RUN!
Kate sat up violently after a heart-pounding nightmare. Drenched in a cold sweat, Kate shivered. The freckled girl got out of bed and started pacing. It was four o'clock in the morning. No one was up yet and she wasn't tired at all.
Run. She remembered what she had been doing. Stumbling away from a pursuing… someone. She couldn't run in the dream. She couldn't run in real-life either.
Of course you can, if you really wanted to.
Kate frowned, and then nodded to herself. Removing her tennis shorts from her drawer, she put those on and put on a t-shirt. She snuck silently out of the house, quietly closing the door behind her.
It was raining lightly outside. Kate pushed her glasses up and then decided to just remove them all together. The neighborhood became an indecipherable blur without her spectacles. Clutching them tightly in a fist, she began running. The rain fell harder and Kate's lungs were screaming for rest. Her body jiggled painfully as she flew across the pavement. She forced herself to continue. Her goal was to loop the neighborhood, but she had to stop for air. She walked a bit, feeling pathetic. Gritting her teeth, she tried again. It was even worse, but she had to keep going. Her breaths came out squeakily and she wanted to collapse. She didn't know where she was anymore. She couldn't see without her glasses and she couldn't tell which house was hers. Shaking, she put her glasses on and saw her house. Squeezing her hands into fists, she forced herself to sprint back to the front door.
She collapsed on the porch, breathing heavily. The rain fell into her open mouth and splattered her glasses.
"Never… again…." She breathed. She lay for maybe ten minutes without moving, and then thought of her pathetic struggles. She had to try again, every day for the rest of her life. Her diseases would not conquer her. She had conquered the first but its remainders were real enough. She had to kill those too. Standing shakily, she set off around the loop again.
It was a few days later that Kate had started on her Arithmancy book. Her eyes widened as she realized its uses and complexity. Her brain could hardly take it in. She waited until her father came home that evening to ask him to read it and help her understand it better. Though his job was taxing, being a physician, he agreed to take time to help her with it.
Kate had gotten into a sort of schedule of waking up from her recurrent nightmare, going for an exhausting run in the dark, getting home and forcing herself to do push-ups and sit-ups and then reading. She always waited until her father had gotten up for breakfast to take a shower, telling him that it was just the time she woke up when he inquired to her early rising.
Her robes arrived and she tried them on in front of her family. All black, they certainly were impressive.
"You look like a judge." Meghan wrinkled her nose.
Kate noted very deep pockets. "I can put my wand in this." She patted the pocket. "Among about everything else in the world." She grinned.
Harry Potter came home that day. Kate didn't know. She had grabbed One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and was re-reading it on the front lawn. It was just a listing and she was afraid to confuse things. She had been going through and highlighting parts she was afraid of forgetting easily. The sun was shining warmly on her back and she was enjoying it through her fifty SPF sunscreen.
"'Lo." Harry Potter called out. Kate looked up and grinned, leaning back on her elbow.
"Hi!" She stuck her highlighter between two pages and closed the book over it, so as not to lose her place.
"What are you reading?" He jogged over.
"Um… it's a fantasy book called One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. It's supposed to cover the herbs that were mentioned in a book series by J.R.R. Tolkein." She explained quickly. She knew about the Statute of Secrecy from her history textbook. She was disappointed that the history textbook only covered everything until the early twentieth century, so either nothing had happened in recent years or it was just an outdated copy.
"I have that book." Harry realized aloud.
Kate jumped. "Really? So are you… going… um… to…."
"Hogwarts?" Harry finished reluctantly.
"Yes!" Kate laughed. "You're a…." Kate stopped, looking around.
"Yeah, and so are you." Harry grinned. "Cool."
"Yeah." Kate agreed. "What about those train tickets, huh?" Kate laughed. The other day she had received her train ticket through the mail. "Platform 9 ¾. Nutty, isn't it? I can't believe how many platforms there must be."
"I noticed that too. I've never heard of that platform."
Kate's face fell. "Really?"
"Really."
"Crap. So, it's not a British thing?"
"No." Harry shook his head.
"Hopefully we'll be able to see it. Like the Leaky Cauldron." Kate said, sounding somewhat confident.
"Yeah. You're probably right."
"Was that the letter your aunt and uncle were keeping from you? The acceptance one?"
"Yeah. They don't like magic." Harry said miserably.
