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~*A Change of Mind*~

Chapter 4

Platform 9 3/4


"Harry, dear, wake up. We have to go before we miss the train," a voice called Harry.

Harry stirred and opened his eyes, only to see the form of Mrs. Weasley smiling down at him. He sat up on the bed and started rubbing his eyes, grabbing his glasses from the table beside the bed. Ron was awake too, stretching himself and mumbling something.

"Good morning Mrs. Weasley. Morning Ron," Harry mumbles.
"Morning," Ron groaned.

"Make sure that you have everything before we leave," she said before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.
"You wanna use the bathroom first or shall I?" Harry asked.
"You go first. I can't even see the room properly," Ron mumbled.

Harry laughed as he made his way towards the bathroom. After about 10 minutes, he came out and called over to Ron who had fallen back to sleep.
"Ron! Wake up and hurry! We gotta go down," Harry yelled as he grabbed and threw a pillow to him.
"What? Oh. Okay," Ron mumbled as he threw the pillow back at Harry.

Harry caught the pillow before it could hit him in the face. He then threw it onto his bed. He came out from the bathroom 10 minutes later, looking much more alive while Harry changed his clothes.
"Your mom told us to make sure everything's pack before we go down," Harry told him.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Ron answered.

Both Harry and Ron started to make sure that they have everything packed.
"Ready to go down?" said a voice from the doorway.

It was Ginny with Hermione beside her.
"Hang on for a sec. We need to check if we have everything before we leave," Ron said, tossing some of the books that he had bought the day before into his trunk.
"I'm all set," said Harry, shutting his trunk tight.
"Me too," Ron followed suit.
"Then, let's go. I'm starving," Ginny said cheerfully.

All four of them then made their way downstairs to get some breakfast before they would have to go to King Cross Station. There, Dumbledore, Snuffles, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already seated along with another two other red heads.
"Fred! George! What are you two doing here?" Ron asked as he sat next to his brothers.
"Hey guys. We closed our shop today. We're going to see you off," Fred smirked.
"Good morning, sir," Harry greeted Dumbledore, who stopped reading the Daily Prophet, smiled back at him.
"Good morning Harry. Are all of your things ready?" Dumbledore asked, setting his paper down beside his plate.
"Yes sir. Sir, I don't have to be with them during the school term, do I? And they're not going to be attending the start of the term banquet, are they?" Harry asked, still worrying about Dudley hanging around him.

Dumbledore just smiled.
"Yeah Professor. I don't think any of us would want that," Ron agreed as he started digging into his pancakes.
"No, Harry. They won't be near you but Dudley might bump into you once in a while and yes, they will be attending the banquet and other meals. But I must ask you, Harry, to be careful. Even if you are in Hogwarts, Voldemort may attempt to lure you out."

"Can Snuffles stay with me?" Harry asked as he glanced over at Snuffles who were eating a piece of bacon.

He looked up, the piece of bacon dangling from his teeth when he heard his name.
"Yes he can but he won't be with you all the time. Ron and Hermione will, though. But all the same," Dumbledore reminded him.

Just then, both of them turned around to find Lupin frowning at the Dursleys.
"Never could imagine a harder lot to wake up until I met them," Lupin mumbled under his breath.

Harry just laughed. The Dursleys aren't the type of people who would wake up at the crack of dawn plus waking them up is like waking up the dead. He watched as the Dursleys made their way towards the empty table beside the one Harry and the others were sitting.
"Whoa! What are they doing here?" George choked, pointing towards the Dursleys.
"They're coming with us to Hogwarts," Hermione mumbled.

Both Fred and George choked on their pancakes.
"What!" they yelled simultaneously.
"But-" Fred asked.
"Why?" George continued.
"You really don't wanna know," mumbled Harry.

After that, nobody said anything.


~*~




They arrived at the King Cross Station 40 minutes before time. Harry pushed his trolley towards the entrance with Ron and Hermione on either side of him and waited for Mr. Dursley who was putting his trunks onto another trolley. Dudley was standing next to Mrs. Dursley and was falling asleep. He wasn't quite use to the idea he had to wake up at the crack of dawn just to get to King Cross Station on time. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was waiting patiently near the taxi. Lupin, who was beside Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, was constantly checking his watch, making sure that they weren't late. Fred, George and Ginny were fooling around not too far away from where Harry was standing.
"Come here, boy and help me get this trunk on to the trolley," Mr. Dursley snapped.
"You didn't say the magic word," Harry smiled.

Dudley gave a small cry and hid behind his mother.
"What did you say boy?" Mr. Dursley asked slowly.

