At four in the morning on the first of September, Harry Potter went outside to say goodbye to the garden.

"I will be gone until the summer, quite likely," Harry explained to the plants and to the sparkly bug people which one of his school books had suggested might, in fact, be called garden pixies. "My aunt and uncle told me it would be a good idea to stay at school for the winter break. It seems a bit silly to me, but perhaps they're afraid I'll bring magic things home. They really don't like magic. I suppose it's because of how it killed my mum. So I won't be back for almost an entire year."

The largest of the pixies flew up until it was directly across from Harry's face. It hovered there for a moment, its wings humming, and then it bowed its head towards Harry. Harry bowed his head back, as that only seemed the polite thing to do, and then all the pixies went back to their plants.

Harry went inside, fixed enough breakfast for the whole household, then set most of it aside on the warmer before he ate what was left out. He followed this up by making sandwiches, most of which he left wrapped in the fridge, but two which he put away with an apple and a bottle of water. He cleaned the kitchen. Then he went back upstairs.

By five o'clock in the morning, long before anyone else in the house stirred, he had his school backpack on his back and was dragging his suitcase out the door, a plastic sack filled with his lunch and excess luggage tied on top, and the owl stand carefully tied to its side. The owl herself, Harry had told to fly to Hogwarts. One of the books Harry had read suggested that familiars like owls can find most anyplace and Harry didn't think it a good idea to tote an owl around on trains. He did tell her she could take her time and not strain herself if it was very far. Also, just to be on the safe side he had written himself a letter, addressed to his future self in Hogwarts.

By six o'clock, he was at the closest train station waiting for the train to Victoria Station in London. It was a good thing that Harry had learned the lightening spell, because he didn't know how he'd have managed to drag his heavy luggage around otherwise. Buying a ticket had been a bit of trouble as all of Harry's money was in wizarding currency, but by a stroke of luck his aunt had actually agreed to fund his trip.

"Anything to get rid of you," she had said, which Harry took to mean she recognized Harry was quite capable of seeing himself off and that she was a bit cross from nerves since her baby Dudley was soon leaving home for the first time too, and obviously Dudley worried her a good deal more considering he was a lot less capable than Harry.

So Harry had no difficulty finding his way into London, at least once he was actually on the train. While he was waiting on the platform all the men and occasional woman, mostly in business suits, kept staring at him and asking things like 'running away from home, are you?', which was awkward because when he said he was going to school they all wanted to know where. In the end, he told them the absolute truth with a smile and they all laughed at his joke, and then the train arrived and the questions came to an end because apparently people on trains don't ask questions or talk.

Getting from Victoria Station to Kings Cross was much more complicated, starting with the fact that Harry didn't have an Oyster card and ending with the fact that he didn't know the way. Finding out the way was quite simple; apparently you can get tourist maps for free. The Oyster card was quite impossible; even when he tried the machine that took coins it apparently didn't recognize wizard money any more than a person would. Still, there was a reason Harry had set out so early in the morning, and even with having to tow all his luggage he thought it a great adventure to be able to walk across London. Especially after he managed to find a discrete corner to take out his wand and refreshed the lightening spell on all his things.

Despite the confusing way his map didn't always seem to match reality and a few wrong turns, by nine in the morning Harry had found his way to Kings Cross. All he had to do was to find his platform and wait a couple of hours for his train to arrive. Then, of course, he hit another snag.

There was a platform 9 and a platform 10, but there most definitely was not a platform 9 ¾.

Harry was not too worried, though. He had two hours to figure it out, after all. Perhaps it was a magical platform, just like Diagon Alley was a magical alley? After all, there must be a lot of magical children, and if they all bring things like owls or wear robes like his school robes then people would notice that. But how did he find a magical platform? Was it invisible, at the ¾ point in-between 9 and 10? Harry cautiously approached where he thought ¾ would be. It looked like a drop down onto tracks. Testing with his foot suggested this was not an optical illusion.

"Oy!" someone shouted, "Not so close to the edge!" The person was wearing an official looking uniform and looked so stern that Harry quickly grabbed his luggage and moved away quite a distance just in case the man decided to inspect Harry's ticket or ask awkward questions. He hid around the corner a good fifteen minutes before he dared to creep back to the platforms again.

