On The Way Home
He was in the middle of the crowded King's Cross. He had never been to a station before, as the Dursleys had never taken him with them when they went on holidays. In fact, every time they left the house, they put him in the care of their neighbour, Mrs. Figg. She was nice, but the cakes she offered him seemed to have spent an utterly significant amount of time in her cellar. Besides, her house smelt atrociously of cats – which was to be expected given the army of cats crawling all over the place, but also happened to be most uncomfortable and disgusting. The most annoying part of the never-ending days at Mrs. Figgs' was the fact that she spent the entire time telling him relentlessly about said cats, showing him photographs he already knew in detail.
He looked around, trying to take in every detail. He did not want to forget a single element of this memorable day, on which he would get rid of his abhorred uncle, aunt and cousin for a whole year. A new life was starting for him on that very day, and however he knew for a fact that nothing could be worse than living with his 'family', he was as confused and apprehensive as he was excited. Light protruded from the glass ceiling, making the large station luminous. Dozens of men and women were walking hurriedly towards their platform. Children were scarce, as school would start the next day and most of them had already returned to their home. He was so enthralled by the reviving atmosphere that he had almost forgotten all about his train. He eventually checked his ticket. Platform 93/4? How could the ticket read platform 93/4 ? Although he had never been to the station before, he had heard people talk about platforms, and their numbers were all integers. There must have been a mistake! Besides, with Hagrid gone, he could ask no one for help. As panic was slowly penetrating him, a saving sentence reached his ears. Indeed, a large redheaded family passed him by, talking about 'muggles' and 'platform 93/4'.
Harry stood back, careful not to be noticed by the family. As friendly as they seemed to be, he didn't want to be in the spotlight as long as he didn't master the basics of wizarding society. It would be safer, he thought, to watch them from afar then emulate whatever they did to get on the platform.
"Alright, boys, this is it" said a balding man Harry assumed was the father of the redheaded lot.
"Percy, you go first, that way Ronnie will see you do it and won't be scared" said a plump woman. To Harry's surprise, the oldest looking boy took his trolley and ran straight into the wall.
"I'm not scared, Mum!" came a late protest from a younger redhead. From where he was standing, Harry noticed that wasn't entirely true. The boy looked almost green, and he could tell he was a little bit relieved when his older brother crossed safely to the other side.
"Fred, your turn" the woman said to yet another one of her sons, who was standing near his twin, his arm casually thrown on his brother's shoulder.
"He's not Fred, I am!" the twin shouted.
"Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?" his brother said.
"Sorry, George, dear" the mother sighed, urging her son forward.
"Only joking, I'm Fred" the boy said and off he went, closely followed by his brother.
Harry couldn't help but smile at their antics. He should keep an eye on those two. With all the adjustments he had to make to fit in this new world, some fun friends wouldn't hurt, and the twins seemed to be just what he needed. He waited until the parents and the youngest child – the only girl – had penetrated into the barrier and approached the passageway. He had been slightly surprised at the sight of people casually entering a wall, but after everything Hagrid had showed him, his surprise had been of short duration. After all, all rational thoughts had left him the moment he had entered Diagon Alley. Although he had seen a whole family pass through the barrier, he could not suppress the chill that crept across his body. What if he had missed a spell the children had muttered and that had let them through? What if he had not enough magic in him to cross that obstacle? He emptied his mind, checked no muggle was looking his way and walked casually into the wall between platforms 9 and 10.
As soon as he had reached the wall, he found himself in the middle of a crowded and smoke-filled platform, and a couple of wizards hurt inadvertently his trolley. He moved quickly from his spot, so as to avoid colliding with a young wizard or witch entering the platform behind him. Although the adults were wearing muggle clothes as they had had to face muggles at King's Cross, several students had already changed into their robes. The scene that lay before his eyes was such as he was immediately submerged into the fairy atmosphere. Cats, owls and toads in cages in their master's' hands flooded the platform. Everyone seemed in a rush, parents helped their children into their coaches, sometimes crying because they would be parted from their youngest for the first time. The train in itself was impressive. It was a huge scarlet old fashioned steam engine. Gold letters glowed on the engine. They read 'Hogwarts Express'. He gaped at the spectacle. He could never have imagined that such a scene could take place in the middle of London, let alone inside one of King's Cross' solid barriers.
