Chapter 6 – Trainride

Harry moved purposely through sparsely populated platform 9 and ¾. It was such a startling difference from the crowded and bustling muggle side. He was about 50 minutes early, so the most activity was yet to come. He saw only a few students with their parents moving about. Fortunately, Harry remembered this time and sent Hedwig ahead. He didn't want to drag her around when she could fly free. Harry would not piss her again and left without telling her. He had learned his lesson. Harry didn't idle for long and promptly boarded the train. It was lucky that the train was already here. Florean suggested to not came earlier than an hour before departure, so it all worked out. Harry remembered always being late for various reasons, so it was the first time he was taking it so leisurely. He would not take any chances today.

Most of the compartments were still empty, but students were already pouring in. Harry continued moving through the wagons, ignoring all the older students. Harry had no interest in them. He looked for specific people he knew. Not Ron though, he really didn't want to share the ride with him right now. Fortunately, he knew Ron would arrive late for sure. Harry had no hate for Ron, but thinking back, he could hardly count on him. The second time he abandoned Harry was still on his mind. It wasn't even a month ago for Harry, technically. He had no desire to repeat his first train ride, so it meant avoiding the most annoyance, first Ron Weasley and then Draco Malfoy. Good thing he had a plan. It was simple, but effective.

Harry was moving through the train, trying to find some familiar faces. All of that, without people paying attention to him, no one was looking at him twice. It was a stark contrast to his fist time here. He was really looking forward to find Hermione, but he wouldn't say no to Katie, Alicia or Angelina. He was fortunate enough to spot Neville instead, seeing him enter the wagon and move to the empty spot. Not wanting to hunt for his other friends that might not even be here yet, Harry decided to share his ride with Neville. Harry waited for a while and knocked at the now Neville's occupied compartment.

"Come in." answered nervous voice.

Harry entered and saw inside. Neville was here, but he was alone. It wasn't Hermione. She wasn't there yet. He couldn't recall if the two shared compartment together, only that they searched for the frog… No, it was a toad, definitely toad. Where was it, anyway? Ah, he was resting on the seat near the window. What was his name, Trevor?

"Hi, I'm Harry. Can I have a seat?" inquired Harry politely and hiding his true name. Harry had his scar covered perfectly and hiding a pin in his hair, making them appear red. He was looking more like his mother than father now, especially with how fancy his hair looks, but it couldn't be helped. It was truly marvel that all he had to do was comb his mess for 20 seconds in the morning with a magical hairbrush in front of a special mirror and it somehow get into the shape Amarita done yesterday. Magic was truly awesome.

"Hi. Sure. My name is N-neville. Neville Longbottom." introduced himself Neville shyly while Harry pushed his trunk away, not bothering to place it overhead, and sat down.

"Harry Evans. Nice to meet you." responded Harry, a bit stiffly. Harry offered his hand, and Neville took and shook it briefly. It wasn't a perfect cover, but Harry wouldn't need one. Not for his friends, at least. Yeah, the surname was an obvious giveaway, but he wanted a reasonable explanation for his friends he could use after the ride, and this solution seemed the best. Most children didn't know his mother's maiden name and if they did, his cover should be still good enough. Neville might know, but would he outright call Harry on it? It was unlikely.

Harry didn't want to be seen as a liar to his friends, but considering how fast rumors spread the first time around, he didn't want anyone recognizing Harry Potter just yet. He was doing it mainly to prevent getting gawked and bothered by Ron and Draco. Surely, he would avoid both of them this way. He would really like peaceful ride without such commotions. That unfortunately lead to hiding his true identity from Neville and the rest.

They sat in silence for a while and the atmosphere felt awkward. Harry prepared only for entering and introduction, but that was all. Now his brain suddenly went on vacation and he couldn't find a topic to talk about.

"Ehm. First year?" asked Harry. It was so smooth that he could probably grate cheese on it.

"Yes." said Neville, looking at his hands.

"Cool." continued Harry and awkwardness in the room increased. What in the hell was he doing? He was doing so well before, even talking to strangers, but it was like his recent experiences evaporated and right now he didn't know what to say. Harry wanted friendship with Neville back, but it was just so bloody difficult to talk to him.

"So…" stretched Harry, trying to find a topic. "Your pet?" asked Harry, pointing at the still sprawled toad near the window. Thank Merlin that he was still here and could lead to a conversation.

"Ah. Yeah. That's Trevor. He is my toad. It was a gift from my uncle. Here." shared Neville while he scooped Trevor to his hands for Harry to have a closer look.

