Once the train was fully underway, and King's Cross was fully out of view, someone opened their compartment door, and stepped inside.
"Darn, this one's pretty full too." The red-haired boy said, frowning, "Sorry, I'll be going then."
"No it's okay," Will said, scooching over so there was room on his other side from Harry, "We can make room."
"Thanks," The boy said, taking the seat, "I left my trunk with my brothers. They had started talking about how one of their friends had a giant tarantula they were going to see, so I got out of there as fast as I could. I'm Ron Weasley, by the way."
"Will Nelson, nice to meet you."
"Hermione Granger, a pleasure. You've got a bit of dirt on your nose, did you know?"
"Really?" The boy asked, rubbing at his face, "I thought my mum got all of it. That's embarrassing."
"Here," Will said, and pulled out his thermos of water. Dipping his handkerchief into it, he handed over the now wet cloth, "You're kind of just smearing it around."
"Thanks," Ron chuckled, probably to hide embarrassment. He took the cloth and started to wipe his face.
"Anyway," Will said, "We were introducing ourselves, right?"
"Yeah," Ron said, "but I've already met Neville." He gave a little wave to Neville, which was returned.
Harry, the last to have not introduced himself, sighed, "And I'm Harry."
A curious look appeared on Ron's face, "You wouldn't happen to be Harry Potter, would you?"
"Not you too!" Will cried.
"What, it was just a question!" Ron retorted defensively.
"We were just talking about that," Hermione informed Ron, "Apparently Harry wasn't aware he was famous until he got his letter. It makes him uncomfortable."
"What? Why?" Ron asked, aghast. Will wondered if it was the idea of Harry not knowing he was famous, or the idea that being famous would make someone uncomfortable, that was making Ron so shocked.
"I'd like to know too." Neville spoke up, "My gran said Harry was being raised by a magical family. Why wouldn't they tell him the truth?"
"That's what those books said, too." Harry replied, "But it's not true. I was raised by my Aunt and Uncle, who are perfectly normal."
"Why didn't they tell you, though? Did they not know you were famous?" Hermione asked, as Neville and Ron seemed to have been a bit shocked by the information Harry just told them.
"They probably didn't know he was famous," Will replied.
"Even if they did, they wouldn't have told me," Harry muttered.
"Yeah," Will added, "I mean, they knew about magic and didn't tell you, so why would this be any different?"
"They didn't even tell you about magic?!" Ron sputtered out, shocked.
Harry seemed to be getting more uncomfortable, so Will cut in, "Can we talk about something else? What are you guys looking forward to most about Hogwarts? Besides finally learning to do magic, I mean."
Hermione saw the look on Harry's face and picked up on Will's cue, "I mentioned this before, but I've been looking forward to making some magical friends. I've also been looking forward to some of the classes we're going to be taking. Transfiguration for example looks somewhat difficult from what I've heard, but the spells learned there are some of the most useful. Charms and Potions both look interesting as well."
Ron scoffed, "If you like Potions you better hope you're a Slytherin then, because they're the only ones that Snape favors. He looks down on everyone else."
"Professor Snape," Hermione corrected, "And you've never even been in one of his classes, how do you know that that's even true?"
"All of my brothers've said so, and if Percy has talked badly about a Professor you know it's true."
"Is that the brother with the giant spider?" Hermione asked skeptically.
"Tarantula, actually." Ron shuddered, "And no, the ones with the tarantula are Fred and George."
"You've got a lot of brothers." Harry noted, "Four boys is a lot."
"Six actually," Ron corrected, "The oldest two are already out of Hogwarts though, so you won't be meeting them. I also have a younger sister, but she won't start until next year."
"My brother starts next year as well," Will said, "and my sister will start in our fifth year."
"But seven children is a lot," Hermione said, "I can't even imagine what that's like. I'm an only child myself."
"Me too," Added Neville, "I wish I had some siblings. Longbottom Manor is kind of empty with just me and Gran."
Hermione and Harry looked curious, so Will cut in, "What are you looking forward to at Hogwarts, Neville?"
Neville paused, considering, "I'm pretty good at Herbology, so I guess I'm looking forward to that, but mostly I'm looking forward to making some f-friends as well." He stammered, blushing. As he was talking, Will noticed that Trevor, ever the adventurer, had gotten his cage unlatched.
"Um, Neville, your toad's escaping." He pointed.
Neville jumped up and grabbed Trevor right as he was about to make a flying leap. "Thanks Will, Trevor's a bit of an escape artist, if I don't pay attention to him he'll go missing in a heartbeat. My Great-Uncle would kill me if I let his gift run off."
Will was getting a bit hot, sitting between two people, so he got up and opened the window a bit.
As he was doing this, the trolley lady arrived, "Anything off of the Trolley dears?"
"No thank you-" Hermione started to say before-
"I'll take some of everything," Harry piped up. He was looking at the candy with a curious eye.
