Hampton Lynx stood silently at the train station, tapping his foot every few seconds. Around this time of year at Platform 9 he always found strange characters, people dressed in black and rich purple, people carrying cages with owls and frogs and God-knows-what-else within, people who spoke in whispers, who glanced at him worriedly, evaluating.
Today was no different. Waiting for the train to come to return from his annual summer vacation, he rose an eyebrow at a bushy-haired woman in a forest green robe. She spoke frantically in a low voice to a young boy with large front teeth and freckled cheeks, occasionally glancing up at him. Hampton had never understood it. He'd never understood any of it. At any other train station, he found the most normal, sane people in the world. Here, it was like the world was spinning backwards on its axis.
Looking down at his watch, he sighed. The train was late, as always. Every year it was late. How can a train be late? It doesn't make any sense!
Maybe his clock was off a few minutes. Yes, that must be it. A late train... what a silly idea! Of course his watch was off.
Bored, Hampton stared at the buck-toothed boy.
"I know, Mum. I know." He dodged her attempt to tousle his hair. "I'll be fine."
"Shhh!" The woman bent down and whispered into his ear, then looked at Hampton, straight at him. Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes met his. Finally, she averted her gaze.
Hampton stared down at the ground with a sigh.
"Go!" he heard the woman say, then looked up.
Then he saw it.
The boy went through the wall. He just grabbed his things, and walked straight through like nothing had happened. Hampton's eyes widened. He looked at the bushy-haired woman.
Her mouth twisted into a frown, then, as she gained composure, formed a faked smile. She looked around, as if confused where her son had gone. "Ernest... where are you?"
"I think he went through the wall," Hampton said.
The woman let out a roaring laugh. "That's impossible."
"I saw him."
Her eyes widened a bit. "That's impossible."
She knows! he thought. "Yes, I suppose it is." Hampton turned and walked away, unusual thoughts dominating his mind.
It was half an hour before he realized he'd missed his train.