"It's fine, I guess. He looks nice. Why would you bring a toad to school, though? Out of all approved pets, wouldn't owl be better? You know, to sent messages? What can toads do besides being pets?" asked Harry, actually curious. Cats at least scared or ate small pests and you could occasionally pet them, but in his opinion, toad was practically useless. Was Neville's home life also bad? There were some issues that he remembered from Neville's fist year problems. Father's ill fitted wand, that didn't work well for him. Pet that only got him to be laughed at. Even the Remembrall incident seemed like a joke. Why sent something that was practically only a toy? Just what did his grandmother thought about that?

"Hey! Don't bad mouth Trevor. He's better than cats and owls." opposed vehemently Neville while scooping the toad within his hands.

"Sorry." apologized Harry. Maybe he went a bit far. If someone even remotely suggested that Hedwig was useless, he would be pissed.

"Just so you know, toads are useful in herbology and potions." continued Neville, looking directly at Harry for once.

"Do you know how?" asked Harry. Maybe it was true, but Harry didn't remember Neville ever use the toad to anything at all.

"Not exactly?" half asked Neville, looking totally unsure. He was gazing unfocused out of the window, his previous brave streak leaving him.

"Hmm, don't worry about it too much. Maybe you can research about that later in Hogwarts. I heard it has an enormous library." tried to encourage Neville Harry with the more assured tone. The toad probably has to have some use after all. It was just a matter of finding it.

*BAM*

The door suddenly opened with a significant force and the crash of the sliding door really frightened Neville as he yelped and scooted toward the window. Harry wasn't all that surprised. He stared at the very familiar face rushing inside. It relieved him that Hermione was fine and nothing happened to her.

"Did someone say library? Oh my gosh. Does the train have one? Do you have it hidden in your trunk? Are there books in the compartment itself? Where is it? How big it is? Can I look inside? How many books are in there?" Hermione rushed out like a spitfire and Harry probably didn't catch over half of her questions. It was so over the top of overbearing interest, with her eyes shining, that Harry simply had to roll his eyes. He forgot Hermione was like this when they started the school year. It was nostalgic, but something he was not used to her doing anymore and it brought a lot of melancholy seeing her like that again.

"It's in Hogwarts." deadpanned Harry slowly, ignoring almost everything she asked for. Her unique type of hair was bringing up memories. Childlike Hermione wasn't looking as great as he remembered, but thankfully, she would grow out of it in a few years. Changing her behavior and outlook on the wizarding world would be a much tougher nut to crack.

"Oh." remarked Hermione visibly disappointed as she deflated and rubbed her hands together, idly looking around.

"So, you are not going to introduce yourself?" asked Harry when she kept standing at the doorway, clogging the place and looking lost. He was confused about her behavior, but wanted to keep her here. Behind her, other people were shuffling their luggage around so she couldn't just bolt out. Harry noticed Neville, who was hiding behind him in the corner, trying to blend into background. Yeah. It did not surprise him that this was the effect Hermione had on Neville. Her presence took some time to get used to.

"Sorry. I'm Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you." curtsied Hermione while offering her hand. It was a stark difference from her previous behavior. Harry shook it.

"Harry Evans." replied Harry while their hands made a contact. She clearly had a much more firm grip than Neville. His finger bones hurt, and he had to shake it off behind his back. He had no time to feel guilty about the fake surname, pain in his hand making sure he thought about something else.

"And he is Neville Longbottom." pointed Harry with his other hand behind him after their introduction was done.

"Hi." uttered Neville squeakily and with a quick, scared wave of his hand. Neville was stealing glances to Harry's own hand, that was still hidden behind his back. Harry could easily imagine why. Neville immediately shoved his hand back to his pocket and looked warily at Hermione. Harry was sure that he didn't want her to get an idea to shake his hand, too.

"Do you want to join us?" offered Harry. He wanted to get closer to Hermione again. She was his best friend, and he wanted to create that friendship again. Though Neville looked like he just ate a bug, but said nothing. Oh well, he was sure they would get along soon, probably.

"Really? Great. I would love to. There are none empty compartments left in this car and I don't want to drag all my things to the next ones." shared Hermione. She shuffled in two large trunks and even a backpack from behind her back. What the hell? How many things did she pack up? Harry tried to help her with one trunk, but could not lift it past his waist. What did she have inside, bricks? On the other hand, judging by this was Hermione, it was probably full of heavy books.

