The rest of the day passes by in a blur for Harry, after the revelation of how he truly lost his parents, he can't quite seem to focus back on the magic and wonder if the wizarding world. Either way, it is soon over and Hagrid ships him back to privet drive, but not before Harry makes sure to ask him everything about getting to Hogwarts. Mainly since he had no idea how to get onto the "platform nine and three quarters" which was described in the ticket which came with his letter.
Realising he'll now need to make his way to King's Cross, Harry resolves to try his best to stay out of Uncle Vernon's way. In the end, this resolution seems quite useless, as, frightened by the attention placed upon them by by the wizarding world, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia avoid Harry and generally try their best to ignore his existence after having shoved him and his trunk into Dudley's spare bedroom.
Dudley of course, throws a fit, but after some coaxing and promises of a reducing of the diet instated on him that very year, he calms down and resorts to sending glares Harry's way whenever he sees him.
So Harry spends August primarily holed up in his room, reading his schoolbooks whenever he's sure Aunt Petunia won't barge in and tear them out of his hands, yelling about 'freakish' things. He quietly turns thirteen, the day only acknowledged by himself, as his aunt an uncle are hardly going to spend money on him.
When September first finally arrives, Harry coaxes uncle Vernon into taking him to London. Perhaps threatening him a little with his wand, even though he hasn't even managed any spells with it, though not for lack of trying. Well, he thinks the page might have fluttered when he tried wingardium leviosa on it. Regardless, his spell casting abilities are unimportant, as Uncle Vernon becomes purple with rage, indignant at being threatened. It takes some quick talking from Harry to fix the situation. Resorting to using Dudley instead, arguing how much better off Dudley'll be if he's away for the year, with his spare room back, Harry succeeds in convincing Uncle Vernon to take him to King's Cross.
Thus, Harry arrives on platform nine and three quarters some two hours early, seeing as Uncle Vernon was heading into the city and could hardly be bothered to 'tailor his schedule to a burden like him'. After he struggles to put his trunk on the scarlet train, an older student takes pity on him an helps him put it on. She even goes as far as to levitate it onto the rack of a compartment for him after he takes it his school robes and a book. The older student, already dressed in black robes lined with green, leaves after telling him he might as well put his robes on.
So Harry does, putting Hedwig, the owl he got from Hagrid, up on the rack as well, he places his currently solely black robes on. He then settles next to the window and resolves to people watch. Looking at the families passing by, Harry feels a pang of envy, he quickly suppresses it, after all, he's going to learn magic, Dudley has nothing on him, he'll remain mundane an unsuccessful. Harry has survived thirteen years without anyone's help, why should he need it now? It is to these bitter thoughts that the Hogwarts express sets off, letting out a first sluggish puff of smoke as it exits the platform. The faces of parents and younger siblings blur away into the brick building of London and then the green fields of the English countryside.
Harry's book lays forgotten as he marvels at the world outside the window. Having hardly left Surrey except for the occasional trips to London, and even those became sparser after the zoo episode, he sits amazed by the changing landscape. The never ending fields expanding his previously restricted world to unprecedented size, he can hardly imagine what his life would have been like if he'd remained with the Dursleys till he came of age.
The Dursleys hated the idea that Harry might be more intelligent than Dudley and they held nothing back in making him aware of it. So Harry sailed through the school at a mediocre level, he could hardly get a scholarship with grades like his. He would probably just have been kicked out the moment the Dursleys could legally do so, with not a penny to his name and nowhere to go.
Harry shakes his head and returns to reading his book, Hogwarts a history, the store clerk recommended it to him while he was buying his schoolbooks, it's about Hogwarts, best book on the market apparently.
It does talk about the houses, which is quite interesting, apparently the older student who helped him must have been a Slytherin, sine she was wearing green. Hagrid criticised them though, when describing the houses and well..Voldemort was apparently a Slytherin.
Harry decides he'll reserve his judgment, he might end up being one himself after all and then the girl didn't seem particularly nefarious. He does hope Hagrid doesn't hate him for it though. He was the first person he can remember to buy him a gift, it would be upsetting if they couldn't continue their friendship.