"Oh. Were your parents?"
"Yeah. My mum was Aunt Petunia's sister. I guess my mum was Muggle-born."
"I see." Kate said. "So you're not Muggle-born?"
"No. But I've been raised by Muggles."
"How did they get you? I mean, if they're scared of magic, why would they bother?"
"I wonder that too." Harry laughed. "After my parents were murdered, I just showed up on their doorstep I guess."
"What?" Kate jumped. "Your parents were murdered? I thought you said they died in a car crash."
"That's what I thought too. I guess Voldemort killed them."
"Who is Voldemort?" Kate tilted her head.
"Eleven years ago, he tried to kill me and he failed. I don't know why," he shrugged, "but that's how I really got this scar." He sounded uncomfortable.
"Whoa. So, what happened to him?"
"He died or something." Harry shook his head. "The thing is, he was the huge villain. He'd killed lots of people, but he couldn't kill me."
"Did you save the world then?"
"Dunno. Some people think I did."
Kate grinned. "Little baby hero."
Harry laughed. "Yeah. Have you read all of the books?"
"Yeah. They're really interesting. We even got four more. One on complex potions, one on arithmancy, one on Hogwarts, and another one on Quid… Quidditch. I actually feel really confused on it now. It's a weird sport, but it sounds like fun."
"Can you explain Quidditch to me?" Harry asked eagerly.
Kate laughed. "I'll try. See, there are four balls. Two of them are evil. They try to kill everyone on the field. They're called blood-ers or Bludgers, I think. They're hit around by two players called Beaters. They have these big baseball bats to whack them around. Then there's one called the… the… Quaffle, yeah, and it's sort of like the basketball of the game, 'cause three of the seven players per team are trying to throw them through a gigantic hoop." Kate frowned. "There are three huge hoops. They're like bubble-blow sticks. The players who throw the Quaffle are called Chasers and the player who is goalie is called a Keeper. Oh yes. Then there's this little golden ball called a Snitch. It flies everywhere and a Seeker tries to find it and catch it to end the game. It's worth about a billion points. Well, just one-fifty, but close enough." Kate breathed. "That's all I pretty much got from the book. If you want to borrow it sometime, you can."
"It sounds too confusing." Harry shook his head.
"That's because I suck at explaining things that I don't understand."
"Haha." Harry grinned. "Do you think your parents would give me a ride to King's Cross Station? I don't really want to ask my aunt and uncle for a ride."
"Yeah, I'm sure they would." Kate knew they would.
Dudley, Harry's cousin came outside and saw Kate. Then he saw Harry, squealed and ran back inside.
"What's wrong with him?" Kate jerked her head towards him.
"He… um…." Harry was having trouble keeping a straight face. "He has a pig-tail. Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts, gave him one."
"Why?"
"'Cause Uncle Vernon was saying bad things about the headmaster."
"Oh. Who is the headmaster?"
"Albus Dumbledore."
"Cool name."
"Yeah." Harry agreed.
They talked for awhile longer before Kate was called in for dinner.
"Well, I'd better go. Do you want to stay for dinner, actually?"
"No, better not." Harry said glumly. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Every day until September 1st, Kate kept her schedule of rising early, running, reading, showering, reading, and then talking to Harry. Kate noticed that she was getting better at running. She was even getting a line down her calves and thighs. Her stomach, though still blobby, was getting firmer muscles, though they were underneath the sheath of prednisone chub.
The night before she went to Hogwarts for the first time, Kate refused to take her prednisone and sort of laughed at it in her room. She was so happy. Everything was beginning to be better in her life.
Her parents had agreed to drive Harry to King's Cross Station, but as it turned out, Harry's aunt and uncle were going to London that day anyway and wanted to give him a ride over. Harry said it was probably to gloat at the lack of platform 9 ¾.
Dr. Slate had to go to work early that day and couldn't see Kate off. He gave her a hug goodbye. He drove Meghan to school and Mary Jane took Kate to King's Cross Station where they got a cart to push her stuff around in. She wasn't wearing her robes because she didn't want to stand out in the train station.
"Where is the platform?" Mary Jane asked. "Can you see it?"
Kate stared blankly at platforms nine and ten and saw nothing in between.
"Um… no." Kate said worriedly. "We could try walking through it?"
"What?"