"Thank you." smiled Hermione with her noticeable front teeth. She took her trunk from Harry and seemingly effortlessly lifted it up, like the other one. Harry, rather than feeling embarrassed about his lack of strength, lifted his own trunk to stop clogging the compartment. It wasn't a problem before with just 2 of them, but it bothered him now.

This situation taught him a valuable lesson. He needed to train to improve his poor physique and bony look. Two weeks of somewhat better eating habits were just not cutting it. He needed to be stronger for what's about to come and not just magically. Maybe he could do some of the Wood's training methods. Harry's old team captain was a slave driver, but the most of his teachings held a good value. Eating specific meals to complement training for gaining muscle. Improving reaction speed with individual exercises and such. It was truly beneficial for Harry many times over, not just in quidditch. Wood's penchant to wake them up at 4 in the morning to have them train in the rain or fog, not so much. Wait, how was he able to wake up girls?

Going from his swirling thoughts back to the present, Harry saw Hermione shut the door and sat down on the opposite side of the two boys. It seemed like things would finally calm down now, but surprisingly, the silence was pierced by a shriek from Neville.

"Trevor! Where is he?" frantically looked all over compartment Neville as the toad was nowhere to be seen.

"Who is Trevor?" asked Hermione carefully, clearly out of the loop.

"His pet toad. It was right over there." pointed Harry vaguely at now empty space and faltering with his finger. The toad was gone. All three of them looked all over their things, but the toad was clearly not there.

"Oh no, it's entirely my fault, isn't it?" sighed Hermione, biting her lower lip.

"It must have slipped away when I was standing at the doorway. I'm so sorry, Neville. I'll help you look for it right away." said determinedly Hermione while standing up and spearing her way out of the compartment.

"Harry, will you watch over our things while we are gone?" asked Hermione as Neville bolted right behind her.

"Wait!" shouted Harry, stopping the two of them.

"What?" asked Neville impatiently in the corridor. Hermione looked like she was about to speak too, but held her tongue.

"Neville, aren't there some easier solutions than looking randomly? Like some magic spell that could easily summon him to you?" asked pointedly Harry. He didn't want them to go room to room, only to waste their time and find nothing. Harry was also reluctant to show he already knows and could perform summoning charm – accio rather well. They taught the spell in their fourth year, so Harry wasn't keen on performing it right now. Harry knew little past its casting, completely ignoring the theory. He skipped through the limitations and only copied Hermione's homework back then, most likely. He had too much on his plate with Tournament to care about some useless essays. The spell should work on toads, as they did not have sufficient mental capacity and magic to resist the spell like humans, but he wasn't sure.

"I haven't thought about that. You are right. There should be an easier way. Maybe this summoning charm, but I don't know how to perform it yet." replied dejectedly Neville.

"Hmph. I also don't know about any magical solution. They must teach it in later years." frustratingly added Hermione, tapping her foot.

"Then why don't you ask a class representative from older years or something. There is someone like that here, right?" asked Harry. Hopefully Neville knew about prefects. He didn't want to shout out to the world he knew much more than he should and would rather act as an ignorant muggle raised. At least for a while. 'I read it in the book' was a good excuse if he ever slipped up, but he needed plausible amount of time first for that. At least a month or two to not raise too many questions about how he got extra knowledge.

Hermione looked pensive, but offered nothing. It was Neville who spoke up.

"Yes! The prefects! Great idea Harry." shouted Neville as he run off, nearly taking Hermione with him to the ground with his sudden fervor as she wasn't paying attention. They both kept being on their feet and only stumbled a bit, catching their balance thanks to the narrow walls.

"Seriously? Neville, I was standing right here! Don't run into me like a reckless buffoon!" admonished the boy Hermione, clearly not happy with him.

"S-sorry, sorry." apologized Neville meekly while shirking himself.

"Ah, whatever. Let's go then. See you later Harry." waved off Hermione still in a bad mood as they moved away. Neville followed her, looking more like a lost puppy than a person searching for his pet. Harry couldn't help but remember similar moment Neville had in his first year. Hopefully, Harry could help him gain some confidence. Getting him a new wand much sooner than the first time around would be the first step. And he had to work on Hermione someday too. Yeah, he should help them as best as he could.

As both of his soon to be friends again hurried away, they left Harry with the gaping open door. Did they even know where to find prefects? It was too late to point them there, anyway. He heard the whistle, and the train started moving. Was it 11 already? Harry sighed and reluctantly moved to close the sliding door, but an object stopped him. Someone stuck a leg out into the gap, preventing to close them. What an asshole. Harry looked at the rude person expecting perhaps Ron or one of the Malfoy's lackeys, but was surprised at practically unknown face.