This time, he decided to try the brick barriers. He didn't quite dare to tap bricks with his wand, but perhaps his hand would do? If not, he'd just have to stay back and watch until another magical person arrived. Unless he was in completely the wrong location? No, better to try first and if it got to be ten he'd start to worry.

He started with platform 10, supposing logically that 9 ¾ was closer to 10 than to 9. He reached out to tap a brick and missed. Or rather, the brick wasn't there. His hand went right through the wall.

"Oh," he said, pulling his hand in and out a few times before he stuck his entire head through. There was, indeed, an entire platform on the other side of the wall.

"Oy!" someone eerily similar to the first man who had shouted at him was now shouting at him again, this time from the magical platform. "Are you trying to let the muggles see you?!" this man shouted, "Stop playing and come through!"

So Harry grabbed his suitcase and went onto the platform. The train wasn't there yet, of course, as it was only half past nine, but there were already quite a few families milling about waiting. Harry still had no difficulty finding a bench to sit on where he ate one of his sandwiches as breakfast was quite a long time before.

Then, after noting that several of the people on the platform were wearing robes, Harry pulled out one of his new school uniform robes from his overflow bag and started to slide it on over his clothes.

"Oh, hello," an older boy said when he saw him struggling to figure out how to work the clasps. "Muggleborn, are you? We don't really wear muggle clothes under our robes, you know. Where are your parents?"

"My uncle is at work, I think," Harry answered after considering his relative's usual habits and the current time. "My aunt is getting my cousin ready for his first day of school."

"Oh, that's why I'm early, too," the boy said, "Because my dad is working, I mean, and he wanted to be able to see me to the platform. My mum only just left. Of course, it's my third year, so I'm used to taking the train by now, I told her she didn't have to wait. I'm Cedric, by the way, Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff is one of the four houses, isn't it?" said Harry. "Hufflepuffs have the tenacity of the badger, Slytherins the wisdom of the serpent, Ravenclaws the curiosity of the raven, and Gryffindors the courage of the lion."

"That's a kinder way of putting it than we normally get," Cedric answered, smiling and laughing a bit.

"It was in the book about Hogwarts," Harry explained, "The bookstore had it on the suggested reading list for muggleborns. Is it wrong?"

"No," Cedric answered, "It's just how houses get; they all like to say theirs is the best, and so of course they make fun of the other houses. Ravenclaws are bookworms and Gryffindors are all heart and no common sense. Slytherins and Hufflepuffs get it worst, though. You Know Who came out of Slytherin, you see. They're known for cunning, which is a nice way of saying evil snakes. And as for Hufflepuffs…well we aren't seen as evil, just useless. It's a hard trait to pin down, tenacity, loyalty, friendship. It doesn't sound so nice as being brave or smart or even cunning. People say our house is for the leftovers who aren't good enough to be in any of the others."

"That doesn't sound very nice," Harry said, though it did occur to him that the boy in the clothing shop had said something similar. His new school didn't sound very friendly.

"Well, we say things about them right back, so I suppose it's fair," Cedric answered, "And after all, we don't really have another school to be rivals with. We just compete against each other."

Harry supposed that made sense. His old school could get quite fierce in its competition with the other schools, especially when it came to sports.

"Do you have football?" Harry asked. His book on Hogwarts hadn't mentioned it, but it was hard to imagine a school that didn't have a football team.

"That's the muggle sport where they kick a ball back and forth, isn't it?" Cedric asked. "Sometimes the muggleborns will start up a game, but it isn't official. We play quiditch for our school sport."

"That's the game that's played on brooms?" Harry asked, because it had sounded very interesting in his book but had been very hard to picture in his mind, despite one small, black and white moving photo that accompanied the game's brief description.

"That's right," Cedric answered, and he gestured towards his own luggage which included a broom carefully tethered to the top. "I was on the reserve team last year; I'm hoping I'll be on the team proper this year."

As they talked about quiditch and Harry examined Cedric's broom with great fascination, the train station was very slowly beginning to fill up. Several students who looked about Harry's age were standing pale and excited in the middle of anxious families and quite a few older students were wandering around greeting each other. It wasn't long before students started calling Cedric's name. A few made joking comments about Cedric's 'baby brother', or how he was short for a prefect to be helping out the firsties.

