Wow, Superman doesn't have a whole lot of fans, I only remember maybe two or three people saying they liked the Man of Steel. So...Batman for the win!

Now for some bad news, my mother is in a real bad way, so...it's not that I'm not going to update for a while, but later on down the road, I might not. I was typing away like a crazy person in preparation for this, so you guys would still get your chapters, but I wouldn't have to sit at the computer all day long.

There will be updates, but after two months or so, they might not come as frequent.

I don't own Harry Potter

It was now the last day of August, Harry had said all of his goodbyes to everyone that really mattered to him and he made arrangements to have Inspector Homes hold all of his appointments until next summer. But the second hardest part of leaving was here.

Convincing the Dursleys to take him to King's Cross.

He knew the ins and outs of the Dursleys, he knew all their tricks and how they would think. It just took a few trips to the hospital and the Intensive Care ward to figure them out. They would deny he ever asked for a lift if he asked them too far away from the actual day. Doing so the day before or two days before was the best bet, they couldn't deny him asking, and he'd give them ample time to make plans.

Asking for a lift to London wasn't like asking for a lift to the next town, this was about three hour's drive to endure, and with Dudley's new paranoia about him, it was a lot to ask for. If push came to shove, he could ask Inspector Homes to give him a ride to King's Cross, or send Hedwig to Hagrid and he'd come and get him.

Well, get the first idea over first, better ask Uncle Vernon…

"Er-Uncle Vernon?"

Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.

Well, he's still not talking to me, oh well.

"Er-I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to-to go to Hogwarts."

Uncle Vernon grunted again.

"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"

Grunt.

Best answer I'm going to get out of him I suppose. thought Harry."Thank you." Harry turned and was about to walk back upstairs, to keep out of the way and not get into trouble.

"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?" sneered Uncle Vernon from his chair in front of the television.

Harry had no answer for him, it was an honest question. Going to a magical school by train wasn't his first thought as a way to get to school. Broomsticks and dragons were his first guesses as a way to get to school.

A train wasn't the first thing that came to his mind.

Uncle Vernon asked him where the school was, but Harry had no answer either. He didn't really bother looking up where the school was in the books he had sent away for. Perhaps he'd look it up later in Hogwarts: A History.

He took out his train ticket and read it aloud. "I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.

He would have laughed at the sight of their faces, if he didn't need the ride to London.

"Platform what?"

"Nine and three-quarters."

"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."

Harry would have most assuredly joined Uncle Vernon in his disbelief, if he hadn't seen Diagon Alley with his own eyes and everything that had happened over the summer. He was amazed that Uncle Vernon would even doubt that now.

But Uncle Vernon still wouldn't believe it, but he agreed to take Harry to King's Cross, but only because that Dudley had an appointment with a surgeon to take the pig's tail that still stuck out of his rear.

Every time Harry caught sight of that tail of Dudley's he'd have to duck into another room and try as hard as he could to not laugh out loud. Dudley had to spend almost the entire month inside the house, he didn't go anywhere with friends and even if he wanted to, Uncle Vernon wouldn't have let him.

So Harry had a way to school, that was a weight off his mind, now he had a more pressing thing to worry about.

Aunt Petunia wrote to him in a note,(she refused to meet his eyes or speak to him) that she wanted him to prepare enough meals to last them a while. There was a counter full of bags that evening after dinner, and all she would give him as instructions was a brand new freezer in the garage so he could fill it to the brim with frozen homemade food.

Harry looked inside each bag and unloaded it's contents onto the table. There was beef, chicken, fish, pork, sausage, assorted vegetables and fruit and a new batch of spices. There was a lot of possibilities to be had, but making all this in one night, and he still had to get up early tomorrow….

It was about midnight when Harry was nearing the end of making enough food to last Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon quite a long while. Harry had made them several different pots of soup: Beef Noodle Soup, Cucumber soup, Tomato Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, and he even managed to come up with a soup that used a catfish that Aunt Petunia had picked up at the supermarket.

He made plenty of Aunt Marge's favorite whelk dish so whenever she would come over she wouldn't be suspicious of who did the actual cooking.

He even seasoned and precooked most of the steaks and chops, so all Aunt Petunia would have to do is reheat them. He couldn't really understand why he was doing all this, they would never appreciate it. But then again, if he hadn't made them meals while he was gone, they would only make him pay for it when he came home, and he'd rather keep them in a relatively good mood.