"Ah, sorry to bother, but do you have a spot in there?" asked someone. The person spoke slowly and heaved in between words as if out of breath. The girl was slim, fair skinned and with a black hair. Harry felt like he might have seen her before, but the only clue was hazy memories of her in some Hogwarts classes. She was definitely not part of DA, he would remembered her better if she was.

"I was late and barely made it. All other compartments I saw looked full. Can I? Please?" pleaded the witch desperately, springing on the tip of her toes. She even employed the evilest weapon known to men, the puppy dog eyes.

"Okay." folded Harry before the mental attack.

"Thanks." cheered the girl as she shuffled her things inside.

"Just a heads up, I'm not alone in this compartment, there are 2 others as well, but they are currently out." notified Harry. She wasn't such a bother yet and if Hermione and Neville had problem with her, he would back them up over the unknown girl any day.

"Sure, no problem." said the girl cheerfully and pulled her trunk to the others. The place above their heads looked cramped on both sides. Harry was glad no more people would fit their luggage there, even though a few more people could easily squeeze in. 4 in the compartment were already enough for him. He didn't want to sit in the crowd.

"By the way, I'm Megan Jones." introduced herself young witch. For a moment Harry thought she offered her hand for a shake, but she kept her hand in a fist instead. It confused him to no end as to why, so he simply introduced back.

"Harry Evans." replied Harry. He continued with the ruse of his mother's surname. It was easier this way, and he felt much less guilty than doing that to Hermione and Neville.

"Oh, come on, you are supposed to do a fist bump!" complained Megan, throwing her hands around animatedly. She reached toward his right hand, clasped it firmly in both of hers, and forced it into a fist. Harry felt an odd sensation on his skin and nearly succumbed to jerk back reaction he used to have when around this age. Or it could be worse. He could have swatted her hands and reach for his wand. Student in front of him was not a threat, but the last scuffle left him a bit on edge for these random encounters and his fingers of his left hand twitched in wariness. Harry forcibly calmed himself to not do anything.

"Like this. Now hold it and…" she bumped into his closed fist. Megan continued like nothing was out of ordinary. Good, she had noticed nothing. It still felt weird. Why were they doing it again?

"See? Now do it one more time, and this time put more strength to it and meet my hand halfway, yup?" eagerly explained Megan. Harry saw she was not willing to let it go, so he complied and met her fist with his own.

"Yeah! You got it. Now only thing left is to teach you the rest of the greeting." cheered Megan. Harry silently groaned. He was already missing the awkward silence with Neville. Was it a mistake to let her in? For a person who nearly missed the train, she seemed to have way too much energy. Fortunately, someone interrupted them. Unfortunately, it wasn't someone Harry was keen on seeing.

*bam*

"Hey! Have you seen Harry Potter around here?" asked Ron as soon as he shot open their door. He stayed his eyes on Harry for a few seconds, but swept to Megan without recognition. Ron, similar to Hermione, didn't look that great. Freckles and messy red hair that, for some reason, were dotted by several large white spots all over were not doing him any favors. Fred and George must have done something to him, as it was definitely not his natural color. Harry couldn't help but praise his own idea to masquerade himself on the train. It was already proving its worth. Ron did not know that the answer to his question was sitting right in front of him.

"Nope." answered Megan. But she hasn't finished yet.

"The only Harry here is…" started saying Megan.

*bam*

And the door was already shut. Ron was no longer there.

"And he is gone. What a prat, haven't even waited until I finished speaking." complained Megan, totally not seeing her own hypocrisy of her possibly even ruder entering. Harry just rolled his eyes at her and said nothing.

"So Harry, I never heard of Evans' magical family. Are you a muggleborn?" asked curiously Megan.

"Not exactly. My parents were magical, but I was raised in muggle world. You?" answered truthfully Harry. It was a safe topic. He could only hope she would not dig around too much. Harry had still several hours before him and he would rather spend it as a simple student and not a celebrity.

"Ah, a halfblood then. Same as I. Though I grew up in magical world only." shared Megan. Why would she immediately dismiss option of pureblood being raised in muggle world? He had some theories why, so Harry only nodded, not wanting to continue on the topic.

"Why did you grow up in a muggle world if your parents are magical?" asked Megan while playing with her robe. It irked Harry. Why was she quizzing him so much? Was that how normal children acted? Well, normal witches.