Cedric answered cheerfully and made silly comments back when they teased him but he didn't go to talk to them.

"You don't have to stay with me," Harry told him, just in case Cedric thought he couldn't join his friends because Harry needed him.

"That's alright," Cedric answered, "I didn't want to drag all my things up and down the platform anyway. They can come over if they want to talk, or I'll see them on the train."

Then, at five past ten, there was a loud noise rattling down the track. Harry moved closer in spite of himself, something at once heavy and light filling his stomach with excitement. Slowly, almost gently despite its great size, a train pulled alongside the platform and then, with a great sigh and the scream of tortured metal, it pulled to a stop. Across its front were the words 'Hogwarts Express'.

"Is that it?" Harry asked. "Is that our train?"

"That's it," Cedric answered, and then with a laugh as Harry grabbed up his backpack and luggage he said, "There's no rush. It won't be going anywhere for another hour."

"But I want a good seat," Harry explained. "Unless seats are assigned? Do first years have to go to a specific car?"

"The train's done in compartments," Cedric answered, "And some of them are reserved, usually at the front. Prefects have their own car, I think, but otherwise just find an empty space."

Boarding the train was quite easy as the majority of the people on the platform seemed to be in no rush, though a few of the younger children that had come to see older siblings off were hopping up and down the steps. Harry went for the middle of the train, keeping in mind what Cedric had said about the reserved seats usually being up front, and still smiling at Harry's enthusiasm Cedric followed, pushing a cart full of his own luggage.

Harry had to cast his lightening spell again to get his things up the steps to the train.

"And here I thought you'd need my help getting in," Cedric said, "I thought you said you didn't know anything yet!"

"The shopkeeper taught it to me," Harry explained. "I don't really know any other spells. Hagrid told me we weren't really meant to do magic out of school."

Cedric stayed with Harry long enough to get him settled in a compartment with his luggage stowed in the overhead, but he didn't stow his own. He did take the time to guard the doorway to allow Harry a chance to get situated into his new wizard robes properly without his old clothes on underneath.

"Do wizards wear pants under their robes?" Harry asked once he was decent again, all clasps in their correct positions. He carefully folded his removed garments and tried not to feel like he was wearing a dress.

"I think that's a personal decision," Cedric answered. Then, with Harry fully situated, Cedric dragged his own things back out into the corridor.

"It's better if you have a chance to meet other first years," Cedric explained, looking a bit worried in case Harry thought he was being abandoned, but that made perfect sense to Harry.

"I'm glad I met you," Harry said, "I can tell other muggleborns about things now."

"I'm glad I met you too," Cedric answered. "It might have been really boring waiting on the train if I hadn't had someone to talk to." Then he left to find his own friends and Harry settled himself by the window.

Out on the platform, despite the fact that there was still nearly an hour to departure, things were starting to get very busy and chaotic as more and more families arrived. It wasn't long before students were running up and down the corridors, and every once in a while a head would peer into Harry's compartment. When it saw someone already inside it, it usually ducked back out again, sometimes shouting to unseen friends 'This one's taken', or occasionally there would be whispers of 'do you think that's him? He's supposed to be starting this year' but no one spoke to Harry. They were mostly older students, though once it was a girl who looked about five and was clearly not school-aged. Harry supposed she was someone's little sister who would have to get off before the train actually left.

Harry was just beginning to wonder if he would be alone for the entire journey to Hogwarts and whether he shouldn't try and seek out some other first years himself, when his door opened again and this time the head looking in seemed closer to Harry's age, at most a year older.

"Hello," said the girl, instead of immediately shutting the door again, "Are you a first year too? Do you mind if I sit in here?"

"Yes and no," Harry answered, and then when she looked a bit puzzled and taken aback he expanded: "Yes, I'm a first year, no, I don't mind if you sit in here. I'm Harry Potter. Do you need help with your luggage?"

"You're Harry Potter?" she asked, sounding startled even as she heaved a very heavy suitcase into the compartment. "I read all about you, of course. We may need help with my trunk; it's full of books. Oh, and I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Harry said as he shook her hand. "I didn't know I was in any books. Here, I know a lightening spell."