The train ringing the approaching departure made him recover his spirits. He rushed inside the engine and set out to find either an empty coach or a coach where his new acquaintance, Draco Malfoy, would be. He realized quickly that his friend was not on board yet even if the train was already almost full and was ready to depart. He settled in a compartment only occupied by an old sleeping man. The long and deep scars encrusted in the man's face were striking. He seemed worn out and worried even in his sleep. Harry was under the impression that his wrinkles were due to exhaustion and that the man was therefore way younger than he seemed. His light brown jacket, his grey shirt and his brown trousers were all faded. A deep brown suitcase above the wizard's bore a label reading 'R. J. Lupin'. Had he been a professor, Harry was certain he would not have been on this train. Indeed, Harry had not encountered a single adult while he was looking for his friend. When the train departed, he heard someone open the coach's door. He turned towards it, hoping that glaring at the intruder would be enough to scare him – or her – away. But his mouth twitched in a smile instead when he saw the newcomer.
"Hi there, Harry! Ready for Hogwarts?" Draco asked, taking a seat in front of Harry.
"More than ever!"
Noticing the sleeping man next to him, Draco shot a questioning look. "Who's that man, R. J. Lupin? Ever heard of him?"
"Draco, a few weeks ago, I didn't know about Quidditch and Chocolate Frogs, do you honestly think I'd know about wizarding families more than you do?"
"I am so sorry I assumed you were no longer an ignorant muggle, dear friend" the blonde boy replied with a smile, not seeming sorry at all. "And since you mentioned Chocolate Frogs, I've got something for you."
Harry blushed. He had nothing for Draco.
"Hey, Potter! Look at me! I brought you all the cards I have in double and you've been staring at me for a while, instead of actually paying attention"
"Yeah, sorry… It's really amazing, thank you so much!"
"You're welcome. Now you'll be able to start trading at Hogwarts"
"Brilliant!"
The two friends immediately started chatting about the wizarding world. Harry especially enjoyed hearing about Quidditch. They were in the middle of a conversation about the best Quidditch teams when the door of the compartment opened suddenly.
A young witch with brown and messy hair and already in her robes appeared at the door, accompanied by a black-haired boy who seemed excessively nervous.
"Excuse me, have you seen a toad wandering around? My friend Neville lost his pet" the witch asked.
"No, no toads in here" Draco replied
Harry started searching all of his pockets one by one, jokingly. Obviously, the toad was nowhere near any of his pockets. "I second that!"
Neville, nervous as he was, burst out laughing. Hermione shot him an exasperated look. At this, Neville seemed to relax slightly.
"Neville Longbottom, pleased to meet you!" he smiled.
"Harry Potter!" Upon hearing his name, both Hermione and Neville gasped. Willing to avoid his friend any embarrassment, Draco intervened.
"I'm Draco Malfoy. You are?" he asked, glaring at Hermione.
"Hermione Granger." she said, extending her hand. He feigned not seeing it. Harry shot his friend a questioning look and shook Hermione's hand in his stead to save appearances.
"It's great meeting you two! Apart from Draco, I have no friends in the wizarding world. I met him a few weeks ago, while shopping in Diagon Alley. And I was doing that for the very first time too. Even though my parents were wizards, I grew up in the muggle world, not knowing about any of this until very recently, when a half giant came crushing the front door."
"Wow! Most of the books I read about your story wondered where you had gone. You were in the muggle world after all… Hidden in plain sight, how clever…"
"Okay. Enough talking about me. Are you and Neville friends since childhood?"
"Oh, no! I met him on the train. I'm a muggleborn, you see?" Draco shivered. He grabbed Harry's sleeve and tried to drag him out of the compartment.
"Yes we do. Perfectly. Thank you for passing by. Best of luck finding your pet frog, Longbottom. We have to change into our school robes now. You should do the same." said Draco hurriedly.
Harry followed him out, confused.
"Hey! We are still far away from the school, at least according to the schedule. What was that for?"
"She's a mudblood, Harry! We can't mix with her sort!"
Harry had never heard the word "mudblood", but it did sound like an insult, and a serious one at that, given Draco's tone.
