Harry Potter was not used to being a celebrity. He was used to being punished for no reason, for things he couldn't help, or for things he hadn't done. He was used to not being allowed food and being expected to clean house after the Dursleys. He was used to watching Petunia and Vernon spoil Dudley beyond reason and being punished for doing better than Dudley in school.

When he came into the wizarding world, he was bombarded with adoration and praise for something that he could not remember doing. It was exactly the opposite of what he was used to and it was no better.

Harry didn't trust the man who picked him up to go shopping for school. He was huge and loud and rough, but most of all he was kind, and Harry knew by now not to trust kindness because the ones who were kind in the beginning eventually only ended up hurting him the most.

The man gave him an owl and a cake and wished him a happy birthday. He took him to a wonderful place where everything was magical, then he returned him to his relatives.

On September 1, Harry was brought to Kings Cross Station and left on the front step.

"We'll see you next June, Freak!" Vernon called as he drove away. Harry saw a large family of red-headed wixen and set off to ask them if they knew where he might find platform nine and three-quarters.

There was a mother, a boy who looked about fifteen, identical twin brothers who looked about thirteen, a boy who looked his own age, and a girl who seemed maybe a year younger. As Harry walked towards them, the oldest boy took his luggage and ran towards the wall between platform 9 and platform 10. To Harry's surprise, he passed right through the wall and disappeared! Quickly, his oldest brothers followed him, then the boy his own age, then the girl and their mother. Harry braced himself, took a deep breath, and followed. When he passed through the wall, his eyes widened as he took in the space on the other side. A large steam engine with several carriages sat at the opposite end of the area and wixen of all shapes and sizes were boarding with trunks similar to my own. He lifted his trunk from the cart and climbed up to the last carriage, found an empty compartment, and lifted his trunk onto the shelf, taking a seat by the window and fishing one of his textbooks out of his trunk. Before long, the youngest boy from the red-headed family busted into the compartment and made himself comfortable.

"Well, hello," Harry said to him, a bit miffed that he hadn't even introduced himself or said hello.

He looked at Harry and his face turned red to match his hair. "Oh, hello, I'm Ron Weasley. Do you mind if I share your compartment? No? That's great," he said without giving Harry a chance to speak.

Harry stared at Ron, stunned. "I'm Harry," he introduced himself, already having resolved to not use his last name among wixen unless asked. "I guess it's fine as long as you're quiet so I can read. I can't very well kick you out."

Ron looked at the book in Harry's hands. "You're reading textbooks?"

"It's the first chance I've gotten to look at them, and I'm worried I'll be behind my classmates if I don't look them over before classes start. I've never been around magic before so I'm not sure what to expect," he said.

"You're a muggle-born?" His tone was mildly disgusted.

"No, I've been told both of my parents were magical, but I was raised by muggles. I don't know why."

"That doesn't make much sense," he declared.

Harry shrugged and went back to reading his textbook. Not much later, someone knocked twice and opened the door.

"Have either of you seen a toad?" A girl with bushy brown hair was standing in the doorway of their compartment.

Harry shook his head and turned back to his book. As he did, his fringe shifted and his scar was exposed. He could feel Ron's and the witch's eyes on it as they seemed to realize who he was.

"You're Harry Potter," Ron blurted out.

"Yes, I am aware of my own surname," he said in a bored tone without looking up from his textbook. "I didn't tell it to you for exactly this reason.

"You defeated You-Know-Who-"

"Actually," Harry interrupted, "I don't know who, as I have been raised by muggles since I was a baby and everyone refuses to use the name."

"You're probably the most powerful wizard of our generation," the bushy-haired witch said excitedly, "I've read all the books and know everything about you!"

"There are books about me?" He looked up, mildly curious.

"Oh, but of course!" She pulled a piece of parchment and quill from somewhere on her person and wrote a few book titles. "I'd recommend starting with this one," she tapped the first title, "and working your way down. You probably won't get to a bookshop until next Summer and as I recall they don't have these in the library at Hogwarts, so I can lend you my copy."

As she handed Harry the parchment, he saw a toad hop past behind her.

"Weren't you looking for a toad?" He asked.

"What? Oh, yes, why?"

He pointed at the toad. Swiftly, she grabbed it and held it securely. Harry remembered the Hogwarts acceptance letter mentioning cats, toads, and owls.

"Is that your familiar?" He asked.

"What? Oh, no, he belongs to a first-year named Neville Longbottom. I was helping him look."

"I would imagine he's worried then," Harry remarked. "You should probably let him know you've found him."

The witch left the compartment, sliding the door shut behind her. Harry turned back to his book.

Not much later, when it was nearing the middle of the day, a lady with a cart of candy knocked on the compartment door and slid it open.

Harry eyed the candy. He had never tried wizarding candy, and he had several galleons left from his school shopping. Ron seemed to be purposely not looking at it.

"I've never had wizarding candy before," Harry said. "What would you recommend, Ron?"

"How much money have you got?" Ron asked.

Harry took his money out of his pocket and counted.

"Eleven galleons."

"Well, I reckon you can afford to try everything," Ron said.

Harry turned to the trolley witch and asked for some of everything. She took two of his galleons and gave him a large number of sweets.

"Which are your favourite?" Harry asked Ron.

"I like pumpkin pasties and chocolate frogs," Ron said, still not looking at the candy. Ron jumped when Harry placed three pumpkin pasties and a chocolate frog on his knee then bristled. "I don't want charity."

"Charity? I only wanted to share because you're my friend. If you don't want it . . . " Harry shrugged.

"Oh," Ron's face was bright red again. "Thank you."

Harry went back to his book, unintentionally choosing the inanimate sweets first as he read through his textbooks. Harry was almost finished reading through the third textbook, which was the potions textbook, when he unwrapped a piece of candy and it leapt out of his hand.

Harry looked up from his book so quickly it hurt his neck. Ron had chocolate smeared on his face, a trading card in his hand, and was fast asleep. The chocolate frog Harry had just unwrapped was hopping across the compartment towards the door. He hurriedly caught it but hesitated to bite it. After a moment, he shrugged and took a bite. After all, if it weren't edible they wouldn't sell it as food.

After consuming the chocolate frog, he suspiciously eyed the rest of the candy. Did any of it move? There were several more chocolate frogs and a few other varieties of candy fashioned after living creatures, so he decided better safe than sorry and placed it in his trunk.

As he finished the potions textbook, the light from the window faded to the point where he couldn't read by it. He placed the book back in his trunk and put on his school uniform robe over his regular clothing, not wanting to wait in case it got too dark to see before they reached the school. Just as he had that thought, the train lurched and began to slow down and a magically amplified voice announced that they would reach Hogsmeade in five minutes. Harry reached over and shook Ron.

"Huh?" Ron mumbled as he groggily sat up.

"We're arriving," Harry told him.

Word count: 1,462

Hello, Strangers! This took a long time because of writer's block and also schoolwork. Sorry. I swear I'm working on it every day (even if it's only six words)!

All the love ,

Emmi

11/17/2020