It was both excitement and trepidation that met Harry at Kings' Cross. He sat in a empty car and shelved his trunk above the seats.
He sat back and looked at his wrist, rubbing his finger gently across his wands. He had done some research, and his Horned Serpent wand was known to be able to detect Parseltongue, while Thestral Hair was known to be ridiculously fickle in ownership.
Parseltongue was supposed to be a trait of dark wizards, he had read. It was curious indeed, because Harry knew that he was a Parselmouth. He used to tell the snakes in his vineyard not to ruin his grapevines, and they would agree with him.
He could hardly tell he wasn't speaking English, so having a wand that would differentiate for him was somewhat of a relief, given the stigma associated with speakers of snakes.
It was in his musings that the compartment door slid open. He turned to find a blonde girl, and a redhead.
"Oh!" the blonde squeaked. "We're sorry, we thought this car was empty."
"It's okay, you can sit here if you'd like. I could use the company." Harry assured the girl.
"Come on, who knows how quickly the other compartments will fill." the redhead said, tugging the blonde into an adjacent seat to Harry.
"It's nice to meet you." Harry said kindly, "I'm Harry, Harry Potter." he introduced himself as he extended his hand.
"Shut up!" the redhead said with awe, "No way!"
Harry adopted a face of absolute confusion. "Er, sorry?" he said.
"I thought he was just made up." the blonde said.
"Huh. I don't think I've ever been accused of being fictional before." he said with humor.
The blonde paled and ducked behind her friend. "Sorry!" she cried.
"It's alright." Harry said. "But might I know who you two are?" he asked politely.
The redhead spoke first. "I'm Susan Bones. Nice to meet you." she said, finally taking his hand.
"And I'm Hannah. Abbot." the blonde said shyly. Harry shook her hand too.
"I'm happy to meet you. I suppose I'll have to figure out how to break the news to the others that I'm an actual person." he said with a smile.
They laughed sheepishly.
"It's just, there are so many books about you. Fairy tales about your childhood. They say you had a pet dragon that you rode everywhere, and lived in a gold manor in the clouds." Susan explained.
"I hope I don't have to tell you that isn't true." Harry said.
"Then where did you live?" Hannah asked. She was poking out from Susan's shoulder.
"I grew up with my Aunt and Uncle on my mom's side, they're muggles." he said.
"No way, really?" Susan asked incredulously.
Harry nodded.
"So you didn't have much information about magic." she said thoughtfully. "Can you remember what kind of accidental magic you performed?"
"Accidental Magic?" Harry asked.
Hannah replied, "Yeah, things that happened when you were scared, or angry?"
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "I turned my teacher's wig blue once in Primary school."
Susan nodded. "Color changing is a common one."
"I grew my hair back overnight when they cut it in school." Harry continued.
Hannah gasped, but Harry continued.
"I remember I appeared on a roof when I was being chased."
"Wow, Apparition is a difficult magic. You have to be pretty strong to have done it as a kid." Susan said.
"Growing your hair is a sign of a metamorphmagus!" Hannah shouted.
"What is a metamorphmagus?" Harry asked curiously.
"It means you can change your body at will. If you wanted long hair, you could just make it longer with a thought. If you wanted to be blond, or have a bigger nose, or anything. It's really rare." Susan explained.
"Woah." Harry said.
That's when the compartment door slammed open and a blond with slicked back hair stepped in.
"Have any of you seen Harry Potter?" he said forcefully.
Harry noticed the blond had two goons that were standing behind him, trying to look intimidating.
"Yeah, I think he went to the back of the train. Said something about making friends with the older students." Harry said.
The blond smiled excitedly. "Really? Thanks, I'll go look." he said, closing the door and walking quickly away.
Susan and Hannah were staring at him now. He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. "He seemed like a prat." he said sheepishly.
"He is." Susan said. "But when he finds out that you're Harry Potter, he'll be mad."
Harry gave her a conspiratorial smile. "Let's hope he doesn't find out for a while then, eh?"
Hannah giggled. "You aren't what I expected, Harry Potter." she said.
"I should hope not. I'd like to meet a dragon before I had one as a pet." he said with a smile.
The three laughed and Harry felt his heart soar. Maybe Hogwarts wouldn't be so bad.