While the loaves of bread were baking, Harry sat at the kitchen table and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Doing all this cooking wore him out, and he could hardly believe that he was looking forward to having the year off of cooking, cleaning and running about.

He could finally act his age and be a kid, and excel at school to the absolute fullest! There was nothing that was going to stop him from sleeping in till ten on Saturdays, get all A's on his exams, and make friends…absolutely nothing.

The next morning, Harry got up at the earliest crack of dawn, gathered his school materials and prepared to leave, but another thought struck him…The whole reason behind going to London was for Dudley's benefit…and if Dudley was too freaked out to even ride in the car with Harry…he'd most likely be left home. He'd have to find a way to convince Dudley to ride in the same vehicle with him.

"Let's see," said Harry to himself. "The best way to bribe Dudley is with money or food. I'm not giving him my hard earned money, and they'd only think I stole it from somewhere. I'll have to use food to get my way. I'll make some cookies, hopefully that'll calm him down."

He trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen, taking care not to make much noise. Before six o'clock had even crept it's way to be, Harry had made a triple batch of his favorite Triple Chocolate Chip cookies and they were cheerfully baking in the oven. They had been Mrs. McFinn's best-selling cookies, not a day went by when she was around, that she didn't sell twelve dozen boxes of them at least.

After Harry was finishing up the dishes for both the cookies and the pans from the breakfast biscuits he had made, the Dursleys made their sluggish way down the stairs. Dudley, who was still half asleep, flopped onto one of the chairs and mumbled, "I want pancakes."

It would figure that Dudley would want something other than what he prepared. But at least he was prepared for it. He took a few homemade pancakes from out of the freezer and popped them into the microwave. He didn't care if it wasn't fresh for the precious Duddykins, there was no time for him to make pancakes and clean up all the dishes again before they had to leave for the station.

They had loaded everything that Harry was going to take to school in the back of the car, but as Harry suspected, Dudley wouldn't climb into the car with Harry there. Aunt Petunia had to go and grab a large container of the cookies that Harry had just made that day. But he didn't mind, as long as it got him to King's Cross, he could have eaten everything that he had made last night and he wouldn't have cared.

Finally, he was going, he was leaving Privet Drive!

Harry could hardly believe it. The Dursleys up and left him…without making sure that he got to where he needed to go safely. He had figured that the Dursleys wouldn't exactly change overnight, but…to just leave him…out in public? He even watched a few elderly ladies take down Uncle Vernon's driver's license and mutter about reporting him for child abandonment.

Well, I'd better find this platform I'm supposed to be on. Platform Nine and Three Quarters…this may be harder than I thought. thought Harry.

He looked around the train station in wonder. People were coming and going as normal, kids were lugging their own trunks to go to normal, non-magical schools, adults were heading off to parts unknown for a last minute summer vacation or heading away on business.

Harry peered anxiously around King's Cross, looking for someone holding an owl cage, wearing a cloak, pointed hat or even holding a wand. However, it didn't seem as if there were any wizards or witches here and this wasn't good.

He pushed his cart around the train station, inspecting every nook and cranny of the Platform's Nine and Ten. Then he saw a guard, well…it was worth a shot, perhaps the school, for other students like him, they made the train station aware of the magical train so they could be led or pointed in the right direction.

That was not the case at all.

"Excuse me, where is the train that goes to Hogwarts?" asked Harry politely.

"What the…what's Hogwarts?" said the guard with a raised brow and a suspicious look on his face.

Not good, better back track. thought Harry quickly. "Uh…where is the train that leaves at eleven o'clock?"

"We don't have a train that leaves at that time, don't waste my time or I'll notify your parents." said the guard with a growl.

Well, isn't he the pleasant one, well, I guess I wouldn't be too happy with having to deal with lost people all day. thought Harry. But jeez, settle down a bit.

Time was going by way too fast, eleven o'clock was coming at a breakneck pace and if Harry couldn't find the platform, he wouldn't be able to get to school on time. He looked over at the wall barrier between nine and ten, he had walked past it and the ticket counter several times, and every time he had a feeling that something was there, but he couldn't see it.

