SAVE 1 LOADED

Well, this had worked out fairly well for him.

He'd looked around… There was no hurry for him, as he could just reload, and so he watched around. He noticed that some wizards (For they must be, as they had huge trunks like he did, and owls in cages) were loitering around a certain area...Until they slipped right through the wall there.

That saved him from having to go ask around… He could have, of course, but he was starting to enjoy puzzling things out, now that he had all the time he needed to think, and didn't have to worry about a vigorous game of Harry Hunting from Dudley and being locked in his cupboard from Uncle Vernon if he got better grades then his cousin. He stepped through the barrier-

AUTOSAVING…

...Okay then. He took note, as this was apparently a check-point… Which made sense, as he was about to set off on his grand adventure to a magical school. That sounded vaguely like something in Dudley's game manuals.

As it turned out, though, actually getting his trunk off his trolley and onto the train was another matter… Thankfully, a set of ginger twins he'd seen earlier were passing by, and helped him get the trunk into place, for which he was thankful.

Unfortunately, they found out about his scar when he absently wiped his forehead after trying to lift his trunk, which had brushed his messy hair out of the way. He wasn't very fond of his fame… He was still getting used to it.

He could have ignored that, but a few minutes later, another one- A brother, not a twin, but with that same shade of red hair- Came along and introduced himself, and promptly asked if Harry remembered his parents being murdered. And after that, a girl came by, asking about a toad, who soon told him he was in all kinds of books that she'd read, and started asking questions…

He took a deep breath.

AUTOSAVE LOADED

If he couldn't save, he would have just had to deal with it and pretend it didn't bother him.

But he could. So he didn't.

He was helped onto the train with his trunk again by the twins, but made sure not to reveal his scar. He happily chatted away with Ron when he reappeared- When he wasn't gawking at his scar, and asking rude questions, he was actually pretty interesting… Harry wanted to know all about what it was like to grow up as a wizard, and Ron seemed interested in hearing that he was muggleborn, mentioning his dad loved things like the veetee and the yelly-tone.

Soon enough, the girl appeared- Hermione Granger. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one."

As it so happened, Neville had, in fact, been by and informed them of this… But, now that he thought about it, he had an idea.

SAVE 1 SAVED

He followed along after her, looking for the toad- Not something he'd actually thought to do before. He'd actually been up by the front of the train, for some reason… He must have been pretty fast for a toad. And now, all he had to do…

SAVE 1 LOADED

"-7 cars that way, hiding in the dark corner under the seat." he answered. Hermione and Ron both gave him weird looks. "What?" she asked, looking confused. "Trevor. Neville's toad. That's where he is," he replied, idly picking up one of his textbooks to thumb through. He'd already read them all, of course, but it suddenly felt a lot more awkward with them staring at him like that. She raised a finger to object, seemed to think better of it, and huffed. "I'm… Going to go check that. Wait right here," she told him, stalking off the way he pointed.

"Blimey, where does she get off being so bossy," mumbled Ron. Harry had to agree… She was a little bossy. It had indulged his curiosity in seeing if he could reload to avoid having to do things like this, so he didn't mind too much, though. "How'd you know that, by the way?"

Harry thought about it. There really was just one reasonably explanation. "Oh, it's magic."

Ron stared at him for a moment, but then slowly nodded… Then nodded fully as he seemed to accept that without question. "Right, that makes sense." The red-haired boy opened his mouth to speak again, but it was at that point Hermione came back. "I can't believe it… He was exactly where you said," she said, half surprised, half accusingly.

Harry, for his part, shrugged. "Maybe toads like the dark," he mused. Did they? He didn't know. Trevor was just resting when he found him the first time. Hermione squinted at him in response.

"How did you know where he was, anyway?" she asked, crossing her arms. Harry looked at Ron for an explanation, who had to think for a moment before he got the point. Ron looked directly at the other muggleborn. "It's magic," he stated proudly, grinning. Harry gave him a little fist-bump.

"Magic?" she parroted back. "You can't just say it's magic, there are different kinds of magic… Wait, did you use divination? But all the books I've read told me divination wasn't a reliable magic..." she muttered to herself. "I have to go read up on this… Don't think you'll get to avoid answering me on this, mister!" she called back to him as she spun around and headed back to her own carriage, wherever it was, presumably with all her books.

Harry tilted his head. Huh… She actually seemed more cheerful and less bossy, then. Like she enjoyed being given a research topic. Ron was looking at him with puzzlement at the girl's behavior, and Harry just shrugged at him. He didn't understand girls, either.

He stood up, and-

AUTOSAVING…

-paused as he apparently hit another checkpoint. That only happened then things were about to happen, he was starting to realize. At that point, the door slid open once more, and a platinum-blonde boy slid in, flanked by two people who looked like they'd very much get along with Dudley. Harry vaguely recognized him from his day out shopping… He was in the robes store, if he recalled.

"I can't find Harry Potter anywhere, and this is the last car. Is he in here?" he demanded, looking cross. Ron glanced at Harry, who had only introduced himself by his first name. "Nope."

Harry happened to agree. "Nope… Definitely no Harry Potter in here," he lied blandly. "I'm just Harry, and this is Ron."

The rather rude boy looked suspicious. "I know who the blood-traitor is," he huffed, crossing his arms. There was a vague resemblance to another bossy person he'd met earlier, when he did that, but he'd never tell Hermione about it. "But Harry Potter should be eleven this year, so obviously he's going to Hogwarts, so he has to be here. I've checked everywhere else."

Harry was liking him less and less… Whatever his name was. Ron looked highly offended, so he tried to keep moving. "Er… Perhaps he didn't take the train. What do you think, Ron? Are there other methods of getting to Hogwarts?"

Ron blinked, not expecting the sudden change from insulting his family to magical transportation. "Ah… Well, there's brooms, portkeys… Apparition… Mum hates Apparition," he mused, before their 'guest' interupted.

"I highly doubt Harry Potter is flying to Hogwarts on a broom," he sneered. He was pretty good at sneers, Harry noted. Harry just clapped Ron on the back, who started a little.

"Well," Harry started, "Then maybe he took a portkey. Isn't that right, Ron?"

The redhead looked vaguely uncomfortable. "Wh- Uh, sure. I mean, I guess he could have," he agreed.

Silvery-Blond looked frustrated. "Well, I'm not going to find him standing around arguing with a blood traitor, and some mudblood," he declared, before tromping off, taking his goons with him.

Harry looked to Ron, nonplussed. "So… Who was that, and what do all of those words mean?