"Look, here's the plan." Kate was feeling emboldened by her growing idea. "I'm going to try and walk through the wall. If I go through, follow me, okay?"
Before her mother could object to this nutty idea, Kate was charging the wall. She squinted, seeing that the wall remained very solid.
"Gods. Let this work." And as her trolley touched the wall… it went through! Kate made it through the wall. An archway above her read "Platform 9 ¾" and a scarlet train sat on its tracks, students boarding. The platform was noisy with families and students, magical pets and squeaky trolleys. Kate remembered that Harry had a snowy white owl named Hedwig. She had been eager to see it but Harry was afraid to let her come into his house because of his aunt and uncle. Kate waited for her mother to pass through the wall (with a shell-shocked look on her face) before heading towards the train.
"Wow."
"Yeah." Kate picked up her trunk. "I should get into a compartment." She saw Harry looking out of a window and waved to him, nearly dropping her trunk.
"Your friend?"
"Yeah."
"I'll give you hand." Her mother picked up the other end of the trunk. They walked through the train. Kate saw a toad leaping about the corridor. Then they got to the compartment she had been looking for. "Mom, this is Harry Potter, Harry, this is my mom."
"Hi." Harry said awkwardly.
"Hello." Mary Jane Slate smiled. "You can call me MJ."
"Thanks." Harry replied.
"Well, I won't stay any longer." Her mother said. "Have a good year." Mary Jane hugged her daughter and kissed the top of her head. "Write!" And she left. She walked off of the train and stopped to speak with an older woman with a stuffed vulture over a pointed green hat. The old woman smiled warmly at Kate's mother and Kate could hear them talking about the school.
Harry seemed to be listening intently to another conversation. A red-head woman with a younger daughter was surrounded by three boys, all rather tall and lanky.
"Mom- get off!" One of the boys struggled away from his mother, who was wiping his nose.
"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" One boy teased the younger boy. He looked just like another boy. Twins.
"Shut up," said Ronnie.
"Where's Percy?" Their mother asked. She was rather dumpy, but she seemed like the kind of person one has to love.
"He's coming now." Replied the other twin.
An older boy came striding into sight. He was in his Hogwarts robes and had a shining silver badge on his chest with the letter P engraved into it.
"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves-."
"Prefects?" Kate mouthed to Harry.
Harry shrugged. "I'll explain later."
"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said a twin, responding to something the other had said earlier. "Once-."
"Or twice-."
"A minute-."
"All summer-."
"Oh, shut up." Said Percy.
"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" One of the twins inquired.
"Because he's a prefect." Their mother sounded pleased. "All right, dear, have a good term- send me an owl when you get there."
She kissed the prefect boy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to look sternly at the twins.
"Now, you two- this year you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me that you've- you've blown up a toilet or-."
"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."
"It's not funny. And look after Ron."
"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."
"Shut up," said Ron again.
"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"
Kate saw Harry move away from the window.
"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"
"Who?"
"Harry Potter!"
A little red-haired girl, Kate hadn't noticed her before, spoke urgently. "Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, oh please…."
"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo."
Kate looked at Harry trying to suppress a smile. Harry waved a hand at her as though begging her not to laugh out loud. He was red as the setting sun with embarrassment.
"….his scar. It's really there- like lightning."
"Poor dear. No wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."
"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"
The mother's face became hardened.
"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."
"All right, keep your hair on."
A whistle sounded. Kate jumped and sat up in her seat. She realized how much she'd just eavesdropped and felt bad. Harry shook his head, still listening.
The train began to move.
"D'you think we should put our uniform on soon?" Kate asked.
Harry shrugged, looking at Kate.
"Hey, don't worry about it." She said calmly. "I doubt everyone will want to pay to see you." She teased.
Harry grinned feebly. "I guess I'm just frightened of going to Hogwarts, that's all."
"Me too." Kate agreed.
The compartment door slid open and Ron, the red-headed boy, poked in.
"Can I join you?" He asked timidly.
"Yeah." Harry said. Kate nodded, smiling kindly. Ron looked at Harry and then looked out the window, as though pretending he hadn't looked. Kate felt suddenly awkward, not knowing how to put a word in. The door slid open again.
"Hey Ron." The twins were there.
"Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train- Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."
"Right," mumbled Ron.
"Creepy." Kate said.
The twins grinned.
"Hey now, don't you get any ideas." Kate moved away.
