Hagrid had dropped me off at the station. I was very confused. I had asked the station master where platform 9 3/4 was, but he said I was joking, and to go look for my little friends who pulled the same prank. I bet a bunch of other kids asked him, and he thought we all planned it together. A pang of fear flashed in my heart. But then I caught a word. "Muggles". I knew what Muggles were, of course, so I walked to the woman who said it. I watched a boy, who I guessed was her son because of the red hair, run into the wall between platforms Nine and Ten. I turned to the woman and said,
"Excuse me, but is that the way to get to Hogwarts?" I asked, pointing at the hard stone wall.
"Yes, my dear. Walk between platforms Nine and Ten. Best be at a run if you're nervous."
I braced myself and ran. I prepared myself to crash into the wall, but I didn't. I slid right through it onto platform 9 3/4. Behind me, a boy my age with round glasses, messy black hair, and bright green eyes, appeared. I smiled at him, and he gave me a nervous grin back. I stepped on the train and sat in an empty compartment. I stared out the window and a minute later the boy who I saw on the platform appeared.
"Um..." He gestured towards the seats.
"Yeah. There's no one sitting here anyways."
"I guess."
"I'm Alexandra Labyrinth. But I prefer to be called Alex."
"My name's Harry. Harry Potter."
My eyes widened. This was the boy the Minister was talking about! He was The Boy Who Lived! A small gasp escaped my mouth.
"Um...Can I see your scar?"
He grinned, and pulled up his hair so I could see it. I looked at the lightning bolt scar. Suddenly another face appeared at the door. It was one of the many sons of the red-haired woman I saw.
"Can I sit here? All the other compartments are full."
"Sure," said Harry, "I'm Harry Potter and that's Alexandra Labyrinth."
He glanced at both of us. "Really? You're both famous. I'm Ron Weasley."
I chatted for a while with Harry and Ron, and soon the Trolley Witch came. "What will you have off the trolley, dears?"
"No thanks. I'm all set." He held up his snack and forced a smile on his face.
"I don't have any money. Sorry." I also forced a smile.
"We'll take the lot!" announced Harry, pulling some Galleons out of his pocket .
Harry bought most of the candies. I laughed and ate sweets with Harry and Ron. It was the most fun I ever had.
"This is Scabbers, my rat. He's pathetic, isn't he?" explained Ron.
"Just a little bit," said Harry.
Ron was about to perform a spell he learned from his older brother when a girl with bushy brown hair and brown eyes walked in and said somebody lost a toad. Then she noticed Ron was about to do magic.
"Are you doing magic? Let's see, then."
Ron glanced at Harry then cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daises, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!"
Nothing happened.
"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it?" the girl asked.
Ron stole another glance at Harry. The girl walked in front of Harry and sat down. "I've tried a few simple spells, but they've all worked for me. For example: Occulus Reparo," she said promptly.
What looked like a little piece of paper flew through his glasses and all the cracks disappeared. Harry took his glasses off to look at them in surprise, and that's when the girl noticed he was Harry Potter.
"Wow! You're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger. And that's Alexandra Labyrinth! And you are?"
"Ron Weasley."
"Pleasure." Hermione made a face, though, which showed that it was not a pleasure to meet him.
"You better change into robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon." Hermione swung herself out of the room. But, then she came back and looked at Ron.
"You have dirt. On your nose. Did you know? Right there."
Ron rubbed his nose.
We soon arrived at Hogwarts, just like Hermione said we would. My heart was beating very fast. I knew my father was in Gryffindor, and I wanted to get the same house. Everyone else looked just as nervous as me, except Draco Malfoy. I got a glimpse of him and his father when he visited the ministry once. Malfoy came up to Harry and offered what him of what I took to be a shake of friendship. But he insulted Ron and Harry refused. I was too worried about what house I was going be sorted in to worry about what happened, though.
Professor McGonagall came up and explained about the houses, and we all went inside the Great Hall. I wasn't paying attention to who was being sorted, but I remember Draco being sorted into Slytherin and Harry, Ron, and Hermione got sorted into Gryffindor. I wanted to get Gryffindor even more now. Suddenly my name was called.
"Labyrinth, Alexandra!" Professor McGonagall called. I sat on the stool and the Sorting Hat was placed on my head.
"Ah, now, Alexandra. Your father was in Gryffindor, eh? Well, you'd do good in all the houses. Yes, kindness, bravery, brains, and very sly. But, you'd do best in... GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat exclaimed.
There was thundering applause for me and I went happily over to the Gryffindor table. Everyone else got sorted, then Dumbledore gave his speech. He reminded everyone that the third floor corridor and the Forbidden Forest were strictly forbidden. Then, he said, "Let the feast begin!"