"My parents are dead. Has been for a long time and my only relatives are not magical." answered Harry curtly, despite it. He didn't want to elaborate, but it hasn't been bothering him nearly as much to talk about it as when he was 11 the first time around.

"I'm sorry. Eh, that's not right. Condolences?" confusedly replied Megan, scratching her head.

"It's fine." finished the theme Harry.

"What about siblings? Any future witch or wizard?" asked Megan. Harry was getting tired of this questioning. Why was she doing it? What's her goal?

"No siblings." said Harry as briefly as possible.

"Ah, that's a shame. I have 2 of them. Older sister Hestia and brother Peter. Sis graduated last year and bro will be in second year Gryffindor. Maybe I would go there too after I join that house." spoke wishfully Megan. Harry couldn't help but be envious. He also wished he had a brother or a sister.

"Harry, are you first year too? What house do you want to go?" asked Megan.

Harry was quite flabbergasted. For one, he just recently noticed that she was like Fred and George often said, a firstie, not wearing any colored trims on her robe, just like him. Yet he could not recognize her name or mentally group her to any house, despite sharing the same classes for all these years. Second, she had a brother just a year above in his own house, but he never heard of him. Was he really that blind about people around him? Hermione mentioned him having tunnel vision on many things, but he never took her seriously about that. Maybe it was the way he was nearly dying every year that made him so jaded.

"Not sure. Any suggestions?" shot back Harry after recovering his wit out of gutter.

"Not really. I heard the school has some way to sort the students. Something about talking to a hat? Honestly, I think my bro was just making fun of me." pouted Megan. It surprised Harry that someone knew what to expect, even if she thought it was just a prank or teasing story. True, he only spoke to a few people, so his sample was low, but wasn't that supposed to be a secret initiation?

"Hmm. No matter what house, you should avoid Slytherin. I heard that all the purebloods are mostly fine there, but they bully halfbloods. Especially the ones with no magical backing. My sis even told me that there was once a muggleborn sorted there years ago, but she ended up moving to America just after a single year." shared Megan.

"Really? That bad, eh?" asked Harry. He knew the opinion of Ron and he shared the look at this house, but it made him wonder how bad he would have it if he listened to the Hat that time. Sure he wasn't muggleborn, and he was kinda famous, but he had no adult in his corner to support him and Snape would make him even more miserable there instead of helping.

"Not all the Snakes are terrible in there per se, but people without parents that have connections in high places or big political clout end up beings seen as lesser. You can imagine how they see muggleborns if that's how they see their own house mates." elaborated Megan.

"Okay. I'll try to pick another house if I can." answered Harry truthfully. Probably Gryffindor. It should be fine to stick to what he knew, and he could at least be close to Hermione and Neville. But there was one aspect that he couldn't predict, the talking Hat itself. He would see his memories and Harry did not know how the Hat would react to that. It could even send him to Slytherin for all he knew. It should keep his secrets at the very least. The Hat never shared personal information about students.

*bam*

The door opened quickly, in the door was Hermione again. Why were people so rash with it? It took a moment, but Harry remembered they were all 11 years old children in a train without adults and dropped the thought.

"We're back and we got the toad!" exclaimed Hermione loudly and happily while spilling into the room.

"Who's this?" she asked shortly after noticing the recent addition there.

"I'm Megan Jones." introduced herself Megan assertively, before Harry could do anything. She also held out her hand in the fist, like last time.

"Hi. Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you." answered Hermione and took her fist into both of her hands and shook it vigorously before she sat down. Harry was barely keeping it together when Megan frowned at her. It was definitely not a greeting she expected. Harry saw Neville stuffing his pet Trevor into a pocket and stand before Megan.

"Neville. Lo-Longbottom." blurted out Neville before she could speak to Hermione. He gingerly took Megan's hand into his own and kissed her knuckles. She just stood there, frozen, embarrassed. Similar to Neville, as both of them blushed, looking anywhere else than each other. That was the last straw, and Harry started to laugh aloud. It was so funny seeing Megan utterly crushed by his two clueless friends.

"That's not funny. Stop laughing Harry or I will hit you!" shouted exasperatedly Megan while stomping. Neville slumped to his seat, burring his face in hands.

"Mou, nobody knows this greeting." whined pathetically Megan as she plopped dejectedly into her seat.

"Oh, which one? Were we supposed to do something special with our hands?" asked curiously Hermione. Megan looked at her, as if she debated if she want to kill her, and responded in kind.

"You know what, I give up, no fist bumps for you cretins!" declared fervently Megan. Hermione looked immediately sad while Harry couldn't read the still hidden face of Neville. Though Hermione recovered quickly.

