I had just entered King's Cross, and, in my infinite wisdom, had worn my school robes and had brought three animals with me, one of which was very dangerous and hiding under my robes, which might not have been my best idea, because I had started to draw attention.

This might have been fine, I didn't mind the stares I was receiving, if I hadn't, you know, sneaked a dangerous snake in under my robes.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath as I realized that, no, they would not let a child with two (visible) animals run around on their own. I had already been stopped once by a concerned mother and I had only been here a minute.

So. Possible options. One, give Hedwig my wand and let her fly to Hogwarts and remove a bit of the suspicion I was receiving, two, wait until the Weasleys came by and tag along in their midst as a fellow red haired child to remove any suspicion that wasn't from them, or three, do one then sprint for platform nine and three-quarters and wait for the Weasleys.

Hm. What to do, what to do...

"Ok, Hedwig," I said as I finished securing my wand to her leg. "Follow the train. It's red. Can't miss it."

Hedwig hooted in a way that sounded like, yes, I know, this is the third time you've said it. Do you really doubt me that much?

"Of course not, I'm just worried," I replied. "It's not everyday you give your owl your wand and hope she can deliver it to your magical school."

Hedwig nipped my hand in a comforting way before flying away.

"Ok, let's go. Tristeza, are you sure you'll be fine?"

Hatchling, I won't fall out of your robes. I'm wrapped around you well enough. But if you're that scared, I can stay in one of those expanded compartments in your trunk until we're on the train.

"No, no, it's already twenty to eleven, we don't have time," I tucked Hedwig's cage securely into my cart, before running toward my platform.

Which leads us to the current predicament. Was I just supposed to run towards any spot on the wall, or was there a specific spot? And there weren't any helpful Weasleys in sight!

Hatchling, calm down. Your red headed family is over there, behind you. You won't hit the wall, wake up, and realize the last eleven years were just something your brain thought up while you were in a coma.

I whirled around, searching the crowd. Purple suited lady with a little kid, a bunch of red heads with trunks and an owl, someone who was apparently in the wrong decade, because wow, that's a really old looking suit... Wait. Redheads with trunks. Weasleys.

I hurried toward them, Blackout giving a meow of protest from the sudden movement. As I got closer, I picked up snatches of conversation.

"- Packed with muggles, of course-"

"-What's the platform number?-"

"-um, can't I go-"

"-ight Percy, you go first-"

"Excuse me!" I called as I slowed to a stop. "How do I get on the platform?"

"Hello dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "First time at Hogwarts?"

I nodded.

"Not to worry. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't be stop and be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. The twins can go next to show you how it's done. Go on, Fred."

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," Fred said. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only kidding, I am Fred."

I mentally wiped a year from my eye as Fred started running towards the platform, followed by George. Such beauty.

"It's your turn, dear. Just go right ahead," Mrs. Weasley said, interrupting my mental praises of that glorious line. Right. Gotta go through a wall first.

I jogged toward the barrier, closed my eyes just before I hit, and hoped this wouldn't end badly and result in a broken nose.

I opened my eyes. A platform packed with people and a scarlet steam engine greeted me. A sign above me said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. I'd done it!

I pushed my cart down the platform, looking for an empty spot. I passed a round faced boy who looked like a young Matthew Lewis -Neville?- who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

Yup, Neville. Got to help him find Trevor later...

I finally found an empty compartment at the back of the train. I gently set Blackout in first before attempting to shove my trunk up the stairs. I tried to lift it up but could barely get it. I tried unsuccessfully a few more times, resulting in dropping it on my feet too many times.

"Want a hand?" A voice called out. I turned. George and Fred were standing behind me.

"Please! I can't feel my toes anymore!"

With their help, I managed to get my trunk into the corner of the compartment.

"Thanks," I said as I pushed my hair out of my eyes. Should've tied it back.

"What's that?" George? Fred? said, pointing at my forehead.

"Blimey," the other said. "Are you -?"