He walked towards the ticket counter, hoping to find something helpful there, but a voice met his ears, and he could almost feel his ears twitch.

"-packed with Muggles, of course-"

Harry turned and faced in the direction where the voice came from. His eyes open wide with shock. Who said that?

"Look at that little boy." said a woman standing near him. "He looks so lost."

"Should we get a guard, he looks a little young to be wandering about on his own." muttered the woman with her.

Harry disregarded them, he had to find out where that voice came from, then he found the owner. It was a plump woman with a slew of children around her, pushing several trunks and one of the trunks had a birdcage sitting carefully on top, with an owl resting quietly inside.

As he watched the mother fussing over her children Harry noticed something. The family was full of red headed children and they all seemed to look the same, they all shared a strong family resemblance.

Harry couldn't help it, he felt a strong jolt of jealously coursing through his veins. This family looked happy and they looked the same. The kids were being loved so tenderly by their mother, like Mrs. McFinn used to do with him, and then she left. He didn't blame her, he supposed that losing Dr. Clark on top of losing her husband, she needed to get away for a bit.

But these kids just didn't have a mother's love, they had the gift of looking alike, they had freckles, red hair, the same shape of eyes…

He looked nothing like his aunt and uncle, or even his cousin, maybe Aunt Petunia's eyes, but other than that…he could see nothing. He had nothing in common with his family, the only thing was that his mother and his aunt were sisters.

Harry snapped out of his thoughts violently and hurried after them, if he lost sight of them, he'd miss the unseen train that was getting ready to leave from it's hidden platform.

"Now, what's the platform number?" said the mother of all of those children.

Maybe he picked the wrong family. If they didn't know…oh well, they'll get lost together.

But the girl that was with them, she seemed only a little younger than he did answered the question eagerly.

"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go..."

This was definitely the family to follow then, and Harry couldn't help but smile at the girl, he couldn't really blame her one bit for wanting to go to school. Especially if Hagrid said was true about it, except for the whole Voldemort having gone to the same school, which was a huge let down.

Harry watched as the oldest of the boys strode forward, the one called Percy, and despite trying to track him with his eyes, the boy disappeared from view as he made his way to the barrier between nine and ten.

Where the hell did he go? thought Harry frantically. There was no where he could go, unless he can go through walls! He watched the rest of the family intently, from his hiding place behind a tall column. The next ones to go were a pair of twins, they were almost completely identical, right down to each little freckle on their faces. Though…Harry could see some slight differences, one twin had a longer tooth on one side of their mouth and the other twin had small scar on his hand.

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?" said the twin with the slightly longer tooth.

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went.

Well, telling the difference between them is easy. thought Harry with a smile.

But just like the boy ahead of them, they too disappeared. He had to find out how to get there, before the mother and the other two children escaped his eyes. So he pushed his cart over to them.

"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.

"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."

Well, at least this lady is nice. He looked at her youngest son Ron and noticed how tall he was. We're the same age? Hello short jokes…but then again, he's got a big nose, there's some revenge right there. "Yes," said Harry. "The thing is-the thing is, I don't know how to-"

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.

"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous.

Wait a minute, I have to run and try not crash into a brick wall? Is she nuts? thought Harry.

Go on, go now before Ron."

"Er-okay," said Harry. Well, it's been a while since I've got some teeth knocked out, might as well give it a shot for nostalgia's sake. thought Harry with a grim smile.

Harry took a firm hold on his cart and began to walk swiftly towards the solid brick wall.. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble-leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run-the barrier was coming nearer and nearer- he wouldn't be able to stop-the cart was out of control-he was a foot away-he closed his eyes ready for the crash-

It didn't come...he kept on running...he opened his eyes.

A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. He had done it.

Harry looked around eagerly, examining everything and everyone in this secretive and exclusive train platform. So many different people, so many different things to focus on, He had a new life to look forward to, he looked up at the sky, the sun shining down through the windows in the skylight.

I swear Officer McFinn, Mom, Dad…I'll make you proud of me.

Thank you for reading, and please review

Question of the Chapter! (Might as well get some laughs) What was your favorite comic strip growing up? (or like me still read)

Old fashioned: I'm a big Wizard of ID fan, or B.C those always make me laugh.

New times: Retail, it's like the person drawing and writing these are staked out at our store!