Prologue: The Journey Begins

Author's Note: Hey everybody! This is my first fic, so please trey to be nice! Anyway, I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: The only things that belong to me are the characters of my own creation. All other fictional settings and characters are the intellectual property of Ms. J.K. Rowling. This holds for all chapters.

A lone boy stood upon Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross station as the Hogwarts Express pulled in. He was pretty ordinary looking – slightly over six feet tall, just a touch n the heavy side, with fairly short brown hair, and glasses. "Alone and first to arrive, just like always," he muttered to himself as a conductor approached him.

"Why so glum, chum?" the conductor said, smiling, as he approached the downcast teenager standing a few yards away from him.

"I'm not," the young man said half-heartedly in an obviously American accent. He blushed a bit and smiled lightly due to the conductor's surprised reaction.

"I don't believe I've seen you on the train before," the conductor said thoughtfully, "but you look a little old for a first year, eh?" He poked the boy in the ribs.

With a mild look of annoyance, he replied, "Transfer student. I have special permission from Headmaster Dumbledore." He began rummaging through his pockets. "I have a note if you need to see it."

The conductor looked slightly amused at this. "No, no, that's quite alright. Just get on the train, son."

"Thank you," the young man said quickly before climbing on the train and heading straight for the back. 'Too bad no one ever sits in the back on these trains,' he though as he sighed to himself. After a few minutes, he suddenly slammed his hand into the side of the compartment. 'Damn it!' he thought. 'I'm so sick of this! It's not fair! Haven't I been through enough?! Why is it always me?!' He put his head down in frustration.

After several minutes and several deep breaths, he finally had calmed down some. He pulled out his new Potions book and began to study. 'And what a surprise that this year, the year I begin the first of my two most important, that he would decide to finally bring me to his school, a school that employs the toughest teacher in the world in my most difficult subject! And I can't get out of it! Just my life, I guess,' he thought angrily to himself, unable to concentrate on the material in the book.

Soon he began to hear voices and laughter from some of the compartments near him and from out in the hallway. 'Sure I'll be left alone again. Not that there's any point in me trying to make friends, anyway.' A few tears escaped from his eyes. 'I said I wasn't going to do this anymore! God forbid anyone ever consider my feelings. The first place I find some people who might actually stick with me, and he rips me out without telling why and doesn't even let me say good-bye!'

The boy sat and cried, lost in his thoughts, for several minutes before regaining control over his emotions once again and composing himself. Just after he pulled himself together and was wiping his face off, the door to the compartment he was in opened, and a bushy-haired girl wearing a prefect's badge appeared in the doorway. A brown-haired boy wearing glasses and a red-haired boy were close behind her. They all appeared to be the same age, his age.

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, surprised. "Sorry. We didn't think anyone was in here." She then took a little closer look at him. "You don't look familiar. Are you new to Hogwarts?"

The boy looked up at her and smiled inwardly. 'Someone actually talking to me? Already? Maybe this won't be so bad after all…'

Hey, thanks for giving me a chance! I know this is pretty cryptic, but all will be explained. Sorry this is so short, but chapters will get longer. Please review if you have the time!