Hermione Granger was thrilled to watch him work a spell, pulling out her own wand to try it herself. That turned out to be just as well, because her trunk was so ridiculously heavy it took both their tries to get it light enough to heave over their heads, and then Harry had to stand on a seat to be tall enough to get it into the overhead space.

"Let's hope the shelf doesn't break when it starts to get heavy again," Harry commented, "I wouldn't want that falling on me. How many books did you bring? Even with my whole school set and the suggested reading my trunk didn't weigh that much."

"Only twenty," Hermione answered, her tone regretful, "My parents wouldn't let me take more. Oh! I'm supposed to go back out to say goodbye. I just wanted to have my things settled before all the compartments filled up."

It was becoming very chaotic, both on and off the train by that point as the time of departure crept nearer and nearer. Out the window Harry could see more and more families charging through the barrier onto the platform, including an entire hoard of redheads. He couldn't find Hermione or her parents in the crowd but there were certainly a lot of families saying goodbyes, either on the platform or from students leaning out the windows of the train. The train corridor was crowded with luggage and students of various ages as well as cats and owls.

When the door slid open yet again, Harry turned from the window expecting Hermione, but instead it was a boy who looked a bit too bewildered and anxious to be anything other than a fellow first year, despite the fact that he was a full head taller than Harry. He looked at Harry, then at the luggage already piled up over the seats, and he started to back out again.

"Hello," Harry said quickly, offering him a smile, "Are you a first year? Only two of the seats are taken in here; you can join us if you like."

"Alright," the boy said, before turning to holler down the corridor "Dad, I'm in here!"

Then he stepped calmly inside, setting down his backpack in a seat. A man arrived a moment later, awkwardly carrying an enormous suitcase over one shoulder which he immediately settled next to Hermione's trunk as though it weighed nothing, which, Harry thought, it probably did. The man was followed almost immediately by a woman who Harry supposed was the boy's mum.

"Oh good, you found a friend," the woman said, before grabbing the boy into a hug while the boy's face slowly turned bright red.

"You will owl us after your sorted," his dad said, and he gave his son's shoulder a firm pat, sent Harry a friendly look, and then helped his son escape his mum's embrace with words about the train being about to leave. Indeed, Harry could hear the whistle and the activity out on the platform grew twice as frantic as the last minute stragglers raced to find a place on the train before it left.

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said to the boy once they were alone again, offering him his hand. The boy didn't take it though, choosing instead to gape at him. Harry supposed he must be especially bewildered to be away from his parents for the first time and didn't take offence. Instead he asked, "What's your name?"

"Michael Corner," he managed to get out after gaping a moment longer, and then he snapped his mouth shut and finally thrust his hand in Harry's direction to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Michael Corner," Harry said politely, and then, "Are your parents magical?"

"My dad is," Michael answered. Harry waited in case he wanted to say more, but the boy continued to stare at Harry instead. With a shrug, Harry looked out the window. The platform was starting to clear slightly, at least of students, though the families were mostly waiting to see the train leave. The entire train had taken on a feel of impending motion and the whistle came again. There was still no sign of Hermione. Then, with a sudden lurch, the platform began to slide away. They were moving.

Before Harry could really worry that Hermione had been left behind, the door to the compartments slid open and she darted inside, ran to the window, then started to wave frantically at the people still on the platform. Harry supposed she was waving to her parents, though Harry couldn't pick them out from the sea of families.

Because of this, it took the other boys a moment to realize she hadn't come alone. Another boy stood anxiously in the doorway.

"Hello," Harry said, once he had torn his eyes away from the disappearing platform long enough to notice him. "Do you want to sit with us?"

"Oh, this is Neville," Hermione said as she finally left off waving and sat down in the seat across from Harry. "He's a first year too. I found him in by the doors because he hadn't found a compartment."

"This is Michael Corner," Harry introduced, "And I am Harry Potter."

Neville made a squeaking sort of noise, but took Harry's hand automatically when Harry held it out to shake.

Once everyone knew everyone, Michael and Hermione, being the tallest, helped to heave Neville's trunk up over the seats. Neville said thank you half a dozen times then sat down in the corner seat near Harry and across from Michael. The middle two seats were left empty, and as the train was in motion it seemed likely they would remain that way.

