I'm sorry it took so long to write this chapter. Its kind of uneventful, and I didn't feel like writing for a while. The next chapter should be out in after a wait as long as this one if not longer, because I'm going to alternate chapters between this and Order of the Phoenix. I promise you that the next chapter will be better.

Chapter 7

Tom woke up and looked at the calendar. It was September 1.

He packed up all of his things into a trunk that Earl had loaned him, and walked out of his room and started down the stairs. It took him a while to finally get down the stairs, because his trunk was so heavy and he had to lift it to get it down the stairs.

He did manage though, but when he did, he had to sit down on a barstool to catch his breath.

"Earl," he panted, "how am I going to get to the King's Crossing?" He knew that Earl didn't know what a car was, let alone own one.

"Floo Powder," Earl answered as if it were obvious.

"What's Floo Powder?" Tom asked, clueless.

"Oh yea'. I fergot ya live wit' de Muggles," he replied as he handed Tom some bright red powder. "T'row it inter de fire, yell where ya want ter go, an' step inter de fire."

"Thanks Earl, see you." Tom walked over to the fireplace, the fire burning intensely within it. Were it not for the importance of the task at hand, Tom would have been to entranced to move.

He tossed the Floo Powder into the fire.

"King's Crossing!" he boomed in a thunderous voice, suddenly surging with power. He stepped into the fire, not afraid of injury.

His feeling of domination, as quickly as it had come, turned to a fit of helplessness. He was flying faster than he would have ever thought possible; flying so fast that he couldn't move, could only see a blur around him.

The ride abruptly stopped, as he crashed into the ground. He was in a lot of pain as he crawled out of the chimney. He dusted himself off and began to walk away when he heard a loud thud behind him.

He turned around to see his trunk lying in the fireplace.

Tom walked back and got his trunk. He would have to thank Earl the next time he went to the Leaky Cauldron.

Tom got his trunk and looked around. He was in a deserted train platform.

He looked around and saw a doorway at the back of the platform. He walked through it to see many people carrying suitcases and pulling trunks, all of them in a hurry. Tom looked to the side of him to see signs reading 'Platform 9' and 'Platform 10.'

Tom realized that he had already been in Platform 9 ¾. The Ministry of Magic would not allow someone to fall through the chimney right in front of a group of Muggles; he would have to do it in an out of the way place or in an area in which such a thing was considered ordinary.

Tom noticed that the doorway did not appear to be a doorway from this side, but a barrier, as Arnie had said. He walked back through it.

He checked his watch and saw that it was 10:00. He would have to wait a while.

. . .

It was 10:50 when the scarlet train, called the 'Hogwarts Express', began to board. Tom took the very back compartment, which was empty.

"Tom!" greeted Bennett, walking into the compartment, accompanied by two hulking boys. "I've been looking all over for you."

Noticing that Tom's jaw had dropped open, Bennett offhandedly pointed to the two boys behind him. "Those two are Crabbe and Goyle."

Crabbe and Goyle were very much alike, both with dark hair, dark eyes, and a two hundred pound frame.

"Uh, nice to meet you," Tom said awkwardly, somewhat intimidated. Crabbe and Goyle both grunted their greetings as well.

The train started rolling at exactly 11:00.

"I can't wait until we get there," Bennett said, "I wonder what the Slytherin common room looks like."

"Slytherin?" Tom was sure he had heard or seen the name before, but he was not sure from where.

"Oh, that's right," Bennett said, "I forgot that you live with Muggles. Anyway, Slytherin is a house at Hogwarts, and the best one at that. Me, Crabbe, and Goyle's families have all been in Slytherin. I wonder what house you'll be Sorted into, Tom."

"Sorted?" Tom was feeling stupider and stupider, which was new for him, rarely getting to talk to the children at the orphanage, and when he did, he was easily their intellectual superior.

"Well, father hasn't told me how we get Sorted, but the Sorting is when it's decided which house we go to. There are four houses: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Like I said before, Slytherin is by far the best."

Just then, the witch with the refreshments cart passed through.

"I'll have a bag of Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans," Bennett stated to the witch.

"That'll be fifteen Knuts."

Bennett gladly forked over the bronze coins for the bag of candy and ripped it open immediately, not even a thank you to the witch.

Bennett took out the first jellybean, examined it, and gave it to Tom.

"Here you go, Tom, chocolate pudding."

As Tom stuck the jellybean in his mouth and began to chew on it, Bennett, Crabbe, and Goyle burst out laughing. It was then that he realized that it wasn't chocolate pudding."