"What's your name?" They asked.
"Kate. Kate Slate."
"Wonderful, it rhymes." One of them teased.
"I'm Fred Weasley and this is my brother George."
"Pleased to meet you."
"The boy with the black mark on his nose is our brother, Ron." George explained. "See you later then. Nice meeting you, Harry, Kate." The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.
Harry nodded.
"Oh- well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got- you know…." He pointed at Harry's forehead.
Harry pulled back his bangs to reveal his scar.
"Bum-bum-bum-BUM!" Kate imitated Zelda music under her breath. Harry looked at Kate and chuckled quietly, obviously recognizing the tune. Ron was still gaping at Harry.
"So that's where You-Know-Who…?"
"Yes," said Harry, "But all I can remember is loads of green light."
"Wow," said Ron. He stared at Harry in awe.
"The specimen seems unfazed by interrogation, but he responding to our questions." Kate cupped her mouth in her hands and feigned speaking into a recording device. "Let's see what happens when we poke it." Kate reached across the compartment and poked Harry, who squeaked. "What odd noises it makes, don't you think so, Dr. Weasley?"
Ron's eyes widened as he realized what Kate was doing. Then Harry laughed and Ron joined in, but Harry and Kate could see that Ron was embarrassed.
"So, are you family all wizards?" Harry asked with fascination. Kate looked intently at Ron.
"Er- yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."
"So you know a lot of magic?" Kate asked.
Ron shrugged. He looked back at Harry. "I heard you went to live with Muggles. What are they like?"
"Horrible."
"Hey!"
"Well, not all of them." He looked at Kate and smiled apologetically. "My aunt and uncle and cousin are though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."
"Five." Said Ron miserably.
"It can't be worse than having a little sister." Kate said, trying to help.
"I have one of those too."
"So you're really cursed."
Ron nodded. "I'm the sixth to go to Hogwarts. Bill and Charlie have already left. Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."
Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.
"His name's Scabbers and he's useless. He hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff- I mean, I got Scabbers instead."
Ron's ears turned pink. He went back to staring out the window.
Harry, obviously sympathetic to how Ron felt, explained to us about how he had to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. Ron seemed to cheer up.
"… and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort-."
Ron gasped.
"What?" Kate and Harry chimed.
"You said You-Know-Who's name! I'd have thought you, of all people…." He sounded shocked and impressed.
"What's wrong with saying a name?" Kate asked slowly.
Ron stared at her as well.
"Muggle-born." Harry explained. "But at least she's smart." Harry said glumly.
"What?" Kate was taken aback.
"I'll bet I'm the worst in the class."
"You won't be." Ron jumped in to reassure him. "There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."
"Harry, you do not strike me as the slow type at all." Kate said fervently. "And I'm not smart; my dad just threatened what's left of my life if I do poorly."
Harry smiled.
"Sounds like my mum." Ron grinned.
"Isn't pressure wonderful?" Kate said sarcastically.
"Oh, brilliant."
The three of them were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.
"Are you from America?" Ron asked after awhile.
"Originally, yes. So not only am I getting a culture shock but then there's the whole 'hey, guess what, you're a witch!' thing going on." Kate sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not complaining. Magic will cure my disease so I don't have to be fat anymore."
Ron blushed, because he'd obviously been thinking that Kate was chubby because she was an American.
"You're not-" Ron started.
"Don't worry about it." Kate said noting Ron's discomfort. Kate tapped her foot on the ground, feeling eager to run a bit, fearing she'd lose what little she'd gained. Kate hadn't taken prednisone and was feeling hungry without the dizziness she'd grown accustomed to. She had packed herself a carrot and a peanut-butter sandwich. It was about twelve thirty when there was clattering outside of the door. Kate was strongly reminded of the noise she'd hear right before getting an IV and her face drained. She had to shake her head. It was unlikely that they'd use an IV to cure her, especially not on the train.
The door slid open and a smiling, dimpled woman walked in.
"Anything off the cart, dears?"
Kate shook her head, saying "no thank you" and Ron muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. His ears were pink again. Harry, on the other hand, went out into the corridor and returned with an armload of food. Kate was aghast.
"And how do you stay so skinny?"
"Hungry are you?"
"Starving." Harry took a large bite out of a pasty shaped like a pumpkin. Kate looked at the wrapper and saw it was called (cleverly enough) and pumpkin pasty.