"You know who else was a mudblood? My mother. You wouldn't want to mix with my sort either!" Harry shouted angrily. He tried to leave and slam the door, but a shocked Draco prevented him from doing so.
"Harry, no, wait! I didn't say anything like that ! I'm sure your mother was a great pe-"
"I don't know about that! In fact, all of you probably know much more than me about my own family! But there is something both of us don't know: we have no idea who that girl is, what kind of person she might be, what kind of friend she might become."
"But Harry, you don't understand. She doesn't know anything about our world and she probably hates us all! You said it in your letters, you muggles aren't fond of magic, and your aunt despised your mother!"
"I didn't know anything about the wizarding world either! It doesn't make me less worthy of it. The same applies to her. And my uncle and aunt are the worst kind of muggles. But most people are actually decent human beings, if only you take the time to get to know them better."
"She may be decent and all, but I bet you she won't make a single effort to fit in. And with her limited power she'll be a disgrace to the wizarding kind. You can't convince me that with no magical parents, she'll be able to perform as well as we will."
"You don't know anything about that. Hagrid told me my mother was a great witch."
Draco felt uncomfortable every time Harry mentioned his mother.
"Look, your mother is special, alright?" he paused. "I bet you that mud- muggleborn girl doesn't know a thing about how things are around here. And I'm talking about stuff you can't find in books, Harry. Real magic."
"I don't know much about it either, I hope you're aware of that."
"How many times will I have to tell you that you are a special case? You're not a muggleborn and you defeated a dark wizard when you were only a toddler, for Merlin's sake! She, on the other hand, still has to prove herself worthy of my time. For now, she's nothing and I won't consent to be seen in her company."
Harry was exasperated by Draco's bigoted attitude. In fact, that boy had started to remind him of the ones who used to avoid him at school because of Dudley's malevolent lies. However, Draco remained his only friend, and he was determined to keep him. He was convinced Draco was good at heart and decided he would rid him of his prejudices rather than leave him to rot in them. Thus, he remained silent for a few seconds, thinking about a way to settle the situation. Finally, an idea popped up in his mind.
"Let's put her to the test, then!" he proposed.
"What?"
"You heard me. Let's see if she knows any magic... if she made any efforts."
"Are you insane?"
"Not in the least," he answered very seriously. "Come on, let's change quickly and go find them!"
They had to look inside four compartments before they noticed Hermione and Neville from afar in the corridor, still asking around about the latter's toad. Both boys walked decidedly towards them, both wanting to prove their respective point.
"Hey, Hermione!" Harry shouted. "We're starting to get really bored with this never ending train ride, so we figured we should do something fun. Fancy playing a game with us?"
"What are you playing?" she asked, confused.
"It's Draco's idea, actually. He wants to… play a game, where you're going to have to ask each other questions about the magical world. I bet you would beat him easily, so he's really angry right now!" Harry said, smiling.
"Hey! I'm not angry! I know I can win!" Draco shouted, feigning to be angry. "So, are you in?"
"Only if casting spells is involved! I've never had the opportunity to use my wand and I'm so excited to try it!"
Draco looked bewildered. Harry chuckled, as he had just obtained the confirmation he would not be proven wrong by Hermione.
The four of them moved to Harry and Draco's compartment to avoid being disturbed during the game.
"I'm not playing." Neville said. "Grandma made me promise not to cast spells unsupervised"
"That's okay, Neville. I'm not playing either, I never cast a spell anyway." Neville smiled at Harry. He was relieved he would not be the only one not to take part in the game.
"Alright. But the two of you will be part of the game anyway." Hermione stated. Harry and Neville gasped with surprise as they felt a pang of nervousness.
"Wha-what do you mean, part of the game?" Neville asked agitatedly.
"Just you wait and see. First challenge, if you may, Draco" Hermione answered, clearly amused.
"Ladies first" Draco's eyes were twinkling with the thrill of the challenge.
"Repair Harry's glasses." Hermione dared Draco. "I take the right side, you fix the left one. At the count of three… One, two, three!"
"Occulus reparo!" Both students shouted at the same time. Harry's glasses were immediately fixed. Harry was delighted to witness magic first-hand, especially when it meant he could see better than ever.
