Harry grinned in excitement. He couldn't wait to get on the train! Another twenty minutes and he'd be off to Hogwarts, whisked away to learn to do spells and make potions, to make new friends and have the time of his life, to become someone who didn't need to be scared anymore!
He shivered deliciously at the very thought of it. A whole school year away from the Dursley family! A whole nine months away from being locked in a cupboard, from being beaten almost every day, from being bullied and pushed around by Dudley and his cronies - ah, how he'd enjoy it all!
But first he needed to get on the train.
What was the platform number? Nine, I think?
Harry looked down at his ticket.
Platform nine and three quarters... hmm. Why don't I ask one of those guards? They should know where it is!
Harry walked quickly over and said to a guard standing by Platform Nine, "Excuse me, sir, but could you possibly tell me where Platform Nine and Three Quarters is?"
The guard frowned. "Platform Nine and Three Quarters?" he said roughly. "I've got me no idea who's been feedin' ya what, boy, but there's no 'Platform Nine and Three Quarters' here, nor anywhere else! Since you asked so politely, I'll catch ya a taxi back home, ya get me?"
"Um, no thank you, that's fine," Harry said hastily. "I'll just wait for my mother to get back from the bathroom and ask her instead. Thank you!"
He left quickly, stomach fluttering and wringing his hands in worry. What if he was unable to board in time? What if he missed the train? What if when he got there, he was kicked out because he didn't actually have any magic and they had made a mistake?
He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice when he almost knocked over a young girl with shoulder-length red hair.
"Sorry!" he apologized, alarmed.
The woman who was with her, a short, plump and well-endowed lady with a friendly, warm look in her eyes, smiled at Harry.
"No worries, dear," she said in a kind tone, and then her eyes flicked to the white snowy owl - Hedwig - perched atop Harry's trunk and the lost look on his face, and an understanding light came into her eyes.
She bent down and whispered into Harry's ear, "Are you a first-year at Hogwarts, dear? What's your name?"
Harry nodded quickly, relieved, and said, "Yes, ma'am! My name's Harry."
"Why aren't you on the platform yet then, Harry?" she said worriedly. "You're going to be late!"
"Um, I don't - don't know how to get on," he said quietly, a little embarrassed.
"Oh, is that all?" she said with a genial laugh. "Well, you just run straight through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten, dearie! Don't be scared, just go on!"
"Thank you, Mrs...?" Harry said politely.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Molly Weasley, and these are my children. Ron here," she pointed to a tall, gangly boy with freckles, who smiled the same wide smile as his mother and waved at Harry, "is starting at Hogwarts too! Fred, George," she addressed two stocky boys who looked identical, "go with dear Harry over here and help him get his luggage onto the train, why don't you?"
Harry said a polite hello to Ron and the twins - Fred and George - and stood beside them.
"All right, just watch Fred and then go!" said one. Harry assumed he was George by the way he had referred to the other boy as Fred.
Fred pushed his trolley through the barrier and disappeared into the red brick.
Harry stared for a moment, amazed, and then did the same.
He phased through the wall and emerged on the other side.
"Whoa," he breathed. The platform was large and lovely and rustic-looking. People in robes milled around, laughing and chatting. Some were also dressed in Muggle clothes, though almost all of them had some form of owl or toad or cat perched on the luggage behind them.
Suddenly, the twins popped up on either side of him.
"Hey, kid," grinned one.
"Come on, let's find you a compartment," beamed the other.
Harry found himself being dragged along by one twin, the other lifting his trunk.
They stopped in front of an empty cabin, and Fred or George (he couldn't tell which) slid the door open.
"Here you go," grinned the other and hefted Harry's trunk up onto the luggage rack above the seats.
"What's your name? I'm Fred Weasley," introduced the one who had dragged Harry in. Harry gave both boys a once-over and realized that Fred had more freckles than George did, and parted his hair to the right, whereas George's was parted to the left. "And he's George," thumbing to the boy behind him.
"I'm Harry," said Harry timidly. "Harry Potter. But, um, I'm just an orphan who found out about magic a month ago! I'm a regular kid!" he said quickly.