Harry frowned.
"What he meant was, the word 'please'," Ron said, rolling his eyes.
"COME HERE and GET THIS BAG ONTO THE TROLLEY!" Mr. Dursley boomed.

Everyone there who is related to Harry in some way was immediately taken aback at his tone.
"You, Vernon, could do well if you would just be more polite at him," Lupin said, trying very hard to control his anger.

Harry was, after all, one of his best friend's children. Mr. Dursley stepped back and fumbled with his trunk, not daring to ask Harry for help again.
Finally, after 20 minutes of waiting, Harry was pushing his trolley towards the platform.
"Where is this platform of yours, boy?" Mr. Dursley asked, remembering very well what had happened during Harry's first time of going to Hogwarts.
"You'll find out soon enough," Harry replied, getting annoyed at the idea he had to see this ugly lot throughout his term in Hogwarts.
"I bet you don't even know where it is," Dudley laughed.
"If I don't know where it is, then how do you think I get to school every year?" Harry asked him back.

Dudley just scratched his head.
"C'mon Harry. You and Ron will go through it first," Lupin said, giving Harry a little push.

Harry nodded and pushed his trolley straight at the barrier between platform nine and ten. When the Dursleys thought that he was going to crash, they saw Harry disappear into the wall. Then Ron followed suit.
"How'd he do that?" exclaimed Dudley, now sounding very frightened.
"Now, it's your turn. Just walked towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't worry about anything. Just act as if it was normal. Go on. You first, Mr. Dursley," Professor Dumbledore said, pointing towards the barrier.
"I'm not going through that thing. I might crash!" Mr. Dudley said.
"You're going to have to. It's the only way to get to the platform," Professor Dumbledore said again.

While they were arguing, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had already gone through the barrier.
"I'm going through it. C'mon, Albus. The train leaves in 5 minutes," Remus said, passing the barrier with Snuffles.

Remus saw that Harry, Hermione and Ron had clearly waited for him and Snuffles.

Meanwhile Mr. Dudley finally gave up the argument. Professor Dumbledore reminded him that they were doing this to save their skins from Lord Voldemort. He walked through the barrier with Dudley and Mrs. Dursley.
Once through the barrier, they all looked around.
"I don't believe it. So this is how you get to your school, you brat!" Mr. Dursley sneered when he saw Harry and his friends.

Harry was trying very hard to control his anger. Just then, Remus and Snuffles walked over towards Harry, Ron and Hermione who were loading their trunks onto the train.
"Need any help?" Remus said as he offered his assistance to them.

All of them looked up and smiled.
"No, thanks Professor," Hermione said.

Just then, a couple of students came up towards them.
"Professor Lupin! Welcome back! We really miss you!" said a happy looking 5th year to Remus.
"Yeah Professor. Do come back and teach us," agreed another 5th year boy that Harry also couldn't recognize.

Remus just laughed.
"Come on now, all of you. I still haven't been asked to teach you guys. Well now, onto the train. It'll be leaving in 5 minutes," Remus smiled as he watched all of them walked away.
"What kind of magic could you possibly teach? Pulling a rabbit out of a hat?" Uncle Vernon smirked.

Suddenly, Harry felt something inside in him snapped. He took out his wand and pointed it towards Uncle Vernon's face.
"Never-" he said, breathing heavily, " insult any of my friends in front of me! You're on my turf now, Vernon! I can do whatever magic now so I'm warning you, watch what you say in front of me!" Harry yelled, not even bothering to call him uncle anymore.

Uncle Vernon, on the other hand, was sweating now. Lupin placed his hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Come on, Harry. He didn't mean it. Put your wand down," Lupin said gently.

He didn't want Harry to be in trouble because of him and he feels that Harry shouldn't risk being in trouble just because of them too. Harry overcame his anger and slowly lowered his wand. Without saying sorry, he continued to load his stuff onto the train. Ron just patted his back and Hermione just smiled. Uncle Vernon collapsed on the floor with Dudley and Aunt Petunia by his sides.
"He'll be fine," Hermione said, coldly.

Harry just nodded. Remus helped Uncle Vernon up.

"You wanted to know what I teach, Mr. Dursley. Well, I teach D.A.D.A.," Lupin smiled.

Despite what had happened earlier, Uncle Vernon still managed to give him a smirk.
"D.A.D.A.? What is that? Dissect All Disgusting Animals?" he spat out.
"No. It's Defence Against Dark Arts. So if I were you, Mr. Vernon, I suggest that you watch what you say to me because I know a lot of spells that could make you tremble with fear just by listening of what it does," said Remus, beginning to lose his temper too.

With that, Remus walked away.