Chapter 1
Late Arrivals
It was 9:30am and the only people about were members of staff preparing for the arrival of the Hogwarts Express. As Harry sat alone on Platform 9¾ he began to think about what his next year at Hogwarts would consist of. Of course, there would be a new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher and with new spells to learn it was guaranteed to be a demanding term. As a light breeze filled the Station he sat down on his case, listening to the soft hooting of his owl, Hedwig, who was perched comfortably in her cage. He felt happy to be leaving the Dursley's again and couldn't wait to begin a new year at school.
"What's taking them so long?" Harry muttered to himself, growing restless from waiting for over an hour already. Bringing his knees tight up to his chest he rested his head on his arms and leaned against the cold stone wall wondering how long it would be until Ron and Hermione arrived.
"You ah-rite?" asked an old, weary looking wizard
"Oh, yes I'm fine thanks" Harry replied beginning to feel tired.
"You a bit early ain't'cha, Train' not due till 10:30"
"Yea. Can't wait to be back." He said rather unenthusiastically
"Ahh that's wha' we like ta see; kids eager to be back at school and not causing trouble. In ma days if you weren't at school you'd be out there workin' for yuh keep. " The man began to wipe his brow with a neatly folded handkerchief "oh well, nice ta talk to yuh Mr Potter. I shall be getting back to work now"
As the old mad walked away Harry began to imagine what it would be like if people didn't know his name, would that man still have approached him or just ignored him?
When 10am finally arrived the platform was beginning to fill with Hogwarts students. Harry looked around for a familiar face, but so far the crowd only consisted of first years, all of which looked as nervous as he did on his first train journey to school. Now filled with the sounds of children laughing and having a good time, harry felt empty, he was still alone. In the distance the Hogwarts Express could be seen thundering towards the station, plumes of fog trailing off into the hills behind it, marking it's long journey.
11 o'clock was drawing ever closer and there was still no sign of Ron, Hermione or any of the Weasley's, he began to wonder what was holding them up. Students began to board the train, carefully choosing their compartments and putting their cases onto the luggage racks high above their heads. Behind him Harry noticed the wizard he briefly spoke to earlier that morning helping a family of redheads with their luggage trolleys. It was the Weasley's; they finally arrived shortly followed by Hermione who appeared to be struggling with a fairly large wicker basket.
"Ron, Hermione, over here!!" Harry waved enthusiastically to grab their attention. As they made their way over to Harry, Mr and Mrs Granger appeared by the ticket barrier. "What took you so long? I've been waiting for ages!!" Harry exclaimed feeling relieved to see a few familiar faces.
"Muggle transport... simply spellbinding the way it sways!!" said an over excited Arthur Weasley.
"We had to travel by bus... someone forgot to buy some floo powder" Mrs Weasley frowned at her husband. "We had to travel by Bus, awful journey I've had. I've never felt more travel sick in my entire life"
"Purely accidental I assure you" he replied, winking at Harry who instantly knew he had in fact planned the whole thing.
"Honestly Arthur, you and your fascinations with Muggle things will be the death of you one day" she said light-heartedly.
After searching for a free compartment Mr Weasley and Mr Granger helped them get their luggage onto the train and safely into the luggage racks. Harry lifted Hedwig's cage off the platform and carefully placed on the seat and returned to find Hermione again struggling with her basket.
"Crookshanks for goodness sake will you calm down" she squealed. "What's the matter with you??"
"Your cat's a psycho that's what the matter is!!" Ron muttered
"Don't start that again" she pleaded "He's not usually this bad!!"
"No he's much worse." He muttered again but only so Harry could hear.
A loud whistling echoed and filled platform 9¾ signalling for the students to say their goodbyes and board the train. The doors were locked and the train began to pull away from the station, leaving a silvery trail of smoke lingering where it had once been. The journey to Hogwarts had begun.
Late Arrivals
It was 9:30am and the only people about were members of staff preparing for the arrival of the Hogwarts Express. As Harry sat alone on Platform 9¾ he began to think about what his next year at Hogwarts would consist of. Of course, there would be a new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher and with new spells to learn it was guaranteed to be a demanding term. As a light breeze filled the Station he sat down on his case, listening to the soft hooting of his owl, Hedwig, who was perched comfortably in her cage. He felt happy to be leaving the Dursley's again and couldn't wait to begin a new year at school.
"What's taking them so long?" Harry muttered to himself, growing restless from waiting for over an hour already. Bringing his knees tight up to his chest he rested his head on his arms and leaned against the cold stone wall wondering how long it would be until Ron and Hermione arrived.
"You ah-rite?" asked an old, weary looking wizard
"Oh, yes I'm fine thanks" Harry replied beginning to feel tired.
"You a bit early ain't'cha, Train' not due till 10:30"
"Yea. Can't wait to be back." He said rather unenthusiastically
"Ahh that's wha' we like ta see; kids eager to be back at school and not causing trouble. In ma days if you weren't at school you'd be out there workin' for yuh keep. " The man began to wipe his brow with a neatly folded handkerchief "oh well, nice ta talk to yuh Mr Potter. I shall be getting back to work now"
As the old mad walked away Harry began to imagine what it would be like if people didn't know his name, would that man still have approached him or just ignored him?
When 10am finally arrived the platform was beginning to fill with Hogwarts students. Harry looked around for a familiar face, but so far the crowd only consisted of first years, all of which looked as nervous as he did on his first train journey to school. Now filled with the sounds of children laughing and having a good time, harry felt empty, he was still alone. In the distance the Hogwarts Express could be seen thundering towards the station, plumes of fog trailing off into the hills behind it, marking it's long journey.
11 o'clock was drawing ever closer and there was still no sign of Ron, Hermione or any of the Weasley's, he began to wonder what was holding them up. Students began to board the train, carefully choosing their compartments and putting their cases onto the luggage racks high above their heads. Behind him Harry noticed the wizard he briefly spoke to earlier that morning helping a family of redheads with their luggage trolleys. It was the Weasley's; they finally arrived shortly followed by Hermione who appeared to be struggling with a fairly large wicker basket.
"Ron, Hermione, over here!!" Harry waved enthusiastically to grab their attention. As they made their way over to Harry, Mr and Mrs Granger appeared by the ticket barrier. "What took you so long? I've been waiting for ages!!" Harry exclaimed feeling relieved to see a few familiar faces.
"Muggle transport... simply spellbinding the way it sways!!" said an over excited Arthur Weasley.
"We had to travel by bus... someone forgot to buy some floo powder" Mrs Weasley frowned at her husband. "We had to travel by Bus, awful journey I've had. I've never felt more travel sick in my entire life"
"Purely accidental I assure you" he replied, winking at Harry who instantly knew he had in fact planned the whole thing.
"Honestly Arthur, you and your fascinations with Muggle things will be the death of you one day" she said light-heartedly.
After searching for a free compartment Mr Weasley and Mr Granger helped them get their luggage onto the train and safely into the luggage racks. Harry lifted Hedwig's cage off the platform and carefully placed on the seat and returned to find Hermione again struggling with her basket.
"Crookshanks for goodness sake will you calm down" she squealed. "What's the matter with you??"
"Your cat's a psycho that's what the matter is!!" Ron muttered
"Don't start that again" she pleaded "He's not usually this bad!!"
"No he's much worse." He muttered again but only so Harry could hear.
A loud whistling echoed and filled platform 9¾ signalling for the students to say their goodbyes and board the train. The doors were locked and the train began to pull away from the station, leaving a silvery trail of smoke lingering where it had once been. The journey to Hogwarts had begun.