Chapter 2: The Journey Begins
Jonathan's eyelids fluttered open to a flash of bright sunlight as his uncle pulled the curtains of his bedroom window open. The boy groaned and rolled over in bed, pulling the blankets over his curly head.
"Come on. Rise and shine," Gilderoy crooned cheerfully as he tugged the blankets off of Jonathan. "Today's the big day!"
"Uncle, it's too early," Jonathan mumbled groggily. However, he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. He looked about his room and suddenly remembered what Gilderoy was talking about... it was his first day of school!
"Come on! Hurry up, my boy! You don't want to be late," his uncle scolded as he rushed about the boy's room gathering books, clothes, and the like, and stuffing them all into a large black trunk with Jonathan's name scrawled on it in gold. He scurried to the large cherry wardrobe and removed Jonathan's new black Hogwarts robes and tossed them at Jonathan. "Here. Hurry and get dressed," he ordered in his most businesslike tone.
Jonathan chuckled softly. His uncle had never been good at giving instructions or making rules, and so his bussinesslike tone was really just his normal voice but with an attempt to hide his perpetual grin.Jonathan liked the relaxed atmosphere of their home. He rarely ever got into to trouble because he was so shy, so Gilderoy never had to worry much about rules or punishment for the boy, which suited both of them just fine.
The small boy crawled slowly out of bed and pulled on his regular crimson robes and then put on his black school robes over top of those. He peered at himself in his full-length mirror and smiled. He looked quite good. Well, all except for the fact that his curly strawberry blonde locks were rather tousled looking. He turned to his uncle expectantly. Gilderoy chuckled and waved his wand over the boy's head with a flourish. "Beutificus!" The boy's hair arranged itself nicely into perfect curls and waves. The two wizards smiled with satisfaction and headed down the stairs to have breakfast.
Two hours later Jonathan found himself standing on Platform 9 ¾. It had been interesting to go into a muggle train station. Jonathan had never really seen a muggle before. He had been surprised to see that looked just like wizards except for their odd style of dress.
Then he had begun to look about him for his platform, only to discover that there was no such place. "Uncle," he said softly so as not to attract the attention of the muggles, "there is no Platform 9 ¾." Gilderoy chuckled and winked. He enjoyed a chance to show off for his nephew. "Watch," he said. He smiled and stepped up to a brick wall. Jonathan wondered what his uncle was looking at a brick wall for, but he thought it better not to question Gilderoy's judgment. Then Gilderoy took a large (and rather over dramatic) step forward and disappeared through the wall!
Jonathan couldn't believe his eyes! His uncle had actually just walked through a wall! He knew his people could do AMAZING things, but he thought only ghosts could walk through walls. He blinked a couple of times to make sure he had just seen what he thought he had. Gilderoy was truly gone, so Jonathan knew it wasn't a dream. How on earth was he supposed to do that? He certainly didn't know how to walk through walls.
Just as he was pondering what to do, his uncle's curly head popped out of the wall. "Well aren't you coming?" he asked teasingly and smirking happily.
"How?" asked Jonathan dumbfounded.
"It's easy," Gilderoy said, obviously pleased at impressing the boy. "All you have to do is run at the wall and you'll go right through. There's really nothing all that spectacular to it," he admitted a little wistfully.
"Nothing spectacular? I thought only ghosts could go through walls!"
"Well, most walls... yes. The barrier to Platform 9 ¾ is special though. It's an enchanted wall," Gilderoy added with a flourish of his hand for dramatic emphasis. "Now hurry up the train's getting ready to leave!"
The small boy smiled nervously at his uncle's disembodied head. He glanced about him to make sure no muggles were looking at them. Then he pushed the cart with his trunks towards the wall as hard as he could! The cart disappeared through the wall, as did his uncle's head. Jonathan suddenly realized that he hadn't warned his uncle and that he'd probably been hit by the speeding cart.
Jonathan rushed at the wall shutting his eyes expecting to crash into it at any second. When he opened them however, he was standing on a platform marked "9 ¾". Except for a few porters, and one or two last straggling wizards and witches hurriedly boarding the train, the platform was empty.
Jonathan then heard a groan at his feet. He looked down and there was Gilderoy sprawled most unsophisticatedly on the ground. He moaned once more before pulling himself to his feet stiffly. "You are much stronger than I gave you credit for," he said patting the boy gently on the shoulder and grimacing.
"I'm sorry Uncle," Jonathan exclaimed worriedly.
"Oh don't look so upset," Gilderoy said with a small grin. "I'm alright. I should have been watching instead of observing all the muggles. They can be fascinating at times."
A loud whistle from the train made them both jump. Smoke began to puff from its smoke stack and the platform was now completely empty except for the two curly haired wizards who stood side by side. "Well... it's... its time that you got going," Gilderoy said wistfully. He pulled out a white lacey handkerchief with the initials "GL" embroidered on it in scarlet silk. He dabbed his blue eyes and pulled the young boy close to him. "I am going to miss you! You'll do wonderful at school though. You will love it," he added trying to sound enthusiastic.
"I'll miss you too Uncle," the boy said squeezing the older wizard's waist tightly. "I... I'm frightened! I don't want to go," he said bursting into tears.
Gilderoy grabbed the boy's chin gently yet firmly in his hand and turned it up towards him. "Jonathan," he said for once sounding stern with the boy. "None of this now. You are going to Hogwarts and you will love it! I've been there my boy, I know! It's a wonderful place and there are fabulous professors and fascinating classes. You are going to have a smashing time and you will be so busy you won't have time to miss me!" He kissed the child lightly on the forehead. "Now off you go," he said softly. "Go and have a good time."
Jonathan wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his black Hogwarts robe. He grabbed the handle of the cart and pulled it quickly towards the door of the first coach he came too. He removed his trunks, with some help from a friendly porter, and sat them next to him in an empty compartment. Then he tossed his book bag into the luggage rack overhead and sat still as stone.
Then the small boy of only eleven years old, peered out of the window hoping to catch one last glimpse of his beloved uncle... the only family he'd ever known. His eyes scanned the whole platform but all he could see was a man dressed in blue waving a scarlet flag at the engineer, signaling that it was all clear. The Hogwarts Express whistled once more and with a lurch started off towards the famed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
