Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

Chapter 7

Where's the Platform? It's Right There!

The last month at the Dursley's was boring, but tolerable for Harry. He wished more than ever that school started earlier, but at least he could still read his new school books. He had already read the first chapters of the Potions, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and History of Magic. Harry wished he could try out some of the minor spells or potions shown in the books, but the underage magic restriction and impossibility of finding a place where no one would notice a large pewter cauldron brewing a potion forestalled him. He was currently engrossed in the Charms textbook.

About a week ago he had looked at the ticket that Hagrid had given to him for the train to Hogwarts, and noticed that the platform number was Nine and Three Quarters, which was most definitely not a normal platform in the station. Harry sent Hedwig on her first mission, delivering a letter from Harry to Hagrid, asking him how to find Platform Nine and Three Quarters and what to do to get there.

He got his answer a few days later, with Hagrid apologizing for his oversight and clarifying that there was an invisible barrier between platforms ten and nine that only people of magic could walk through, and that it would take him straight to platform Nine and Three Quarters. Harry thought it sounded a bit outlandish, but Hagrid didn't seem to be the type to play a practical joke on him, so he assumed that he was telling the truth.

Hagrid also told him that the Dursley's should take him there, as Hagrid himself was busy with start-of-term work. Harry still wasn't sure whether the Dursley's would agree to his request, but it never hurt to ask. When he told them his platform number, they bust out laughing and said that they would take him and leave him right at platforms nine and ten, but only because their little Duddykins was going into London to check for any poisoning, as he had eaten a large portion of Harry's birthday cake.

Harry was wondering at their strange behavior when he realized that they were thinking along the same lines he had when he had first noticed the strange platform number. Well, they would be in for a surprise when he disappeared into the barrier. He could only imagine the look of surprise on their faces.

The car ride over was quite uneventful, and when they had arrived at platforms nine and ten, Vernon stopped with an unpleasant smile on his face.

"Alright, we're here. Your platform should be somewhere in between here I would imagine, but I don't see it anywhere," Harry's uncle said with a smirk.

"Nah, it's right there, watch," Harry replied, shooting his own little smirk at his uncle.

Harry walked right toward the barrier with all of his belongings that he was bringing to school and passed right through, hopefully leaving behind a couple of stunned Dursley's.

The sight before him made him forget all about his relatives, however. A bustling train station full of pointed hats, long robes, and small children with their parents, and the centerpiece of the scene was the impressive scarlet train, the Hogwarts Express. Harry had wondered before why they didn't find a better way to get to school, since they had magic, but now he guessed that it was because of how impressive the train was, and a sense of tradition. He certainly wasn't protesting, he was quite eager to ride the impressive-looking train.

As he was gawking at the sight of the platform, an older red-haired student bumped into him from behind.

"Would you get out of the way? People are trying to get to the train from this way," declared the stranger with a condescending look.

"Sorry, just taking in the sight, it's my first time going to Hogwarts," Harry replied sheepishly. The two began walking together to the platform.

"Well, you should be more aware of your surroundings next time, you were impeding the way of a prefect," said Percy, thrusting out his chest to call attention to the silver badge on it.

"What is a prefect?" asked Harry, worrying that if he had offended someone important, but Percy's next answer relieved, but also made him want to snicker at how self-important the student was.

"You don't know what a prefect is? Have you been living with muggles? We are those upstanding students of the population that uphold the rules and keep order in the castle," he sniffed.

"Well actually, I have been living with muggles, but I'm sorry for offending you," replied Harry, who was barely suppressing a smile.

The pompous student harrumphed and broke off from Harry to go talk to some other students, who Harry assumed were from his year. Harry saw that some students were already boarding the train, so he moved to do so himself, before another redhead, slightly younger-looking, came up to him.

"Don't pay any attention to Percy, the pompous prat. I'm surprised he can even fit into a compartment with anyone else, I would think his ego and head take up too much space," he said," My name's Fred, watch out for my twin George, he's a devil he is."

"Hey! You know that I'm Fred, quit confusing the poor boy," exclaimed an identical redhead from behind them who must be George, or Fred… whoever he was.

"He's joking of course, I'm really Fred. Now, who are you?" inquired Fred (George?).

"I'm Harry Potter," replied Harry nervously, wondering if they would make a big deal out of it like the patrons of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Ah yes, I'm really Albus Dumbledore, I'm sorry for having you on," replied George (Albus? Fred?), with an inflection in his voice that Harry recognized as sarcasm.

"No, really. Here's my scar," Harry insisted, as he raised his bangs from his forehead, shocking the twins for a moment, before they regained their composure.

