Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Snape wouldn't have died.
A/N: Thanks to DepressedGirlAtHogwarts for Beta Reading.
"Err - Uncle Vernon?"
Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.
"Err - I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to - to go to School." He thought it would be better if he didn't mention Hogwarts.
Uncle Vernon grunted again.
"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?" Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.
"Thank you."
He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke."Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"
"They're illegal," replied Harry.
"Where is this school, anyway?"
"Scotland," said Harry. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.
"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.
His aunt and uncle stared.
"Platform what?"
"Nine and three-quarters."
"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."
"It's on my ticket."
"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."
"Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.
"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon, "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."
Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes - he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car. Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry, and they had set off. They reached King's Cross at half past ten.
Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.
"Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine - platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"
He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it and, in the middle, nothing at all.
"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.
Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone. He thought it would be better not to ask the guard.
He saw a girl with black hair, a heart shaped face and scary red eyes standing between the two platforms, looking at him. He waved. She stared at him weirdly and then motioned for him to come towards her. He didn't know why he walked towards her but she was so breathtakingly beautiful that he couldn't help but do so.
"Looking for platform nine and three quarters?" she questioned.
"Err- yes. Are you going to Hogwarts too?" he asked with a confidence he didn't know he had.
She nodded "I'm a first year. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous." she said
"Oh." muttered Harry.
"You go first," she encouraged.
He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid. He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble. Leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run. The barrier was coming nearer and nearer - he wouldn't be able to stop - the cart was out of control - he was a foot away - he closed his eyes ready for the crash - It didn't come... he kept on running... he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said 'Hogwarts Express', '11 o'clock'. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words 'Platform Nine and Three-Quarters' on it. He had done it. Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.
He saw the girl come behind him. "Where's your trunk?" he asked
"Dad shrunk it for me," she answered.
"Oh," was all Harry could say. He still wasn't used to this world.
He saw the girl looking at him. When she saw his eyes, he saw her look softened.
"Come on, let's go find a compartment," she said.
The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat.
He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."
"Oh, Neville," he heard the old woman sigh.
A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd. "Give us a look, Lee, go on." The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg. Harry shuddered.
They pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.
"Want a hand?" the girl asked
He just nodded. After helping him get inside, they both entered the compartment. Harry sat down next to the window, the girl sat opposite him. A few minutes of awkward silence passed. The train began to move. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know where he was going to but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.
The door of the compartment slid open and a redheaded boy came in.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" the boy blurted out.
"That's rude!" exclaimed the girl.
"Shut up, girlie" sneered the boy.
"I'd prefer if you would not insult her," said Harry, mustering up courage.
The Redheaded boy glared at him before strutting out.
"What's your name?" the girl asked
"Harry," he muttered.
"A pleasure to meet you, I'm Lily" the girl smiled.
Harry smiled back. They talked a bit about what they read from their school books and which subject they found difficult.
While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the patchwork fields and winding lanes flick past. Around half past twelve, there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Lily stayed behind saying she wasn't hungry. Harry went out into the corridor. He had never had any money for sweets with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry - but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. She didn't even have Crunchies or Kit Kats. What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.
Lily stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.
"Hungry, are you?"
"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.
Lily rolled her eyes, muttering about 'boys and their bottomless pits they called stomachs'. Harry laughed in response.
After few minutes, Harry kept the food in his trunk, never having the habit of eating much. The countryside flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.
There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three quarters came in. He looked tearful.
"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"
When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"He'll turn up," said Harry.
"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..." He left.
"He could just summon the toad" Lily said
"Summon?" asked Harry
Lily patiently explained to him about the summoning charm.
"Which house do you want to be in?" asked Harry.
"I don't really mind," shrugged Lily "Dad and Mum were in Slytherin. I'd like Ravenclaw as well."
"I'm hoping for Gryffindor. My Mum and Dad were in it," Harry said shyly.
"The sorting doesn't happen based on genetics. Besides, I'd prefer to save my neck rather than going in danger" she said.
"Oh," said Harry, trying to think about which other house could suit him.
They spent the next hour in silence, looking out of the window. The compartment door slid open suddenly. Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once; it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.
"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking.
"And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
"Hello Draco," said Lily
"Hey Lily" greeted Malfoy
He turned back to Harry. "On my way here, I met Weasley. You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He held out his hand to shake Harry's, Harry took the hand and smiled.
"Thank you. I'd appreciate the help." Harry said.
Malfoy left the compartment after a brief talk with Lily in a language he didn't recognize.
Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down. He and Lily took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Lily didn't seem embarrassed by the fact she was changing in front of him.
A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."
They both exited the compartment and joined the crowd thronging the corridor. The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air.
Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.
"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.
"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here." There was a loud "Oooooh!"
The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Lily were followed into their boat by Draco and a blonde haired girl.
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"
And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.
"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
A/N: Thanks for reading.
Lily is Snape's daughter. Lily's mother was also a Slytherin, it will be revealed later who she (Lily's mother) is. Hint: Lily is a parselmouth.
Where do you think Harry will be sorted?
Please answer the above question and suggest who Lily's mother is in the reviews.