"Who are you calling cretin? And why are you in our cabin?" shot Hermione angrily toward Megan in a loud voice.

"It's my cabin too. Harry invited me." fibbed Megan easily. She wisely ignored the first question, but Harry didn't like how she brought the attention to him again. Both Hermione and Neville were urging him to explain by their fixed eyes.

"That's only partial truth. I simply didn't say no." clarified Harry. She would not sink him.

"Traitor." uttered Megan toward him. Why would he take her side in this? Especially when she was making stuff up. Awkward silence occurred after that, but Hermione or Neville didn't seem to be keen on kicking her out.

"So, Trevor. Where was he?" asked Harry to break the ice. It worked once, it shell work again, was it?

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it, Harry. He was hiding in a girl's toilet. Not inside the bowl, mind you, but we saw a girl screaming bloody murder from there as Trevor zipped through the air. It was so funny." giggled Hermione and Neville grumbled.

"Eh. What?" asked Megan, still in the dark about the pet toad.

"Maybe start from the beginning, Hermione?" asked Harry.

"Ehm. Megan doesn't know? I should explain, right?" asked Hermione, and Harry nodded at her.

"It started when I unintentionally let Neville's pet toad Trevor out when I was standing in the doorway. We were talking when Neville found out that his toad was missing, so we went to look for it. Harry had a great idea to ask some older year to find him magically. Saved us a ton of walking and asking around. I can't imagine if we went door to door asking for the toad. It was bad enough asking the few people we actually met. Some of the older years were quite rude and dismissed us or sent us intentionally in the wrong way. The nerve of these people, they were horrible. Eventually we found this Ravenclaw prefect to help us. After that, she went with us to search and cast the summoning spell accio several times as we moved though the car." summarized Hermione fast in one breath.

"She had to cast it multiple times, because her image of the toad was only vague, knowing only what Neville told her. When she cast the spell for the 4. time, the door to girl's toilet room rammed open and the girl inside screamed. You know, Trevor somehow got into her bag with makeup and it made such a mess along the way as Trevor flew toward us. All her things flew around. You should have seen the boys that were in the way. They looked like clowns." chuckled Hermione while telling this story. Neville hadn't and Harry also didn't find it that funny. Only Megan seemed to like that story.

"So where is the important toad in question?" asked Megan. She made a show of looking around.

"Here. That's Trevor." added Neville, showing him up close. Trevor even croaked, as to respond to the attention. He looked a bit reddish on one spot and glittery, likely leftover from whatever happened to him. Why was Neville keeping that toad stuffed in a pocket? No wonder that he run away so readily. Not that he would say anything. He didn't want to make the same mistake twice with Neville and criticize him. At least for now.

"Eh. Beauty. Anyway, how was the Ravenclaw prefect? Did a Slytherin one send you away?" asked Megan after the dry reception. She changed topic swiftly after faking her interest in the toad. For a fleeting moment, she looked slightly disgusted, but she immediately smiled it away. It was obvious. The only one who hadn't noticed a thing was Neville himself.

"Yeah. Slytherin prefect wasn't very nice. But the Ravenclaw, she was really helpful. Her name was, ehm, Amy Pond?" shared Neville, clearly already forgetting her name.

"No Neville, her name was Penelope Clearwater. She will be in 5. year. Honestly, how did you even came up with that name? It's not even close." berated Hermione. Harry could empathize. He also wasn't very good at remembering names. Not everyone had that exceptional memory as Hermione. Neville didn't look that well, looking away from the group and mumbling something incomprehensible.

"Ha. What about you, Hermione? Would you be joining her?" asked Megan brightly, bringing the heat away from Neville.

"Why? She has her own cabin in the front car with the other prefects. Why would I join her there?" wondered Hermione.

"That's not what I meant. I was thinking about you joining house of Ravenclaw with her. You are in the first year too, right? I can't really tell because of these clothes." clarified Megan.

"Oh yes. I haven't caught that, sorry. It's so exciting to study magic. I can't wait till we get to school. You all first years too?" asked Hermione. Her answer was one silent nod, "hmm," and one "yes."

"Do you think we will all belong to the same houses or not? I read so much about the houses in A Hogwarts History. It's all so fascinating. I'm mainly interested in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor as Ravenclaw was the house of many past Ministers of Magic and Gryffindor was a house of Professor Dumbledore himself." spoke Hermione passionately.