After Harry gathered his purchases and the Trolley lady left, Hermione rounded on Harry.
"You're not going to eat all of that, are you?" she asked exasperatedly.
"I didn't want to miss anything," Harry replied, "Plus I got enough for us all to share."
Hermione huffed a bit, but Harry ignored her and started handing out the candy.
"Why are you so against candy?" Will asked, though he already knew. He accepted some Chocolate Frogs, and a Cauldron Cake from Harry.
"My parents are Dentists," Hermione confirmed, "How would it look if I got cavities? My mum would go spare."
"There are spells for that," Ron piped up, already chewing on some Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and holding a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. There were some Chocolate Frogs sitting in his lap.
"What?" Hermione asked, looking at Ron.
"If you have a toothache, just go to the school nurse. She'll fix it right up for you. Won't take a minute," Ron replied. And picked up a Chocolate Frog and held it out to her, "Here, one won't hurt."
Hermione looked torn, eyeing the forbidden treat, "She can really fix a cavity in a minute?" She asked hesitantly.
"Probably." Ron nodded.
Hermione eyed him, then the chocolate, probably weighing her options. She then swiped it from Ron's hand.
"I should probably warn you," Ron said, "But once you open them they can be a little-"
He was too late, however. Hermione had pulled open the Chocolate Frog, and the frog in question gave one huge leap. It landed right on Ron's face.
This caused two things. One, Ron flailed, sending all of his Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans cascading to the floor. Two, Ron's flailing arms knocked into Will, who knocked into Harry, who had just been opening his own chocolate frog.
Harry's Chocolate Frog took its own leap, right out the open window, and Harry jumped up to stick his head out, to see where it had gone.
At the same time Hermione, who had been sitting across from Ron, jumped up. To apologize or to help Will didn't know, but unfortunately for her, the beans got under foot causing her to slip and fall into Neville sending them both to the floor. In the commotion, Trevor tried to make another escape attempt, and did a swan dive out of his carrier. Will saw this and lunged at Trevor, catching him right before he hit the door.
Of course, this was just the time that somebody slammed open the compartment door. It was a pale, sharp-faced boy with two larger boys behind him. He opened his mouth, probably to say something, but stopped. In the position Will had caught Trevor, he was holding him right in front of (Draco?) the boy's face. He looked at the toad, then Will, and said "Wrong compartment," then closed the door again.
Will started laughing. He couldn't help it! Harry pulled his head back in the compartment and, after looking around, started laughing too. That was what set everyone else off as well.
Will helped Neville up and gave him back his toad, while Harry helped up Hermione. They all collapsed back into their seats, helplessly giggling.
"Ow, my sides!" Will laughed, "That was really funny. Did you see that guy's face?"
"I did!" Ron added, chuckling.
"I had a pretty good view from the floor as well," Hermione giggled.
"What guy?" Harry asked.
"Oh, that's right! Harry had his head stuck out the window!" Will gasped, "This guy opened the door and I was holding Trevor right in front of his face!" That started another round of laughter. After they'd calmed down, Will described what the boy looked like.
"That sounds like Draco Malfoy," Neville chuckled.
"He totally deserves to get a toad shoved in his face!" Ron laughed, "He's pretty toad-like himself!"
"Hey!" Neville interjected, laughing, "There's nothing wrong with toads!"
"You're right," Ron agreed, "I'm sorry for all toads everywhere, for comparing them to something like that!"
"Is he not very nice?" Hermione asked, still smiling a little.
"No, he's not." Neville said, "I've met him a few times before, and I can say that without a doubt."
"He and his family are some of the biggest Blood-Purists around!" Ron added.
"Blood-Purists?" Hermione asked, her smile fading a little.
Ron and Neville looked at each other, grimacing.
"They're people who believe that only Purebloods, people who have been only magical going back generations, should be allowed to learn magic. So yes, they're not very nice." Ron explained. "My family might be Pureblooded, but we certainly don't agree with them."
"Mine either." Neville nodded, eyes hard.
Hermione fell silent. "So, they're prejudiced against people like me?" She asked in a small voice.
"And me." Will added, nodding to her. "And Harry, too. His mum was Muggleborn, just like us."
"That's- That's outrageous!" Hermione exclaimed, "Why would they even think that?!"
"I'm not sure," Ron said, "They've come up with all sorts of lies before, like Muggleborns have stolen the magic from Squibs, that sort of thing."
"Squibs?" Harry questioned.
"People born in a magical family, but don't have magic themselves," Neville added, "My family thought I was one for a while because I never had any accidental magic as a kid."
"They've also said stuff like Muggleborns are naturally weaker magically, or that they're more likely to expose the wizarding world and therefore shouldn't be invited." Ron explained. "Most people don't believe it, of course-"
"But there's a portion of them that do." Hermione finished. She looked furious.
"Well, if they're going to say those kinds of things about us, we're just going to have to prove them wrong." Will said seriously, looking at Hermione. She looked back at him and nodded, just as seriously.