"Did any of you bring an animal?" Harry asked into the ensuing silence as all the obvious things to say had already been said. "I've never heard of a school that lets you bring animals. Do animals help with magic, do you think?"

"My parents thought I had quite enough to deal with at a new school, without having to look after a pet, too," Hermione answered, the same tone of regret in her voice as when she had lamented only having twenty books.

"I have a dog at home," said Michael, "But the school doesn't allow dogs. I suppose they want us to have familiars that can look after themselves a bit, or at least won't be high maintenance."

"I brought Trevor," Neville answered, reaching into his robe's pocket. He failed to bring anything out though, and a look of alarm filled his face. "Trevor? Not again!"

"Did you leave him behind on the platform?" Harry asked, hoping 'Trevor' wasn't the sort of animal that was likely to get trod on or flattened by a train.

"Trevor's a toad," Hermione said, "And Neville had him earlier; he was holding him when we met, and that was on the train. He has to be around somewhere!"

"He's always running off," Neville said gloomily, "We're always finding him in the oddest places at home."

"Come on," Hermione said, standing up and grabbing Neville's hand, "I'll help you. We'll go compartment by compartment if we have to."

"Should we come too?" Harry asked, feeling worried. There were so many cats and owls around, surely a toad wouldn't be safe. Hermione considered this while Neville stared at Harry with wide eyes, his expression a mixture between sad, grateful, and worried.

"No," Hermione decided, "We'd just look silly, four kids running up and down the train after a toad. And I'll bet everyone will want to meet you, Harry, instead of helping us. People can get silly around famous people." So Hermione and Neville took off down the corridor and Harry sat back down with Michael.

Harry looked out the window for a bit, interested in watching the way London slowly gave way to the countryside. Then he turned to look at Michael again.

"Do you want to change into your school robe while they're gone?" Harry asked, "I can guard the door so no one comes in."

"Alright," Michael answered, so Harry stood in the hallway a bit. He spent the time trying to spot Trevor on the off chance Neville and Hermione had missed him. No toads came by, though a senior sporting a shiny badge walked by and asked what he was doing.

"My friend's changing into his robe," Harry explained, "I'm making sure no one else goes in, especially if Hermione comes back. She's a girl. She's helping another student look for his toad."

"With all the cats I've seen running free, they'll be lucky," the boy said. Then Michael slid the door open, now fully dressed in a Hogwarts robe, so Harry went back in.

It wasn't long before the door opened again, but it wasn't the boy with the badge or Hermione and Neville returning. It was the boy Harry had met in the clothing store. He was flanked by two other boys, both enormous, though Harry thought they were also first years. He was beginning to notice that the first years were the only students whose robes didn't have a school crest on their chest.

"So it's true?" the blond headed boy said after looking Harry up and down, only glancing briefly towards Michael. "They're saying all up and down the train that Harry Potter is in this compartment."

"I suppose it is true then," Harry answered, "Because I'm Harry Potter, and this is Michael Corner."

"I'm Draco Malfoy," the boy, Draco, answered, and then, noticing Harry glancing at his companions he said, "And this is Crabbe and Goyle."

"Nice to meet you," Harry said, taking Draco's offered hand to shake, then offering it to the boy on Draco's left. The boy, Crabbe according to Draco, merely stared at Harry for a long moment, but just before Harry could decide to try Goyle instead or to bring his hand down, he finally grabbed Harry's hand to shake, squeezing it just the slightest bit too hard. Goyle shook hands more readily.

While Harry shook his companion's hands, Draco studied Michael, who had remained seated and made no move to shake anyone's hands.

"Corner?" Draco said, "I don't know of any wizard families of that surname."

"Maybe not up at your castle," Michael answered, "But quite a few Corners have been to Hogwarts. My dad, for one."

"But not your mum," Draco said, his face twisting unpleasantly before he turned to look at Harry again. "You'll find not all wizarding families are equal. I can help you meet the right ones."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Harry answered, "I like making friends. It doesn't matter to me if they're good wizards or not. It'd be a sad, lonely sort of world if everyone could only be friends with people exactly like them."