"Easy." Hermione boasted.
"Yeah. Totally basic." Draco confirmed, refusing to admit he was impressed by Hermione's capabilities. "Tell me how you would behave if you were to meet the head of a wizarding family, like Mrs Longbottom, for instance"
"I would greet her, slightly bowing my head, with my wand facing down. I'd be holding it with my right hand, of course." Hermione smirked. Draco could not believe she already knew so much about a world she had just discovered. It was Hermione's turn to assign a task to Draco."Now… Tell me the names of three wizarding schools apart from Hogwarts."
"Beauxbâtons in France, Durmstrang, somewhere in Eastern Europe and the Salem Witch Institute, in North America." Draco answered quickly. He looked around looking for inspiration. "See the lock on my trunk there?" he leered. "I'll get Harry's. One… Two… Three…"
"Alohomora!" Both locks clicked open.
With every challenge, Draco grew more and more impressed with Hermione's magic - although he would never admit that - especially since she had never practiced all those spells before because of the Trace. After a half dozen challenges each, the two opponents started to run out of ideas hard enough to overthrow their adversary, and Harry and Neville had gotten bored of being mere bystanders.
"I guess it's a draw you guys." Neville assessed in order to put a definite end to the game.
"But good job, both of you, really" Harry encouraged them, glad he had managed to draw Draco closer to Hermione. He winked at Draco.
At that moment, a woman with a trolley full of snacks passed their compartment. As Harry was quite hungry, impressed by the amount of food on the trolley and curious about the treats he had never seen before, he was the first to shout: "Time for snacks!"
The small group of friends was happily chatting and munching their food when suddenly, the train stopped and the lights shut down. The whole train became silent, and the only thing Harry could hear was the rain falling heavily outside. He felt a knot forming in his stomach. He felt something had gone terribly wrong. What he feared most at that moment was that he would have to be sent home because of a technical problem, and therefore, he would have to resume living with his tormentors in the cupboard under the stairs. However, his fear intensified as a freezing breeze reached him. He started shivering uncontrollably. The knot in his stomach was bigger and bigger. As the cold intensified, he could see the steam he had let off and the condensation forming on the train windows. As an attack of shivers hit him, deep sadness – despair even – overcame him. He felt as though he would never be happy again. The wave of unhappiness was such that he was not aware of his surroundings anymore. He could not see Draco, Neville and Hermione's pale and quivering figures or the awakening silhouette of the unknown man. The vibrant, clear and piercing cry of a woman tore his soul apart as he fainted.
He struggled to open his eyes, as rays of light attacked his pupils whenever he parted his eyelids. When he finally managed to adjust to the light, he found he was surrounded by his three friends who were distressed by his poor state. They were pale themselves, but apparently, none of them had reacted as extremely as himself. Their eyes flashed with relief when they understood he was out of danger. They all started asking him how he felt at the same time - or so he guessed, for he could not make out a single word of their chaotic enquiries.
His head was still throbbing, he felt dizzy. The agonising cry came back to his mind, and he felt a knot in his stomach again. He thought he would maybe faint again, but his fear did not intensify like the first time. At first, he had thought Hermione had shouted, but the scream was that of an adult woman; it had been the scream of a woman fearing for her life or for the life of someone close to her. An idea popped up in his mind, but he cast it away quickly, as it was both impossible and too painful.
"I'm… I'm fine, guys, thanks."
"Eat this." an unknown voice said from behind his friends.
"It'll make you feel better". R. J. Lupin's eyes were full of worry. For a fleeting moment, Harry had the strange impression there was something else in the stranger's glance. Something that he could not put a name on but seemed valuable. He mumbled a small thank you as he took the chocolate Lupin was holding out for him, and watched the latter leave the compartment hurriedly. It was generally known one should never accept food from a stranger, and it was even more the case in the magical world where the consequences could be disastrous. But he truly was weak, the train was safe and… for no apparent reason, Harry could not help but trust the stranger.
A couple of bites had sufficed for Harry to be fully recovered from his previous shock. Once his friends had made sure he was back to normal, they started discussing what had just happened. However, they could not make any progress given some of them had anything to lose their theories on.