Kate had pulled out her carrot, which was about a foot long and took a chomp out of it. Harry and Ron gaped at the enormity of it. Ron had pulled out a lumpy package and unwrapped it.
"She always forgets that I don't like corned beef." He said, pulling one of them apart.
"You want half of my peanut-butter sandwich?" Kate offered. "You can give me half of your corned-beef."
"I dunno." He looked thoughtfully at Kate's sandwich, messily made.
"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on."
"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."
"His deal certainly outweighs mine." Kate nodded sagely.
"Go on, have a pasty." Harry thrust it into Ron's hands. While Kate finished her earlier prepared lunch, the two boys ate their way through Harry's bizarre sweets.
"Kate, help yourself to anything you want here." Harry offered.
"Thanks." But Kate didn't touch anything, only picked up a wrapper to examine the names.
"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?"
"Ew."
"No," said Ron, "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."
"What?" Kate and Harry asked in unison.
"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know- Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect- famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."
"Awesome." Kate said, sounding fascinated.
Kate watched Harry unwrap his chocolate frog. He pulled out a card.
"So this is Dumbledore."
Kate hopped over to look at the card. It was an elderly man with twinkling blue eyes, and long white hair, mustache and beard. His nose looked as though it had been broken a couple of times. He winked at them and Kate and Harry jumped.
"It moves. Ah!"
"You're right, that is kind of odd." Harry agreed.
Kate went back to her own seat. She watched the boys exchanging cards. Ron was ecstatic to get a Ptolemy, but he never did get the Agrippa card.
"You want to be careful with those." Kate had been drifting off but was brought back to life by Ron's warning. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor. You know, you get the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once.
Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.
"Bleaaargh, see? Sprouts."
"Oh my gosh, really?" Kate jumped up. "Can I try?"
"Yeah." Harry said, dumping some into her hands. She spread them out on her seat and observed them. She picked up a white one and bit it. She laughed after she swallowed it.
"Cotton ball."
Ron and Harry and she had a good time trying different flavors. Harry and Kate split a gray one, which was pepper in the end. Kate rather liked it, but Harry was revolted. The three children looked out of the window to see a forest begin to grow around them as the train got closer to Hogwarts. Kate felt butterflies flutter in her chest as the unexpected and expected approached.
The compartment door slid open again. Kate expected to see Fred or George, but they were greeted by a tearful round-faced boy.
"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"
The three of them shook their heads.
"I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!" He wailed.
"He'll turn up," said Harry.
"Wait," Kate frowned, "I think I saw a toad earlier, but that was a long time ago. It was in the corridor."
"Really?" The boy said brightly.
"Yeah, but I'll look out for it for you."
"Thanks." He said, sounding a bit more encouraged. He left.
"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad, I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk.
The rat was still sleeping on his lap.
"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference." Said Ron in disgust.
"He'd smell worse." Kate commented.
"I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look." He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.
"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway-."
He had just raised his wand when the door opened again. The boy who'd lost his toad was back, but this time he had a bushy-haired girl with him. She was already wearing her Hogwarts robes.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said in a rather bossy tone that Kate found funny. She noted that this girl had rather large front teeth beneath her braces. The teeth of the British, Kate couldn't help thinking. She licked her own retainer's bar, wondering if there was a spell to use instead.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it." Ron said, but the girl wasn't listening. She was staring at the wand in his hand.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then."
She sat down. Ron hadn't been expecting more people to watch.
"Er- well, all right."
He cleared his throat.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers was still gray and barely twitched in his uninterrupted sleep.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" The girl asked skeptically. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard- I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough- I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"
Kate couldn't believe the rush of words that came from this girl's mouth.
"I'm Kathryn Slate. But everyone calls me Kate." She said warmly, while Ron and Harry exchanged looks of horror.
"I'm Ron Weasley." He muttered.
"Harry Potter," said Harry.
"Are you really?" Hermione snapped back into action. "I know 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?" Harry sounded dazed.
"Goodness, didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do any 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…. Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."
She and Neville left.
"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it."
"I think she's funny." Kate disagreed.
"Something's seriously wrong with you." Ron shook his head. He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell- George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."
"What house are you brothers in?" Harry asked.
"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."
"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"
"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back on his seat, looking depressed.