"He doesn't need help from the likes of you," Michael said, standing up at last. "I've heard of you, Malfoy, and I'd say you're exactly the sort he should be avoiding."

"I don't want to avoid anyone," Harry insisted. "You can all be my friends if you want to, but Michael is my friend too, and so are Neville and Hermione."

"Are you some kind of simpleton, or what?" Draco demanded, staring at Harry in utter confusion.

"I don't think so," Harry answered, "They sent me ahead a year in school."

"Why are you still smiling?! I just called you simple!"

"No, you asked if I was, and I said I wasn't. And I like making friends, so of course I'm smiling. Why wouldn't I be?"

"This is an act," Draco decided. "It has to be. You're making fun of me. Somehow."

"It really isn't," Michael told him, "You just don't understand nice people. It comes of being evil I think."

Harry did stop smiling and suppressed a sigh while Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles menacingly. He hated it when all his friends refused to get along.

"What are your first names?" Harry asked Draco's companions before Draco could think of a good comeback for Michael. "It seems odd to call my friends by their last names."

Both boys stopped making fists to stare at Harry, identical expressions of confusion on their faces. Harry was just beginning to worry that they actually didn't have the ability to speak, when the first said, "Gregory," and the other "Vincent."

"Okay…well, I already said nice to meet you, but it is. Have any of you seen a toad? My friend Neville has lost his."

"Who would bring a toad for a familiar?" Draco laughed, "They're useless."

"Not if you want to catch bugs," Harry answered. "Or talk to someone. I'll bet toads are great listeners. Or…"

"Whatever. Let's go guys. Potter's turned out to be a complete nutcase."

With a shrug, Vincent and Gregory followed Draco back out into the corridor, though Gregory did wave goodbye as he left. Harry waved back, smiling because, even if Draco felt the need to call him names, none of his friends were fighting anymore. Michael stared at Harry with a bewildered sort of look.

"You really aren't what I expected," he said, once they were alone again.

"I don't expect people to be anything," Harry answered, "It usually works better that way."

The next interruption still wasn't Hermione and Neville. It was a woman pushing a trolley filled with wizard treats.

"I suppose I can afford to buy a couple, just this once," Harry decided, the temptation to try new things greater than the uncomfortable feeling he got when he spent his money. "Do you know what's good, Michael? We better get something for Hermione and Neville too."

With Michael's help, he got four chocolate frogs, and then four pumpkin pastries ("Just in case Neville doesn't want a frog, because it makes him sad about Trevor"). They each paid half, and then decided they might as well have lunch, so Harry pulled out his second sandwich and his apple while Michael pulled out his own sandwich and crisps.

"Is all wizard food different, or just the sweets?" Harry asked while they ate.

"The sweets are the obvious thing," Michael answered. "There are wizard drinks too, like butter beer and pumpkin juice. But chicken is chicken and bread is bread and sandwiches are sandwiches."

Finally, just when Harry was wondering if he shouldn't go searching after all, the door slid open again and this time it was Hermione and Neville. There was no Trevor in sight, but they weren't alone either. A tall red haired boy was with them.

"This is Ron," Hermione announced. "He was sitting all alone in the last compartment, so I said he could come sit with us."

"Hello, Ron," Harry said, "It's nice to meet you."

Harry looked at Ron, then looked at the saved sweets.

"I don't think we have enough."

"Oh, that's alright," Hermione said, "We didn't find Trevor but we ran into the trolley on the way back. She emptied her pockets and five more candies were added to the pile.

In the end, Harry had quite an enjoyable ride with his new friends. If only they could have found Neville's toad.

Author's Note: You may have noticed I had Harry doing magic outside of school, and no warnings for being underage in sight! This is because I am following the tradition of many fanfic writers that speculate that the ministries method of tracking wand use doesn't come into effect until after they begin school, which is supported in cannon by the fact that Hermione claimed to have tried several spells already. Yes, technically she could have meant she tried them on the train before the search for Trevor, but for the purposes of my story she experimented at home.

Also, for those concerned about whether I'm going to continue this story or not…the answer is probably? I currently plan on continuing at least until the sorting, but I make no promises beyond that which is why I keep leaving the story marked as 'complete' when I can obviously write much more.