Hermione eyed the wall warily, feeling a bit silly about what she was about to do.
There was no reason to suspect Professor McGonagall had lied to her. The woman had been able to transform into a cat after all, so clearly magic was real. However, the thought that this entire thing was likely just one big joke remained stuck in the very back of Hermione's mind. Afterall, the reason Hermione had requested that her parents remain outside of Kings Cross station was so on the off chance that she found herself crashing into (rather than through) the brick platform wall, at least there were no witnesses who knew her.
She glanced around at the swarms of people. It was fairly busy this morning, but almost nobody had noticed the young girl standing aimlessly between Platforms 9 and 10.
Hermione smoothed down her hair. She gathered her trolley and began walking in conspicuously (or at least as inconspiciousky as one can walk directly at a wall) towards the bricks.
She increased her pace, closing her eyes just before she reached the wall. Her body involuntarily tensed, expecting the impact, but it never came.
Hermione opened her eyes and gasped. She was standing on what looked like it could have been any other regular train platform in the station. However, instead of men in suits and women pushing strollers, this platform was crowded with teenagers, much like herself, and mostly wearing black robes.
She quickly closed her mouth.
"Trunks!" A man wearing an odd pointed hat yelled, "trunks here, please!"
Hermione strode towards him, and he grinned down at her, taking in the jeans and light brown sweater peeking out from under her open robes. "Muggleborn, are you? First year at school?"
She recognized the word from some of the books she'd purchased over the summer holiday, and nodded.
"Very good!" The man said, removing her trunk from the trolley before snapping his fingers. Hermione's eyes widened as the cart disappeared. The man winked at her, "better find yourself a seat, before all the good ones are taken."
She nodded. "Thank you." And hurried towards the doors.
Hermione walked cautiously through the corridors of the train. It was bustling with students, and she often found herself having to sidestep to make room.
Most of the compartments were full, but eventually Hermione found herself one that was empty. She stepped inside, quickly taking a seat. She smoothed her hair again, suddenly feeling much more nervous than she had before.
Before she could think on it the door slid open, revealing a boy about her age, with sand colored hair and large green eyes.
"Any room?" He asked, his accent was slightly rougher than Hermione was used to. She nodded, motioning to the empty bench across from her.
The boy looked relieved. Shutting the door behind him once more he joined her inside.
"Nice to meet you." She said, stretching out her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger."
"Remus Lupin." The boy said, hesitating a moment before shaking her hand.
"Is it your first time as well?" She asked, glancing out the window. The train had pulled from the station and was beginning to make its way into the English countryside.
"Yes," he admitted. "I wasn't sure I'd be able to attend, but I'm very thankful I was."
Hermione nodded. Remus smiled shyly, opening his bag to pull out a book.
"Oh no!" She exclaimed, watching him. "I completely forgot to pack a book to read." She sighed. This was going to be a long trip.
"I have a newspaper with me, if you'd like that?" Remus said, "it's not very exciting but…"
"A Wizarding newspaper?" Hermione inquired, leaning towards him.
"Uh… yes." He said.
"Oh, please!"
Remus rifled through his bag once more, withdrawing the folded paper. He handed it to her.
Hermione smoothed it out. "Thank you!" She said happily. Remus smiled again, returning to his book.
Chay Blyth Sails Around the World the headline read. Hermione glanced at the story below.
A true master in the world of magical transportation, Scottish wizard Chay Blyth has successfully sailed around the world from East to West, against prevailing winds.
Using a combination of charm work and magically reinforced building materials, Blythe set sail from Southampton last year, in April of 1970. His ship, British Steel made port this last August…
Hermione paused. That wasn't right. She read the article again.
Last year… April of 1970….
1970.
What?! She slammed the paper down on her lap. Remus looked up sharply.
"You ok?" He asked nervously.
"What's the date?" Hermione demanded.
He stared at her, mouth open slightly. "Um… first of September."
"What year?" She hissed, suddenly feeling very hot.
Remus' eyes widened. "1971?"
Hermione couldn't breathe. The compartment felt like it was getting smaller and smaller. She gasped, tugging at the collar of her sweater.
"Should I go get somebody?" Remus asked. He looked unsure.
It felt as though something was crushing her chest. She tried to take in a breath but found she couldn't. Her fingers were tingling ncomfortably.
"... I'll go get a prefect." Remus said suddenly, standing up.
Hermione's hand shot out, grabbing hold of Remus' arm. He looked at her, eyes wide. "Hermione?" He asked tentatively.
She looked up at him.
"Oh." She said.
And everything went black.