The Dursleys spent the last month of summer ignoring me, and I was happy to ignore them in turn, still thinking about the potential consequences of not having Harry's wand. On one hand, this meant the story wasn't course-correcting, so any changes I made and lives I saved had a greater likelihood of sticking. On the other hand, if I changed too much the storyline would be destroyed completely, I'd have lost my guideline, and there was a very real chance I'd get myself and everyone else killed.

I managed to set aside my fears long enough to arrange to hitch a ride to King's Cross with the Dursleys, but I was still so worried about it I could barely hear their nasty passing comments as they left me there.

Best to avoid the Weasleys as much as possible, I figured. Ron was a perfectly good friend for Harry, but I was not Harry and we would not work together nearly so well. And while Ginny was an amazing character a crush would just be awkward, not to mention I really didn't want to have to deal with Molly attempting to mother a girl Chosen One. I was not especially impressed by her parenting skills. She was a better caretaker than the Dursleys, but that wasn't saying much.

I would have to interact with them somewhat, since I planned on befriending Fred and George as soon as possible. I would not let the rest of them hold any power over me though, emotional or otherwise.

With that in mind, I waited until all of the redheads had passed through to Platform 9 and 3/4 before going through myself. I moved briskly towards the back of the train, ending up in the very last compartment. My trunk gave me a little bit of trouble, but the twins showed up to help as they had in the original story. I made a mental note to do some basic strength training. It would come in handy in the next seven years, and not being able to handle my own trunk was a little embarrassing. I didn't have to be a bodybuilder, but it would probably be a good idea for me to be able to support other people's weight and run at the same time.

"Thanks," I told the twins as my trunk was finally packed away. I took a bright blue scrunchie off my wrist and pulled my hair into a ponytail. Having long hair was turning out to be a lot more trouble than I had expected, but I wouldn't give it up for anything. If I was going to be spending the next couple of years running around saving a world that couldn't be arsed to properly help me out, then I deserved to get some of the things I wanted. And one thing I wanted was long, pretty hair.

"What's that?" one of the twins said suddenly, pointing at my forehead. one hand flew up to where he was pointing, and I nearly groaned out loud. At some point during the past few minutes, my curtain bangs had shifted enough that the famous lightning scar was visible. I blinked once, focusing back in on the twins just in time to hear the end of a question. "Aren't you?"

"I suppose so, I mean, yes." I said, pasting a friendly but confused smile on my face. "I'm Hyacinth Potter. Sorry, it's all a bit new to me- I've been living with muggles, and I didn't know anything about magic or wizards until just recently." Luckily their mother called them before they could gather their wits and say anything else, and I went off to explore the train. I didn't have to listen in on their conversation about me, after all, I already knew the gist of it.

Time passed as I wandered up and down the train, and just as I was heading back to my compartment when two kids came out of a compartment right in front of me. One was a chubby, roundfaced boy and the other was a girl with a wild halo of brown curls. Excitement rose in me as I recognized them immediately- Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger.

The girl noticed me quickly, turning to face me. "Have you seen a toad anywhere? Neville here's lost his."

"Sorry, no." I said, offering a smile that didn't feel half as fake as any of my other ones. "Maybe we could use magic to find him? I'm sure there's some sort of simple tracking or summoning spell that would be useful."

"Accio, Standard Book of Spells, chapter three," Hermione recited automatically, eyes widening. "It's a summoning charm, it's supposed to be really easy. I expect it'll be one of the first spells we'll learn. I didn't even think of using magic, that was a clever idea."

"I'm not sure," Neville said nervously. "I don't think we're supposed to use magic till we get to Hogwarts, and I don't want to get in trouble."

I pretended to think about it for a moment. "Well, I've been exploring the train, and I've seen lots of kids doing magic in their compartments, so I think it'll be okay. But just in case, I can do the spell, so if it turns out we are breaking a rule I'll be the only one in trouble." I turned to face Hermione. "Do you know what the wand movement is?"

Hermione demonstrated the movement, and I was just about to cast my first real magic spell in this world before I stopped, realizing something important. I turned to Neville. "What's your toad's name?" I asked, pretending curiosity. That was a close one.

"T-Trevor," Neville said. "And I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom."

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione added, and I grinned, small but real.

"I'm Hyacinth Potter, but you can call me Jane. Most everyone does." I said, then turned away from their awestruck faces and stared down the hallway of the train. "Accio Trevor!" a tingle ran through my fingertips, and a small toad flew out of the door to the train's bathroom and barreled through the air straight at us. Neville, still stunned over the revelation of who I was, fumbled and nearly dropped him.

"Are you really Hyacinth Potter?" Hermione asked, and i brushed my bangs aside to show her the scar. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

Now this was my scene. "I haven't read Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts yet, but I thought the author of Modern Magical History had a definite bias against muggles, and history books should always be subjective." Hermione lit up, and we eagerly started discussing books. I made sure to continually loop Neville into the conversation so he wouldn't feel left out, and the tentative joy and disbelief on his face made my heart hurt. We eventually migrated to the nearest half-empty compartment, half-flushed and laughing over something Hermione said, and the rest of the train ride passed in the blink of an eye.

Meeting Hagrid again, crossing the Lake in the little boats, and catching our first sight of Hogwarts was truly magical. Even I lost my breath more than a few times, and I knew what was coming. Hagrid raised one hand and knocked on the door to the castle and I couldn't help but grin, Neville and Hermione's hands gripped tightly in mine. It was time for me to enter Hogwarts.