Either way, as Hogwarts a history continues describing the school, he cant help but be excited. A castle, moving portraits, an enchanted ceiling! It sounds great and so very very different from his previous school. A decrepit, low end, state school for 'hooligans like him', or at least, that's what most of the neighbours seemed to think. Dudley of course, went off to Smeltings, nothing but the best for Dudley.
The door to his compartment is opened, the sharp clack of the sliding door an anomaly quickly drowned out by the clatter of the train.
"Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost one." A primly dressed girl, around his age, with a mane of brown curls asks.
"No, I don't thi-
"Oh! Is that 'Hogwarts a history'? By Bathilda Bagshot? I've read it as well you know, as well as 'great wizards of the 20th century' and 'the rise and fall of the dark arts'. Well, that along with all my schoolbooks of course. I couldn't help myself, my parents aren't wizards you see, so I've just been so excited! I wish I could have known about this earlier, all the strange things I did would have made sense.." Harry tries his best to keep up, the girl is a little overzealous, but he doesn't want to seem rude towards his first fellow student, this is his chance to start again after all, without anything the Dursleys say hounding him.
The girl eventually realises her original purpose, after apologising for not introducing herself, forgetting to even ask Harry's name, Hermione rushes off to continue her search.
After hours more travel, the sun slowly settling lower in the sky, finally an announcement rings through the train: "we will be arriving shortly, students are advised to put on their school robes. Please leave all luggage on the train, it will be delivered to your dorms". Brimming with excitement, every moment making this ever more real, Harry straightens the robes he is already wearing and looks out the window into the dusk, in hopes of spotting the school.
In the end, he only gets his chance to see Hogwarts when off the train, after having been urged into a boat, together with the rest of the first years, by Hagrid. He waves to the man and sits on the last bench of a boat with another three students. Distracted by the worrying wobbling of the boat, he almost misses his first sight of Hogwarts, it extends before him, towering over the fleet sailing across the lake, the lights flickering, reflected in the water.
Mesmerised by the sight, they soon arrive in the other bank, the boats thudding against dry land. They file out, nervous energy filling the room, they're about to get sorted, or so the professor they just met told them, before she was out in a swish of tartan robes.
They then file into the great hall, in some semblance of a line, swivelling their heads eagerly to see the room. There are four tables beyond the platform they stand on, each filled with students dressed in a respective house-colour. Meanwhile, behind his fellow new students, lies the teachers' table, filled with an array of different colourful characters. In front of this lies the infamous sorting hat, or not so infamous if he trusts what he heard about wrestling a troll, it's singing what is apparently a customary song, according to "Hogwarts, a history".
Before Harry has the time to examine his future professors more closely, or express admiration at the incredible enchanted ceiling, the first student, "Hannah Abbot", is called forth.
The line proceeds forward, Hermione, the girl who visited his compartment, along with Neville, the boy who's toad she was looking for, both get sorted into Gryffindor. Although Hermione takes conspicuously longer, a frown marring her features before the hat finally calls out: "Gryffindor!".
At last, before any of Harry's anxieties can make their way to his head-
"Potter, Harry".
With an intake of breath, he straightens up as he heads toward the stool on which the sorting hat lies. He hears the begging me of a murmur-"the Harry Potter?", "bet he'll be Gryffindor", "d'you think it's really him?"-before the sorting hat falls onto his head, obscuring his view of the hall with its wide brim.
"Oh my! This is quite interesting, a keen mind, bravery. A thirst for knowledge even. Oh, and a desire to prove yourself, oh my and how strong that is, well, perhaps earlier, things could have been different, but now, better be..." before Harry even registers the hat talking in his head, he feels it opening the rip in its brim that constitutes its mouth and shouting-
"SLYTHERIN!"
—-
So the first pivotal change of the series occurs! Honestly, I have no idea how to write the Slytherins. I feel in a way the fact the Wizarding world is closed off to muggle-borns for two more years might deepen the divide, but it would also increase muggle influence in the Wizarding world. If you have any ideas feel free to comment.
