Chapter 11: "Where are you, Katherine?"

After Mr. Talon had woken up Charlotte, he told her she had to be ready fast. The train would be leaving in an hour, and they had a limited amount of time to get to the station.

"I've already gotten your things ready; they're downstairs with Tom. Come on, we need to eat and leave," he rushed.

Charlotte groaned and pulled her blanket over her face. "Just five more minutes," she mumbled.

"Don't make me go and get ice to rub on your feet," Mr. Talon laughed. This was something that nearly always worked.

"No thanks!" Charlotte said as she instantly climbed out of bed, "I'm up!" She remembered the horrible feeling from the ice. When she was younger, her father would rub ice cubes on her feet to wake her up for school and other early-morning activities. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling.

***

After both Mr. Talon and Charlotte had eaten, they left in a hurry. Today there was no portkey, and they would have to take a taxi.

The car did not smell spring time-fresh, and come to think of it, neither did the driver. Charlotte was glad when the taxi stopped in front of Kings Cross Station, where the Hogwarts Express would be waiting.

When the driver had been paid, he drove off in silence as Mr. Talon led Charlotte over to the platforms. He handed Charlotte her ticket, and she was more than a little surprised.

"Dad, this says--" she began.

"Don't worry about it," Mr. Talon interrupted.

"This makes no sense," Charlotte thought, "My ticket says Platform nine and three-quarters!"

"Charlotte, are you paying attention? I'm trying to tell you how to get onto the platform," her father said, breaking into her thoughts.

"Sorry, Dad. Where do I go? This ticket is ridiculous!"

"I know it's a little unusual, but that's not the point," Mr. Talon explained. As he led Charlotte past several platforms, they finally arrived at number nine. She tried walking towards it, but her father pulled her back.

"No, not there," he said.

"Then where, Dad? This is the closest to what the ticket says!" growled Charlotte, becoming frustrated. Along with all the stress of getting used to all this magic, having to leave home, and not knowing where to go, this was definitely not the greatest time to get lost.

"Don't take that tone with me, Charlotte. That's very disrespectful," Mr. Talon scolded. Taking his daughter by the shoulder, he showed her over to the barrier between platforms nine and ten, only to confuse Charlotte further. At times like these, she was prone to being quite stubborn.

"Nice wall. Could've picked a nicer color, but I suppose it wasn't in the painter's best interest, 'eh, Dad?" she mumbled sarcastically.

"Don't start that again. Now, listen closely. All you need to do is walk straight through the barrier. Also, remember that if you're nervous, you'll crash into it. Should I follow you, or will you be alright on your own?" Mr. Talon asked after his explanation.

"I... I think I'll be okay alone," Charlotte replied.

"Sure, now? Alright, just make sure no one is looking," he said, checking the area around them, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah; see you at Christmas."

"Have a good term, Charlotte."

"Thanks, Dad. Bye," she said as she attempted to walk into the barrier. Her red hair fell in front of her eyes and she veered to the left a little bit. Worried that something might fall off of her cart, she gasped a little bit; making her nervous. And, as her father said, she hit the wall; apparently very solid indeed.

"This is definitely not the greatest time for that!" she growled, pulling the cart back into a proper position. "Bye, and this time, I mean it!" Charlotte mumbled to her father, chuckling about his daughter's mishap.

As she spoke her last words, she walked through the barrier, and was overcome with a light-headed feeling. When she could finally see, she was amazed at what lay before her eyes. In front of her was a bright-red train with the words, "Hogwarts Express" along the sides.

"Wow..." Charlotte sighed as she stared at this wonderful sight. She walked over to the train, still pushing her cart, and opened the door. But with one door comes many others, and that is exactly what she found.

The cart in front of her was getting heavy, and she hoped that it wouldn't be much longer until she would have to stop pushing it.

"I wonder where Katherine could be," she thought, "She said she'd save a seat for me..."

On her right, she opened up the door closest to her, but the room inside was empty. Disappointed, Charlotte pushed the cart further and opened a second door. Inside were two girls; twins, apparently. Their laughter, along with their conversation, had stopped. One girl giggled as the other asked, "Erm... can we help you?"

"Uhh... I'm not sure. Do you know where Katherine Varady is, by any chance?" Charlotte questioned hopefully.

"Who?" one of the twins chuckled, "Sorry, no."

"Oh... alright, then." sighed Charlotte, turning around and closing the door behind her.

"Katherine, where are you?" she pondered. This was too confusing- why couldn't anything be easy today?