"We'll be the best magic users they've ever seen, and blow them all away." Hermione smiled a sharp smile.
"Yes! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Will cheered.
"Don't forget me," Harry added, "I'm in too." He was wearing a serious expression, one Will hadn't seen often. "Hagrid said that Voldemort was still out there, so I'm going to need to be as strong as I can in case he tries to finish what he started."
Will, Neville, and Ron all recoiled, though for different reasons. This was the first Will had heard Harry talk about this. Had this been bothering him for a while now?
Neville looked pale, and Ron hissed, "Don't say the name!"
"What?" Hermione asked, "Why not? It's just a name, it can't hurt you."
"Names can have power though." Will said, considering, "In most fairy tales, learning something's true name can give you power over it. This includes people too."
"Well, I don't know about that," Neville said, looking at Will, "But in the last war, You-Know-Who put a Taboo on his name, so when someone said it he'd be alerted to where they were. That's why most people are still afraid to say it. Even though he's gone."
Harry nodded."That makes sense, but the Taboo's gone now, right? So there's no reason to fear it now."
"But it still brings up a lot of unhappy memories for people, so it's best to not say it." Neville reasoned.
"I see." Harry's face was indecipherable.
"Hey!" Ron said suddenly, "What Chocolate Frog Cards did you guys get?"
"Chocolate Frog...Cards?" Hermione asked.
"Sure," Ron said, and grabbed one of the empty packages off the floor. Turning it over, he shook out a pentagon shaped card, "See? They have famous people on them for people to collect. I'm missing Agrippa, so I'll trade with you if you get that one. Aw, Morgana again?"
"We should probably clean up as well." Will said, looking at all of the candy on the floor.
They cleaned up as best they could. There were probably still some Bertie Bott's stuck somewhere, but oh well. They'd gotten quite a collection of Chocolate Frog Cards, but no Agrippa sadly. Hermione, Will, and Harry were fascinated by the moving pictures and Neville and Ron had been surprised to learn why.
"What, muggle pictures don't move? At all? How do they not get bored?" Ron asked, bewildered.
As Hermione explained, Will saw Harry reading the Albus Dumbledore card again. Leaning over, he saw the little headmaster give a sneeze and rub his nose.
Then Ron's stomach grumbled, and they decided to eat the lunches they'd packed. Harry and Will shared theirs with Ron when they saw the corned beef sandwich.
Suddenly, the compartment door slammed open a second time. It was the blond and his goons again.
"This was the right compartment!" The boy said, looking around. "I've been looking for Harry Potter, that's you, right?" He said, looking at Harry.
"We're a little busy at the moment," Will said politely, "Could you come later?"
The boy looked around. "You don't look busy to me."
"We're in the middle of an important conversation, and you rather rudely interrupted us," Hermione said, somewhat snippy. She was still somewhat upset, Will noticed.
The boy flushed, "Look, I don't think-"
"You haven't even introduced yourself," Harry said, "And as my friend said, you've been rather rude."
Will saw an opportunity, "Look, why don't we start again, I'm Will Nelson, it's nice to meet you." He stood up and stuck his hand out in greeting.
"Draco Malfoy," Draco said, and shook his hand, "And these are Crabbe and Goyle." He gestured to his two goons. "I don't think I've heard the name Nelson before, are you related to the Prewetts? Or maybe the Weasleys?" He said, looking at Will's auburn hair.
"I don't think so, but I wouldn't rule it out." Will said, smiling. "Anyway, that's Harry Potter over there, and i think you know Neville Longbottom. This is Hermione Granger, and you mentioned his family, so you probably know of Ron Weasley."
Draco seemed to realize he was outnumbered, and turned back to Harry.
"I just came to introduce myself, but I'll talk to you again when you're not so… busy."
With that, Draco and his tagalongs left.
"Why were you so polite to him?" Harry asked Will. "He doesn't seem very friendly, or even nice."
"I'd rather not make any enemies this early in the school year." Will replied, sitting back down.
The compartment door opened again, and this time it was a tall, red-headed boy wearing a prefect's badge. He was already in his school robes.
"There you are, Ron. Fred and George said they'd seen you come this way." He said, and looked at the others. "You should all change into your robes, we should be nearly there about now. I also heard rumors of loud noises and laughter coming from this direction, do you all know anything?"
"I get that you're happy to be a Prefect Percy, but you're laying it on a little thick," Ron said, "Let people have some fun. There's no harm if they're not breaking the rules, right?"
Percy frowned at Ron, "Fine, but you should all still get changed." He said, before swaggering off.
They took Percy's advice, changing in turns while the others waited in the hallway. After that it was only a couple minutes before a voice rang out overhead telling them they were five minutes away and to leave their luggage on the train. Will was a ball of nervous excitement. Once the train had stopped completely, they disembarked. They were finally here.
Sorting next chapter, but that was probably obvious.