"I like him," said Fred with a grin. "Yeah, Georgie?"
"Seems like a nice little kid," said George with a matching smile.
"Anyway, Harry, we'll be leaving now! You want anything, come find us! We'll be sitting up front!"
"Bye!"
Harry called a thanks after Fred and George, who had already left, for helping him load his luggage into the empty compartment he was currently in.
Or at least, a compartment that USED to be empty.
Harry dragged his eyes up to see a slender, tall boy with the beginnings of lean muscle under tan skin, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, looking intently at him. The boy had black hair that fell messily over his forehead and stormy blue eyes that bored into Harry, who felt a bit scared. When had the boy gotten here?
Then he smiled warmly and extended a hand, and Harry's fears disappeared.
"Hey," he said casually. "Gray Fullbuster." His tone was slightly accented.
"H - Harry Potter," Harry stammered out. He knew all about his so-called 'fame' and prayed that this boy wouldn't care much for any of it.
Gray's eyes widened a bit. "Oh," he said.
And then, "I don't care. Friends?"
Harry's heart leapt, and he said a nervously quiet "sure".
And then somehow worked up enough courage to ask, "Uh, what happened to your clothes?"
"Shit!" Gray yelled in a panic, and began a frantic hunt for his clothes.
Harry grinned despite himself.
His first friend seemed pretty crazy, but he also seemed like a true friend.
Harry couldn't wait to get to know him better.
Gray breathed a sigh of relief as he got onto the platform. He had done so by sneakily watching a bushy-haired, buck-toothed girl, and it had paid off.
He was still a little skeptical about this whole wand magic thing - who from Fiore would trust a 'stick wizard', as they called them there? He had been told dozens of times already that only the most powerful wizards could do magic without a conduit to channel it. Which didn't make sense at all to him, seeing as he didn't need anything to do his spells. According to what Gray knew, certain people needed them and some didn't. Lyon was weak in no sense of the word, and yet he still needed magic circles, didn't he?
So did that mean that most Fiori mages were much more powerful than these guys? Or was it that they practiced magic differently?
Gray shrugged and turned to the window seat. Not his problem so long as his Ice Magic continued to work.
As he looked down on the hustle and bustle of platform scenery below him, his thoughts spun and churned dizzyingly in his head, landing on the one thing he had tried hardest not to think of.
His visit to Gringotts Bank earlier in the month.
"My name's Gray. Gray Fullbuster."
"All right, Mr. Fullbuster, here's your vault key," said a kind-looking goblin to him. After you visit your vault and withdraw your money, would you like to have a heritage test done, if you're curious about your magical lineage?"
Why the heck not? Gray figured it wouldn't be too much of a waste of time.
"Sure, sir," he said politely. "I wouldn't mind that."
The ride down to the vaults was something Gray enjoyed greatly. He loved the feeling of the roller-coaster type ride, and since his vault was especially deep down for some strange reason (the goblin accompanying him looked on in awe, because apparently the deeper your vault was, the wealthier you were. Gray didn't much care for that kind of bullshit, but being rich would be nice, he thought), it was prolonged. They even passed through a waterfall, which Gray froze just for shits and giggles.
The goblin with him explained briefly to Gray about the money system here, and Gray ladled the appropriate amount of money he would need, and then some, into a little pouch. In no time, they had ridden back up, and Gray was internally plotting to bring Natsu here next time he came.
"Follow me," said the kind-looking goblin, and Gray trotted calmly along after him. They soon reached a room with high ceilings and a small wooden desk in the middle.
They sat down, the goblin behind it.
The goblin took Gray's hand and laid it flat on a piece of parchment paper. He grabbed a silver needle; Gray flinched away. The goblin leaned forward and pricked his finger before he could react. A drop of rosy red blood oozed out and dropped onto the paper.
Slowly, words blossomed out from the drop of blood, forming sentences and paragraphs that were written in such messy writing that Gray didn't recognize many words at first glance. He flicked his eyes to the top of the sheet and began to read.