It transformed into a lengthy discussion about houses, their qualities, notable members and such, mostly lead by Hermione's book knowledge and details shared by Megan. Harry hardly ever took part in discussion, only sharing a few words and speculations about which house he thinks he will be part of. Neville, well, he only ever spoke when asked about something directly and looked a bit out of his depth most of the time. Harry thought it was like looking at the mirror. Harry also feared the unknown, talking to strangers, and his confidence was practically nonexistent in the first year. He was doing better now, but even with his experience, he would never be an outgoing guy.

Harry thought about trying to influence Hermione into Ravenclaw or Neville into Hufflepuff, but left it to a few comments for them to have an open mind. He wasn't sure if he wanted them to go anywhere else. His opinion of Ravenclaw was honestly low, thanks to Luna and what she experienced there, so he could imagine that Hermione wouldn't have any easier time there. Neville managed to be brave later on. Harry just had to help him along with some comments and friendship and he will be okay. Would being part of Hufflepuff helped him? In the short term, likely yes, but the long term is up to a debate. He would have easier time integrating with the peers, but he would feel even more pressure from his grandma. Harry didn't want to make anything worse with his meddling. Especially for people that were important to him.

Talk slowly shifted about Hogwarts in general, then towards magical clothes, trunks and muggle fashion and some girly stuff from Megan and Hermione somehow shifted it into a talk about books. It was at that point where he lost it as the talk seemingly jumped all over the place, and Harry stopped listening to their conversation completely. Their diverging opinions on a lot of stuff were hard to follow. A question aimed at everyone interrupted the lull of their words that became just a background noise.

"When did you get to know about magic?" asked Hermione suddenly. It waked not just Harry, but Neville too.

"My parents taught me since I was little. So I don't really know, since I grew up with magic around me. I saw mum and dad casting magic all the time. I remember having some moving magical toys when I was 4, so I'll go with that age." shared Megan.

"I had always known too, but my family thought I was squib a long time. I had my fist accidental magic when I was 8 and I bounced off the ground when uncle Algie dropped me accidentally from the window when he got spooked by someone." spoke Neville. He was getting more comfortable talking to them, as he hadn't stumbled on his words even once. Still the same shit story as the first time he heard it.

"He dropped you from a window? That's horrible! How could he!" shouted Hermione, horrified at the revelation.

"Yeah, that's quite weird, but it should not be that bad. Even if he broke a few of his bones, one visit to Saint Mungo's and he would be fine the very next day." contemplated Megan without being overly concerned. Harry heard this story before, but it didn't make it lighter. Neville's granduncle, what was his name, Seaweed? He could be just a scatterbrain, idiot or negligent. Or he might be trying to get rid of Neville to get his hands on his inheritance. He never met that guy, so he couldn't be sure about his motive. Megan's words showed Harry how reckless some magicals are in their beliefs, hazarding with their lives and lives of others, thinking that magical healing will fix the aftermath. They sometimes forget that they can't fix a dead body.

"What about you Hermione? Are you muggleborn? You are the only one here with these what I presume are muggle clothes." asked Megan.

"Yes, I am. It really surprised me when one day in summer the letter of invitation come. My dad hasn't believed it at all. He threw it away in a trash as a bad joke. If it wasn't for Professor McGonagall showing the next day, I would spend my whole life not knowing magic exists!" indignantly declared Hermione.

"And what's wrong with my clothes? Jeans and sweater are normal clothes. It's you three that... The ride is supposed to be around 8 hours. Why are all of you in school robes already? Wouldn't you rather spent it in something more comfortable?" asked Hermione.

That comment sparked another discussion about clothes. This time about why they can't wear muggle clothes at school or the need of these stupid hats and other things. While they agreed the hats were completely useless, they haven't agreed on other things. It was mostly Hermione complaining why she couldn't be in her own clothes and bring a ballpoint pen and paper. Neville ignoring them, trying to stay out of it. Megan trying to prove that magical clothes were superior and quills and parchment were a tradition for witches and wizards. Harry was trying to not take any side, but he admitted that writing with a pen and not quills would be much easier. In all this, they forgot to ask Harry about his own experiences with magic. He didn't know how to feel about it being left out. On one hand, it was good, because he didn't have to muddle things up and telling half truths, but it still stung how quickly they forgot the theme. Maybe it was a girl's thing? Nevile, after all, hardly said anything.

