her, and she nodded her consent, gesturing to the seat opposite her.
"Hermione Granger, very nice to meet you! And you are?" She asserted her voice with the turning up of her nose, for she felt the need to appear confident in this new world, and not let people think her background made her any less of a witch.
" N..n..n..Neville L..l..l"
"Neville Longbottom, yes it says so on your trunk. Again, nice to meet you. This is your first time aboard the Hogwarts Express, too, I take it. I myself come from a muggle background, but I assure you I have read more than enough about the proceedings of our first day at Hogwarts. 'Hogwarts: A History' was very good reading, too, so I am well aware of Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry even without any prior family experience."
"Oh, well maybe you could tell me, H..h.."
"Hermione."
"Hermione. Sorry, I tend to forget names when I'm nervous. Perhaps you could tell me about what goes on, y'no, on our first day. I don't know anyone here and I got too confused when my parents explained it to me. There's someone else here who wants to know, too. Trevor, my frog..."
The new acquaintance's squeaky voice trailed off as something suddenly caught Hermione's attention outside the compartment door. It was the red-haired boy and his intriguing friend.
"Ah, where's he gone? Hermione, did you see him jump out or something? I was sure I left him in my bag somewhere..."
"Neville, what on earth are you talking about? What jumped out of your bag?"
"Trevor! My frog, my best friend. I think he got too excited and left my bag without me noticing. Oh, please Hermione, help me look for him!" The boy's shrill voice was so full of panic and concern for his frog that Hermione could do no less than pity him. She would have to look for him now, with Neville's puppy-dog eyes pleading with her own in the saddest way. Besides, perhaps she would find those boys who had caught her interest for some reason, and she would learn further why that was. So, giving Neville another shock, Hermione suddenly leapt from her seat, assuring the boy that she would find his lost friend.