"He is," Twin one said. "Aren't you?"

"Yup," I said, grinning. "And after your mum's done with you, come back to my compartment. I want to talk to you."

The twins gawked at me.

"You'll catch flies if you keep doing that." I said, just before Mrs. Weasley called out, "Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mum," Twin two called out.

I stood next to the open door, where I got to watch Mrs. Weasley scrub at Ron's nose, Percy appear (and the reading from the twins), and the magnificent toilet, until, finally, I was mentioned.

"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?" Twin one said (I have to find a better way to tell them apart...).

"You know that red-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?" Twin two continued.

"Who?"

"Well, that's my cue," I said to Tristeza, before stepping out of my compartment and saying, "Harry Potter!" in unison with the twins.

"Mum! Mum, that's him!" Ginny said.

"Yup!" I said cheerfully. "That's me! Oh, and you might want to hurry up and get in here,the whistle's about to go off. And I still want to talk to you!"

The whistle sounded. I jumped back into my compartment, closed the door, and started trying to get Tristeza out of my robes.

Hatchling, she said as she settled by me. Was that really necessary?

"Absolutely!" I said as I took out my normal knitting supplies. "Got to establish early on that I'm an insane divination prodigy or nobody will believe me later on."

I don't think they'll believe you anyway. Or at least the divination prodigy part. You are quite insane.

"Thank you! Means a lot."

I continued to knit in silence for a few minutes before the twins came by.

I waved as the entered my compartment but didn't look up.

"So, Harry-"

"-What is it -

"-You wanted to talk about?"

I set down my scarf. "You two seem like the right kind of people, so I was hoping we could work together," I held up the end of the scarf I was wearing. "I can knit you one of these too. Most of them have some sort of magical properties. This one is fire resistant, and I have a few more that'll do all sorts of things, like the ends will float, you can't lose them, water resistant, it'll heat up to keep you warm, all kinds of things. Quite handy."

"So, Harry, how do you get them to do that?"

"Trade secret. Anything else?"

"Yeah, is that a snake?"

No, I'm an owl.

"Tristeza, be nice. She says no, she's an owl."

"You're a parselmouth!?" Twin one scooted away a bit. Oh right, wizards don't like that.

"Y'all are acting like I've got the plague just because I can talk to snakes. It's not like snakes are specifically evil. Just because one nasty was a parselmouth doesn't mean the rest of us are going to start throwing around the knock off abracadabra," I got up and started unlatching Blackout's cage. "You two can go now, unless you want to give me the map or pet Blackout. I'm sure you have more interesting things to do then talk to a crazy first year."

The twins left soon after that, leaving me to knit in temporary peace. It didn't last long, because soon I had another Weasley visiting me.

"Anyone sitting there?" Ron asked. "Everywhere else is full."

"I doubt that, but as long as you're quiet, sure."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, Ron occasionally glancing at my scar.

"Hey Ron." The twins were back. One nodded to me. "Harry. Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there. "

"Right," Ron mumbled.

"Harry, did we introduce ourselves? George and Fred Weasley. And this is our brother, Ron. See you later, then."

I waved as they slid the compartment door closed.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.

I nodded.

"Oh - well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes, " said Ron. "And have you really got - you know..."

I pushed my hair back silently.

"So that's where You-Know-Who -?"

"Yes, that's the remnant of the killing curse I was hit in the face with. No, I did not kill Voldie. Mum did, I have no idea where this nonsense of a fifteen month old baby killing the Dark Lord came from. Yes, it's true. Surprise, surprise, an infant didn't kill the most feared wizard since Grindelwald."

Ron gaped at me.

"You'll catch flies," I said, turning back to my scarf. "Is it just Weasleys or are all wizards incapable of taking in surprising information without imitating a Venus fly-trap?"

I didn't get a response.

Soon after that fascinating tale, our compartment door slid open. A smiling woman said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

"Thank goddess, I'm starving. " I said, and proceeded to raid the cart of anything that even looked like it had chocolate in it.

