Platform 9 3/4 - Reprise
Author's Note 1: An 8-chapter absence...which is a horizontally and vertically symmetrical number...that's one heck of a coincidence. Thanks, Chocoholic_Wallflower!
Author's Note 2: I was going to end this chapter on a cliffhanger, but decided that would be way too mean...Enjoy!
"What...the...*(&*^(^*," Black Star proclaimed his feelings about the absence of platform 9 3/4.
Maka, Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, and Crona had arrived in King's Cross Station, per their tickets, at half past ten, and were now wondering what the ^%&% to do.
Between loading up trolleys with their trunks (Crona had found a spare trunk at Napoleon's the night before) and stopping Black Star from dancing on the train tracks, they ended up only having ten minutes left to board the train - but how?
A large group of people passed just behind them, and Soul was able to catch a few words of what they were saying.
"-packed with Muggles, of course-"
A Muggle. Soul vaguely recalled that that was what Mr. Ollivander called Black Star. He remembered because at the time he thought it was a swear word.
"Let's follow these guys," Soul said, pointing at the group. "They sound like they're witches, too."
With nothing better to try, the weapons and meisters stalked the new group.
It appeared to be a family composed of a plump mother and four boys, all with flaming red hair. They all had trunks, and they even had an owl.
The family finally stopped in front of the platform barrier, staring curiously at all of the chalk lines around it. The weapons and meisters stopped, too, to overhear what the family was saying.
"Now, what's the platform number?" asked the boys' mother.
"Nine and three quarters!" piped up a small redheaded girl. "Mum, can't I go?"
"(&**& overachievers," Soul muttered, fortunately out of earshot of Maka.
"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."
What appeared to be the oldest boy marched toward the divide between platforms 9 and 10. A large group of tourists walked by just as he reached the barrier, and by the time they left the boy was gone.
"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.
"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"
"Sorry, George, dear."
"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin told him to hurry up, and the boy Fred must have, because he had soon vanished - but where?
The third brother, George, soon followed, running towards the barrier - and suddenly he was gone.
"Okay, I get it," said Black Star. "It's a time warp!" He eagerly charged toward the barrier at breakneck speed. Moon hooted in protest.
"Black Star -!" Tsubaki cried out.
Suddenly the blue-haired kid vanished from sight. A loud "Yahoo!" seemed to come from the barrier.
"Strange child," the final brother commented.
The family finally seemed to notice the remaining weapons and meisters' presence. "Hullo, dears?" offered the mother. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."
She pointed to the last and youngest of her sons.
"Well," Maka spoke for the group, "the thing is, our companion notwithstanding, we don't know how -"
"How to get on the platform?" she said kindly, and Maka nodded.
"Not to worry," she said, "all you have to do is walk through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. You can even follow the chalk if you want. Don't stop and don't be scared to crash into it, that's very important. Best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, do it before Ron."
Crona had started twitching again.
Maka decided to go first. She lined up her trolley with the chalk, then started running toward the barrier with her eyes closed.
She ran and ran and ran...only to smack face-first into the barrier -
"No!" Maka thought to herself. "Don't think of failure! Fear will make you run slower..."
"YOU DID IT, MAKA!" shouted Soul as his partner successfully passed through the barrier. Maka opened her eyes, only to accidentally run into the oldest boy from before.
"Sorry," she giggled in embarrassment, helping him to pick up his trunk.
"Ow," mumbled Percy.
"Who's next?" asked the mother gently.
Soul pushed his trolley toward the barrier, and started walking towards it. He broke into a small run...
"Soul..." said the demon. "Let me give you power. Come on, don't be shy..."
"GET OUT OF MY LIFE YOU F-"
Fortunately Soul hit the barrier at that moment, drowning out the swear word.
"I suppose I'll go next, to check on Black Star," Tsubaki offered. She was a little nervous about the barrier, even if her companions were able to get through. However, she simply focused on following the line as closely as possible, and got through with little incident.
Only Crona was left.
"What if it turns solid on me?" worried Crona. "Running into the barrier would hurt. Then I'd get a nosebleed, and there'd be black blood everywhere. I can't deal with that."
"Don't worry," reassured the mother. "You don't have a stalker house elf, so the barrier won't solidify. Go on. It won't hurt."
Crona turned his trolley toward the barrier. It looked quite solid.
I do not know where Crona found the courage to start walking towards the barrier. Unfortunately nerves took over and he broke into an all-out sprint.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh-" Crona screamed.
He flew through the barrier.
"-hhhhhhh-"
He popped out on the other side, somehow able to slow down halfway up the platform.
"-hhhhh."
After a minute he said, "How on Earth did I deal with that?"
"Look, Crona got through!" Maka exclaimed happily. She, Tsubaki and Soul were standing off to one side. Crona hurried to join them.