Full Name: Gray Fullbuster; alias Ice Prince -
Gray cringed. Back home in his village, he had been a quiet child, showing high intelligence and a certain talent for Ice Make Magic, and his quietness had been mistaken for arrogance, leading to him being dubbed 'Ice Prince' by the other children in the village.
He continued to read.
Full Name: Gray Fullbuster; alias Ice Prince, Ice Stripper, Dumbass, Ice Princess, Kiddo, Gray, etc., etc.
Mother: Mika Fullbuster née Saito; alias none
Father: Silver Fullbuster; alias Absolute Zero
Maternal Grandmother: Aoi Saito née Amano; alias Gram Scary, Grandma Aoi, Grams
Gray winced as he remembered his nickname for Grandma Aoi. She had been a holy terror then, but to be fair, he was all of five, and also quite a handful.
Maternal Grandfather: Reo Saito; alias Grandad, Grandad Reo, Gramps
Paternal Grandmother: Violet Fullbuster; alias Vi, Cold Queen
Gray raised an eyebrow when he didn't see a 'née'. So his grandmother had never been married? Interesting.
Paternal Grandfather: Tom Marvolo Riddle; alias Lord Voldemort
"Um, who's Lord Voldemort?" said Gray curiously.
The goblin stared at him for a split second before bellowing, "That name showed up on your FAMILY TREE?!"
All the kindness was gone from his tone.
Gray blinked. "Um, yeah. He's apparently-" he consulted the sheet. "My paternal grandfather?"
The goblin gaped at him for a minute, before he settled on directing a stare of hatred, not without a fair serving of fear, at Gray.
Said boy was quite confused.
"Seriously, who's Lord Voldemort? Come on, if you're not going to tell me things-" he said, and was cut off by a shaky response.
"Lord Voldemort," and the goblin's voice trembled as he spoke, "was the Darkest Dark Wizard this world has ever encountered. Rumours say that he was the Heir of Salazar Slytherin, one of the very first wizards and co-founder of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry along with Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw. Voldemort was sorted into Slytherin House at Hogwarts. He amassed an army of followers he called 'Death Eaters' soon after he left school, and attempted to take over Wizarding Britain and corrupt it with his views of how only pureblood wizards were suitable to learn magic, and that Muggles, Muggleborns and half-bloods must be squashed underfoot. And to think that you, his grandson, do not even know of his existence!"
Gray frowned. Great, just what he needed. A bigoted megalomaniac for a granddad.
He voiced this accordingly, and added, "He hated all magical creatures too, right?"
"Yes," was the gruff reply.
"Then I don't see why I should agree with him at all. Bigotry and racism is something I hate, having been a victim of it myself. It's dumb and pointless. Muggles are non-magical people, right? So Muggleborns would be witches and wizards who were born to a Muggle family? And thus half-bloods would be half Muggle and half wizard?"
The goblin nodded affirmatively. "That is correct."
"I don't see how someone's blood makes them different," Gray said with a shrug. "So if grandfather dear believes so, then I'm not going to be siding with him. I'm ready to fight family if they've got ideas that'll corrupt their whole being."
The goblin looked afraid.
"You seem completely different from what I expected of a Dark Wizard's grandson," he exclaimed.
"That's bigotry too," Gray pointed out wearily. "Blaming the descendant for the ancestor's sins. It's not like I went out there and actively tortured anyone, right? So how could you expect me to be a certain way just because my so-called grandfather is?"
The goblin flushed a little. "Well, how do I know that you won't turn out the same way?" he said with a sneer.
Gray's jaw dropped.
Gray was pulled back into the present by the sound of luggage thumping outside the compartment door and the door sliding open.
He sighed before getting up, his own trunk shrunk and in his pocket, and finding another seemingly empty part of the train.
Which was why he was so surprised when he saw another boy walk in and give him a scared and confused look.
Gray gave him a quick evaluation and decided that he couldn't do much harm - after all, his own magic was trained pretty well, and this boy seemed a total newbie to it.
He extended a hand, plastering a warm smile on his face.
"Hey," he said casually. "My name's Gray Fullbuster."