"I don't really think it'd be too bad being in any of the houses." Kate frowned. "I mean, they all have good qualities. Hufflepuffs are supposed to be hard-working and loyal, Ravenclaws are smart, Slytherins are… ambitious, I guess, and Gryffindors are brave. So, I mean, all of the houses are good in their own way."
"Slytherins are known to be Dark wizards." Harry said.
"That's because they're too ambitious to do things that aren't good. Some people are ambitious to save the world, so I mean, come on." Kate shook her head.
There was silence.
"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are looking a bit lighter," said Harry, obviously trying to move away from the house debate. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left anyway?"
Kate crossed her legs and watched Ron curiously.
"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles. Someone tried to rob a high security vault."
Harry and Kate stared.
"Really? What happened to them?"
"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."
Kate decided that the supposed Dark wizard must have been a maniac. She wouldn't even consider breaking in, even for fun. The goblins alone were frightening in their own way.
"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked them.
"Even though they suck, I like the American Eagles and Sweetwater All-Stars. I have to support my native teams, even if they chose the most boring names of all time."
"Didn't they have to open a Muggle clothing store to make more money?"
"Yeah. They're doing quite well in that department."
"Is Quidditch very popular in America?"
"No. I don't think so. Then again, I didn't know about wizards and Quidditch over there."
"What about you Harry?"
"Er- I don't know any."
"What!" Ron was indignant. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world!" He explained the game to Harry better than Kate had done it.
He was just taking the two Muggle-raised children through the finer points of the game when the door slid open again. Three boys entered. Two were enormous and the third was slender, pale, and wore an expression of superiority on his pointed face. He didn't look at Kate or Ron, but was watching Harry with a great deal of interest. The two large boys stood by this pale boy like bodyguards.
"Is it true?" He started. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," Harry was looking a bit nervous.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," the pale boy said carelessly, "And my name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
Ron gave a small cough-laugh.
Kate smiled and said, "The name's Bond, James Bond."
"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are." He was scowling at Ron. "My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford.
"I don't know who you are," he sneered at Kate, "but I can tell you're an American by the accent and the cheeks."
Kate blushed angrily.
"You'll soon find out 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 to shake Harry's. To Kate's relief, he didn't take it.
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.
Draco Malfoy's cheeks turned a bit pink.
"I'd be careful, if I were you, Potter," he said slowly, "unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like Americans, the Weasleys, and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."
"Good job, you've just insulted everyone in this compartment." Kate snapped, standing with Ron and Harry, to hold them back. "A plus to the 'a' hole."
Malfoy sneered.
"Are you going to fight us?"
"Unless you get out now," said Harry.
"Harry, stop it. These jerks don't need the satisfaction." Kate said sternly. "I don't think they want bruises their first day to Hogwarts. So they'll leave."
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."
Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron- Ron leapt forward, but Kate grabbed his shoulders to stop him. Goyle shouted in pain.
Scabbers the rat was biting his finger and holding on with all his might. Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung his hand wildly, trying to remove the rodent. Scabbers popped off of his finger, slammed into the window, and the three of them disappeared at once.
Hermione Granger appeared in their place.
"What has been going on?" She was looking at the mess of sweets on the floor and the three panting students. Ron was picking Scabbers carefully up by his tail.
"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to the two of them. He looked more closely. "Oh, I don't believe it. He's gone back to sleep." Kate smiled weakly. "Harry, you've met Malfoy before?"
"In Diagon Alley."
"I've heard of their family," Ron said darkly, "they were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"
"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on. I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron.
"We weren't fighting." Kate said.
"Would you mind leaving while we change?"
"All right- I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice.
"They are children, Hermione." Kate patted Hermione's shoulder. "Sometimes children do that." She winked.
Hermione glanced at Kate, looking a bit surprised, then at Ron. "You've got dirt on your nose, did you know?"
Ron glared at her as she left. Kate pulled her robes on over her clothing, removing her sweatshirt. She noticed that her robes were rather loose on her. They had been snugger the first time she'd tried them. Her heart leapt. Maybe her running was already paying off.
"I'm going to trip, I just know it." Kate mumbled, looking at the length of her robes.
Ron's were rather short for him. Kate could see part of his pants.
A voice echoed through the train announcing arrival time would be in five minutes. "Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
Kate's face blanched and her heart started beating harder with nerves. She was about to go to Hogwarts.