During their ride, one prefect checkup interrupted them from their discussion. It surprised Harry, as it was the very first time he had seen one as they usually only patrolled corridors, and not inside of cabins. It was some unpleasant-looking guy from Slytherin to boot and hasn't shared why and for what he was checking them for. After he left, he moved into another booth and did the same. Hopefully, he was not looking for Harry Potter. He wouldn't put it past Draco to pay off someone to 'find him'.

Then there was trolley lady selling sweets from Honeydukes. Harry bought only a few things. He was strapped for cash and until he resolved that, he would have to not splurge. The biggest pile of sweets bought Neville, squirreling a lot of items, while Megan bought nothing. Harry enjoyed Hermione's sugar rush expression from these sugar quills, nevertheless. She looked like she was melting and her stern face gone. Genuinely, even after seeing it many times, Harry couldn't understand the temptation. They tasted fine, but he wasn't seeing the appeal.

Harry laid back, eating his few chocolate sweets and watched how both Megan and Hermione becoming increasingly irritated, trying to prove their points about anything and everything and only asking Harry and Neville to take their side. Harry had to do something about this atmosphere. It was almost like watching Hermione and Ron without the insults. He sided more with points from Hermione, but sheesh, she needed some chill pill. This way, she would create only disdain and ridicule all around her, just like the first time they called her know it all.

Then another Slytherin showed up, this time an older girl looking specifically for Harry. Why couldn't people just stop that? Shortly after, they were interrupted a second time with a few years older Ravenclaw looking for Harry Potter again. Harry smelled Draco Malfoy all over it and he had enough.

"So, did you see him?" asked the boy.

"No." answered both Harry and Hermione as Harry shut the door right in front of him. Harry thought about locking it, but that was pointless. All the people searching for him knew about unlocking charm. He could do something better that wouldn't be so easy to crack open, but showing skills far beyond his age would be suspicious and unwise.

Hermione calmed down after a quick discussion about books and spells and read a book in silence. Megan took away immediately after that and went somewhere looking for her friend. That left Harry mostly in company of 'do not disturb me' Hermione who was completely engrossed in a book and Neville who had bored out of his mind looking face, overseeing the outside from his window.

Rest of the ride was mostly boring. Hermione was silently reading most of the time, and Harry played games with Neville. Hermione occasionally joined them. They couldn't really play Exploding Snap with Hermione reading after all. Megan was off somewhere and hasn't showed back. Harry eventually got Neville to talk a bit about himself and Hermione stopped being so confrontational without Megan around, so it turned out great. Harry even brushed some knowledge from his own books to kill some time. Not all was peachy, though. He had a sinking feeling that Hogwarts wouldn't be same and things would change.

Author's notes:

I gave Weasleys some plausible reason to be there at the platform, as I do not want to bash people unnecessarily. Dumbledore could still notify them (Molly) to look for Harry, even with my modification, and she likely was. Harry was long gone on the train by the time their family arrived, anyway. I wonder if I should bring Dumbledore's POW soon or continue with him in the background. He isn't a man who would rush anything after all or reveal his plans, so he is unlikely to jump on Harry just yet and observe him carefully while sending Hagrid to ask questions instead.

Writing so much dialogue was tough. It was a different focus than I usually have, but it was important for the story, I think. I wished to bring something new than simply copy the canon interactions with minor twist or skip them entirely. Technically, all the canon interactions were defused by Harry's actions, so that's the reason nothing repeated itself. Originally, Draco heard about Harry's hereabout from a rumor. Well, if there was no one to give him information, would he send people to find him? I think the answer to that question is easy as dropping some coins.

Amy Pond was a jab at sidekick of The Doctor. Sure, its actual episodes predates the current year of Potter by more than a decade, but it's not like a broke a 4. wall there on anything.

This really took a long time to complete comparatively to previous chapters. It's been longest I spend on one chapter for this story apart from 2. chapter, which was already written by the time I stated sharing this story. I knew I couldn't sustain 1 chapter per weak release, but I was a bit sad I haven't finished it even after 2 weeks. Well, happens. Lack of time mostly and it didn't write itself as easy as at the start. I knew beforehand that too much dialogue wouldn't be my forte, but wanted to challenge myself. Dialogue is important in storytelling and development of characters, so I did my best to tackle it. There was some shirking of conversations it at the end, but the chapter seemed long enough already… Still, it's just a recreational writing, so I will take it easy when I want. I will keep writing it, even if some people find it lacking in some areas. This chapter was kind of unsuited to prove more intelligence in Harry. He was pretending to be a normal student, so there wasn't any moment to shine. I will try it in the next one. I have so many plans to do for Harry's first year, but writing it is difficult and finding time even harder.