"He really wasn't joking was he George?"

"All kneel before the Chosen One! We are not worthy," replied Forge, as Harry was going to refer to him in his mind, kneeling on the ground before Harry as he did so, with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Oh, quit it. I knew I shouldn't have told you, I'm going to go find a seat," said Harry, pretending to be irritable and making his way to the train.

"Wait up, oh Chosen One! We must bask in the glory of thine holy scar! Or is it unholy!" Gred yelled, keeping pace with Harry with his longer legs, with his twin not far behind.

Harry entered the train and sat in the nearest empty compartment, with the twins not far behind.

"So, Great and Powerful Vanquisher of the He-Whose-Name-Must-Be-Hyphenated, this is your first year at Hogwarts, no? Where were you living before?" inquired Forge, as his twin slid into the compartment with them.

"Yes, this is my first year, and I was living with some muggle relatives," replied Harry with an amused smile at the title that Forge had given Voldemort.

"The Saviour of the Wizarding World grew up with muggles?" the twins chorused simultaneously with incredulous looks on their faces," That's certainly a surprise, any number of wizarding families would have taken you in after you were orphaned." The twins had dropped their joking expressions when they had talked about him being orphaned, which caused Harry's respect for them to increase, as no one else seemed to have noticed that he had lost his parents when he defeated Voldemort, which was a sore point for him.

"Yeah, well I don't know why I was there, but if I had the choice I would go to a different family. My relatives don't exactly like magic, they prefer everything to be normal," Harry said, with a sombre expression on his face.

"That's a shame that is, I hope you have some luck, we have got to scurry, got some business to talk out with a friend," Gred said, leaving the compartment.

"If you ever really get tired of those muggles, we can ask Mum about having you over, we've got a lot of kids in the house already, but we can always make room if they aren't playing nice," said Forge seriously over his shoulder, leaving Harry alone in the compartment. He noticed that they both were heading to a boy with dreadlocks surrounded by a small crowd of people.

Harry mulled over the conversation with the twins as he sat alone. They seemed mischievous, but they knew when to be serious. He liked them at once.

His thoughts about the new acquaintances were interrupted by a round-faced boy entering the compartment.

"Have you seen my toad, Trevor? asked the boy nervously, obviously upset that his toad was missing.

"No, I haven't, but I'm sure he'll turn up, he can't have gone far on a train. Would you like to sit down?" asked Harry politely, though he was just asking because he wanted to talk to the boy.

"I guess.. I still haven't found Trevor, but I'm sure you're right, he'll turn up somewhere," he stammered. As he was sitting down, a bushy-haired, slightly buck-toothed brunette girl who looked to be about their age opened the door.

"Oh, did you find Trevor in here Neville?" she asked. She seemed to be assisting him in the quest to find the toad.

"No, but I bet he'll show up, he couldn't have gone far," Neville said, mimicking Harry's earlier words.

"Are you sure that you shouldn't keep looking? Your grandmother told you not to lose that toad, Neville," she scolded in a bossy tone.

"You guys aren't likely to find it yourselves, I would just tell others about it and ask them if they have seen him later on in the train ride," reasoned Harry, which brought the bushy-haired witch's attention on him.

"Oh, I didn't see you there, my name's Hermione, what's yours? Are you muggleborn like me? Have you read ahead in any of the books? How hard do you think the..." Hermione barely paused to stop for breath during the inquiry, and Harry had to interrupt her to get in a word.

"Whoa, slow down. My name's Harry, no I'm not muggleborn, yes I've read the first couple chapters in the books." Harry motioned for her to sit down, before she could start up her rapid-fire questioning again," Here, come sit down, no point in standing in the doorway while we talk."

"Wait, you said your name is Harry? Like the Harry? Harry Potter? The Boy-Who-Lived?" Hermione squeaked, not pausing for breath in her excitement.

"Yes, but I hate that name, the Boy-Who-Lived, just call me Harry," he replied irritably. He was really getting tired of the incredulous looks. Even the twins had been flabbergasted for a moment.

Although slightly subdued, Hermione was still not done with her line of questioning.

"Why don't you like that name? Aren't you happy to have saved the wizarding world?" She sounded slightly surprised at his cold tone, but was not put off by it.

"Because my parents died! That's how I got that name, they died and I lived!" snapped Harry.

There was a long silence. It seemed to span minutes. Hermione just sat on the seat opposite Harry and Neville, with a surprised and horrified look. Harry felt the pangs of regret, but pushed them away angrily, rightly thinking that it was her fault for prying too far into his privacy without regard to his feelings. Hermione finally gathered her courage in an attempt to make amends.