It was a very happy Harry that sat down with a pile of chocolate frogs. I flipped over the card as I bit into one. "Huh, I got Circe. Did you know, in Greek mythology, she would turn men into pigs? Quite interesting, really. Greeks have got all sorts of weird stuff in the myths."

I think I might have broken Ron.

There was a knock on our compartment door and young Matthew Dav- Neville, came in. He looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Sorry," he said. "but have you seen a toad?"

"Sorry, but no. I'll make sure to come find you if I do."

He left our compartment sadly.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," Ron said. "If I'd brought a road if lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

The traitorous backstabbing "rat" was sleeping on Ron's lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference."

"Is he old, then?" I asked.

"Percy found him in the garden ten years ago."

"Really?" I feigned interest in the "rat". "I could take him off your hands, then. If he's as old as you say, there might be something interesting about him. I could get you an owl or a cat to replace him."

"Are you sure?" I nodded. "If you really want him... "

"I do!" I said cheerfully as I picked the animagus up.

And not a moment too soon, because right as I settled back down, Hermione opened the compartment door.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one."

"No, sorry. I'm Harry Potter, by the way. "

"Ron Weasley," Ron said.

"Hermione Granger," she turned to me. "Are you really? I've read 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."

"Am I really?" I said. " WEll, don't believe everything you read. It's not true. It probably said I killed Voldemort, right? I didn't, Mum did."

"Okay," she said hesitantly. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... "

"Ravenclaw seems like a good fit for you. If that's what you really want, that's fine. And besides, the houses are just there to put you with people that might be like you. All this talk about how Hufflepuffs are useless and Slytherins are evil is a bunch of nonsense; your house doesn't define you. Just because a few are nasties doesn't mean the whole house is. You shouldn't listen to house prejudices, they're a load of crap!" I had to about that last bit, as she was already backing away.

"I'm going to go help Neville look for Trevor. I expect well be at Hogwarts soon; you might want to change into your robes."

Oops, I might have scared her off. But at least it had been for a good cause?

Ron and I continued to sit in silence, in which I finished the scarf and wrapped it around a purring Blackout, marking her as a Ravenclaw. Scanners started squeaking in fear when he realized who was holding him, and Tristeza asked if she would be getting a scarf too ("If you really want one, sure.")

Eventually though, since all good silences come to an end, the compartment door opened again. Three boys stepped through, the one in the middle resembling a young Tom Felton.

This confirmed something. Up until now, we had only two people looking like their movie counterparts: Snape, in all his Alan Rickman glory, and Neville. The Dursleys, Weasleys, and Hermione had all looked like how they were portrayed in the books. Which brought up a very important question; did Alan Rickman and every one else still exist?

Now, you might be wondering, Harry, is that really the most important thing? Well, yes! Who else would do such a good job playing them when I wrote out the Harry Potter books and they became movies?

Well, scheme to make lots of money aside, Draco Malfoy had just entered my compartment, and I had to deal with this problem before I could start coming up with a fake name to sell them under.

"Is it true?" He said. " They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. "

"Yup," I said. "That's me. Who're you?"

"My name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a short cough that was disguising a snigger. Draco looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford. "

He turned back to me. "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there. "

He held out his hand, and I reached forward to shake it. "Thanks, but I hope you don't mind if I make friends on my own. I've already met a few people that seem nice, you one of the them, and I hope that won't stop you from being my friend if you disagree on my choices."

I hope this won't be a mistake.

So... The scene in the train with the twins just kind of write itself in (rude, it didn't even bother trying to be well written). It was not my intent for that to happen.

We're stopping there mostly because I wanted to get this chapter finished and posted before Halloween ended, and I don't have much time left, so I decided here would be fine. Next chapter will pick up right from there and continue until the Sorting is over.

(Ignore previous note about Halloween because the damn chapter wouldn't post)