Where the barrier used to be was a wrought-iron gate. A sign was posted on it stating incoming students. Do not stand in front of gate.
"Where's Black Star?" Crona wondered.
"We don't have time to look for him," stated Maka firmly. "The train will leave any minute. We should board."
Thus, they did.
"Where are they?" Black Star muttered, already onboard the Hogwarts Express. "Little *&^% slowpokes." With that, he set off to find an empty, or mostly empty, compartment.
Near the front of the train, he was surprised to find a car sparsely occupied.
He was even more shocked to see who occupied the car.
Death the Kid.
"What about us?" Liz whined.
Liz and Patty were seated on opposite sides of the compartment. Death the Kid sat in the middle of the floor.
"Hiii, Black Star!" cheered Patty.
"So, can I come in, or not?" Black Star asked.
"No!" Kid cried out. "You'll offset the symmetry of the car!"
At this point any sane person would walk away, assuming that Kid was a complete lunatic.
Unfortunately for Kid, Black Star was not a sane person.
"Oh, well," he said, sitting down next to Patty.
"THEN WHY'D YOU ASK!" the sisters shouted at him.
"To see if you'd accept me graciously," remarked Black Star. To Kid he demanded, "Care to explain what exactly happened to your sorry little self this past month?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kid coolly replied.
"Maka, Soul, Tsubaki, and Crona came, too. I'm not leaving this car until you give us some answ-"
At that point Fred and George walked on the train, glancing around for an empty compartment.
Kid's eyes sparkled. "Twins! Identical twins! What beautiful symmetry!" he thought to himself.
He skipped out of the car to invite the twins into his compartment. They graciously accepted.
"Yes," thought Kid gleefully to himself, "this will make up for the unsymmetricalness of Black Star!"
The twins both promptly sat down on Liz's side.
"NOOOOO!" screamed Kid before fainting.
"What's with him?" demanded both twins simultaneously, Hitachiin-style.
"I'll tell you all about it," giggled Patty, pulling her unconscious meister onto the seat next to her. "Oh, by the way, I'm Patty, and that's my sister Liz. And this," she pointed to the unconscious boy, "is Death the Kid."
"We'll be looking forward to it," smiled the twins mischievously. "We're Fred and George, in some order." Even Liz was grinning as she closed the compartment door, preparing to tell all of Kid's horror stories.
Only Black Star was unhappy. His reconnaissance mission had failed epically. He refused to tell them his name.
Meanwhile Maka, Soul, Tsubaki, and Crona were trying to find an empty compartment. They passed a round-faced boy who said he lost his toad. Eventually the group found a large, vacant car near the end of the train.
No sooner did they get their trunks stored and sit back down than the train started moving. Parents on the platform waved as the train drew out of sight.
Peaceful green countryside and houses flashed by.
The compartment door slid open. It was the youngest red-haired boy from before.
"Anyone sitting here?" he asked, pointing to the seat beside Maka and Soul. "Everywhere else is full. Maybe."
"Sure!" Maka offered, and the boy sat down. There was a spot for one more - in the seat opposite with Tsubaki and Crona - if Black Star ever came around.
"Hey, Ron."
It was the twins.
"Listen, we're in one of the front compartments, and there are these crazy people with us! I didn't even know you could have blue hair-"
Maka and the others shared a knowing look. Black Star.
"Anyway, we'll be going down the middle of the train - Lee has a giant tarantula down there!"
"Right," mumbled Ron.
"Oh," remarked one of the twins, realizing there were other occupants - four of them, in fact. "We really should introduce ourselves. Fred and George Weasley. And that's Ron, our brother."
Tsubaki quickly introduced her group. "The blue-haired kid's Black Star, he's with us, we got lost after the barrier," she added.
"Okay, that makes sense," said the twins. "See you later."
"Bye," said Ron. The compartment door finally slid shut.
"Black Star!" exclaimed Ron. "As in the Star clan?"
"I'm afraid so," smiled Tsubaki.
"Blimey, I thought they all died out..." Ron trailed off.
"What about your family?" wondered Soul. "Are they all witches?" The DWMA students were finding Ron and his family just as fascinating as Ron found them. Though not in that way.
"Er - yes, I think so. I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."
"So you must know loads of magic already."
The Weasleys were one of those old families the pale-faced kid was talking about, Soul realized.
Suddenly Maka, Soul, and Tsubaki stood up.
"Hey!" protested Ron. "Where are you going?"
"We're going to see the tarantula," Soul improvised. In truth, they were going down to the front to find Black Star - and yell at him.
"Er, all right," mumbled Ron, quickly finding himself alone with Crona. "Have fun with that."
Next time: Blatant intruders! Why Crona should not be left alone!