"I'm so sorry, I never thought of it that way. Could you forgive me?" She asked in a small, nervous voice, the complete opposite of her earlier nosy tone.

"No one ever thinks of it that way. You're forgiven, but try to remember how I got all this fame, which I don't even want. I don't like all the stares of disbelief when people figure out who I am, and all of the thank-you's and handshakes. I'm eleven, and all I remember about that night was a flash of green light. Not so heroic in my book," Harry replied bitingly.

The rest of the train ride was bit awkward, but the icy atmosphere was eventually cracked by an outside force as the compartment door slipped open.

"Is it true? They are talking all down the train about Harry Potter being in this compartment. So it's you, right," the middle boy said, pointing at Harry.

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter, and you are?" replied Harry with an annoyed look.

"My name's Draco Malfoy, and this is Crabbe and Goyle," he said with a sneer," and who's this you're sitting with, a mudblood and a squib?"

Hermione loked furious, but hurt, and Neville's face reddened, which confirmed Harry's suspicions that those were dire insults.

"No, I'm sitting with two fellow students, both of whom have made a better impression on me than yourself. Did you know that it's impolite to point at and insult people? You've already broken many commonly understood rules of courtesy, maybe you should try to make up for that by doing us the courtesy of leaving," Harry replied coldly.

After Harry's tirade, Draco stood there stunned for a moment that he had been so thoroughly rebuked, then, deciding that he would come back later to try to make amends with the famous Harry Potter, mumbled a "Sorry," and left the compartment with his friends. He had been taught since he was a young boy to always be courteous, even to his enemies, and Harry's comment had forcibly reminded him of his training. His father would have been furious with him.

Harry was thoroughly surprised that the arrogant boy actually left and apologized, but took it in stride, turning to his companions.

"He was certainly rude, what did those words mean, mudblood and squib?" Harry asked.

"Well, mudblood is an extremely rude name for muggleborns, I've already been called that multiple times. This world is so bigoted and backwards I could just.. ugh!" muttered Hermione heatedly, attempting to control her temper.

"A squib is a person of magical descent, but no magical powers. I'm not actually a squib, but my family used to think I was when I was younger," Neville replied, his round face marred with a frown.

"Don't worry, I've seen his kind before. He surprised me by actually leaving, but I'm not new to people trying to make themselves feel superior by insulting others. Just don't let it affect you, and he will have no power over you. Your anger is but fuel to the fire," Harry informed them sagely.

"How do you know so much about bullying?" Hermione asked. As far as she knew, there were no books that taught how to deal with bullies, and she would have jumped on such an object. She had always been made fun of for her bookish nature and large front teeth.

"I've learned through being subjected to it, as you said earlier about that petty name. I was always singled out by the bullies, but I always got them back too." Dudley's group had been relentless, but Harry had gotten them into trouble with teachers more than a few times while they were chasing him. The punishments didn't help much, but it did give Harry a sense of satisfaction getting one up on the bullies.

"I'm going to go change into my robes, I think we are getting close to the school. Hogwarts: A History said that the train rides last about an hour. You two should change two." Hermione was back into lecture mode, but this time was a bit more polite about it.

When Hermione opened the door to the compartment, a small, warty toad hopped through the opening.

"Trevor!" exclaimed Neville, who looked elated that he had found his toad. Harry didn't see why he liked it so much.

A few minutes later, a robe-clothed Hermione slid back into the compartment just as a voice announced," We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

The three made a bit of small talk for the remaining time on the train, wondering what the castle would look like.

AN

Draco is going to be a bit more subtle in this story. He was trained to be a pureblood prince by one of the most cunning men in the country (his father), why in the world would he be so controversial and make so many enemies when he got to school? It made no sense to me. He begins to show why he was put into Slytherin in the later stories, with his plan to kill Dumbledore actually being quite successful up until he had to kill the man, but even that was a bit crude.

Anyways, rant over, I hope you liked the chapter! I avoided Harry meeting Ron because I don't like Ron and I don't want him to be Harry's friend. Instead, I am trying to get a more well-rounded group of friends who mesh well together. Neville will be the common sense of the group, Hermione the brains (though none are stupid, she has memorized all the textbooks before the school year started…), and Harry the leader and the one who gets things done.

Next chapter will be sure to get through the Sorting, and I already know what house I want Harry to be in. Sorry if my plans don't fit your wishes, but there are reasons for my choice.

Please review and follow! I will continue to update at a quick pace!