"Well, there aren't any free compartments anywhere", Hermione said finally after an extensive search of the train, "Where are we going to spend the journey?"
"There was one compartment", said Ron, "it only had three people in it."
"Yeah, and one was a baby", Harry added.
"I thought that babies weren't allowed at Hogwarts, Hermione," said Ron.
"Neither did I", agreed Harry.
"Have neither of you read Hogwarts: A History?" said a brusque Hermione, "In chapter 2, it clearly states that at 12 different points in its history, Hogwarts has housed babies. Do keep up!"
"Why would we need to read that when we have you here – our walking textbook?" chorused Ron and Harry, as if this conversation had been played out many times before.
"Humph! I won't be here forever. Think of your exams!" said Hermione, as always on this topic, exasperated.
"Enough arguing – we never get anywhere!" replied Harry, "we have a compartment to find."
"Well, as I said, there was one just down there."
"We'll have to go in that one then," said Harry, slightly grudgingly, "I like us having a compartment to ourselves."
"Plus, they looked in our year, except – I didn't think they allowed admissions to fourth Year... I hope they're nice", added Ron.
Hermione held her tongue, "We'll soon find out."
With that, she took off down the carriage, almost knocking over two giggling second years and quickly dodging to avoid a first year carrying a large handful of Chocolate Frog cards.
"I guess there's nothing else for it – come on, Harry!" Ron said as he set off to follow Hermione.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The compartment door slid open, squeaking loudly and startling the Baudelaires inside. A mismatched trio of youths (a phrase which here means "a short boy with jet-black hair and glasses, a taller girl with large bushy hair and a skinny redhead") entered through the hole created by the opening of a door, as is often the case when a door opens.
"Excuse me, can we come in here?" asked the short boy with jet-black hair and glasses.
"Trankla!" said Sunny, which probably meant something along the lines of "What a mismatched trio of youths!"
"What Sunny means", translated Violet quickly, "is 'Why, of course – we'd be delighted by the presence of your company'".
"Yes, we're new here", said Klaus.
Suddenly, the door once again burst open, leaving the ensuing hole available for more unexpected arrivals. Through the doorway strode a tall, white-faced boy who resembled facially a certain rodent (which shall remain nameless). His long, white hair swishing in the draft coming from the now open door, he stood, flanked by two boys of whom the Baudelaires were having difficulty determining the species. Between these two large, brutal-looking individuals, Draco looked not dissimilar to an oxpecker, a creature whose sole purpose is to east the ticks from a hippopotamuses back. For many decades, debate has waged about the pluralisation of "hippopotamus". Some argue that as the word ends in "us", it's plural should naturally be "mi" but others counter argue that as "hippopotamus" is not of Latin descent, it should be pluralised with the regular "es" ending. Others still counter argue this argument by saying that by popularisation, hippopotami should become the accepted plural. Yet more argue that this argument is nonsensical – the public shouldn't control grammar and spelling. From this argument, it is then counter argued that a state-run spelling and grammar system isn't any good either. The major dictionaries also cannot decide on a general system. The Oxford English Dictionary argues for hippopotami, despite its incorrectness. You see, the nature of humanity is to argue, like two waiters at a certain seafood restaurant on a certain starlit night in front of a certain person, ordering a certain salmon dish.
"Potter!" the white-haired, white-faced boy said in his usual, slimy voice, "You found a compartment then, Potter? Oh, and what a compartment." He looked pointedly at the Baudelaires, "What a collection. I didn't think even you would stoop this low, Potter".
"Horchos!" said Sunny, meaning something along the lines of "I resent that implication!"
"Awww, how sweet. Ickle goo-goo baby speaks, does she?" said Draco, scathingly.
"Hey – she's just a baby," said Harry.
"Yes, I wondered when our very own hero would chime in. You think you're so great, don't you, Potter?" his voice became more mordacious (a word which here means "nasty") with every breath, "He-who-must-be-named would have been proud, another Slytherin added to the fold."
At that, Harry was no longer able to subdue his anger and he lunged at Draco's smarmy face with all of the power he could muster, despite Ron and Hermione's attempts to stop him. With one swift kick, Goyle had him on the floor, pain rushing through his right leg. "I would get that seen to if I were you, that looks nasty," said Draco, laughing to himself quietly, "I'll be sure to see more of you, Potter. Let's hope you do better next time, eh?"
And with that and a swish of his hair, Draco and his ape-like companions were gone through the doorway, still chuckling to themselves.
"Don't worry, Harry", said Hermione, in an attempt to comfort him, "I'm sure it's not too bad – Madame Pomfrey will fix you up in no time".
"We're very sorry for this", said Violet, softly, "We didn't mean to cause any trouble. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, alright?" Harry said, brusquely. Harry wasn't focusing on the pain in his leg – Draco beat him. He was Harry Potter; he could beat anything, couldn't he? After a few moments, he hastily got up, remembering his current position, on the floor.
"So who are you?" he said, changing the subject quickly.
"Well, I'm Violet Baudelaire, these are my siblings" said Violet, uneasily, "are you sure you're OK?"
"As Hermione said, although it hurts a bit now, Madame Pomfrey can work wonders." said Harry, slightly irritated about the subject being raised once again, he's always been able to look after himself.
"So you're Harry Potter? I've heard a lot about you", said Klaus, "Vanquished Lord Voldemort didn't you?"
Hermione and Ron cringed loudly at the sound of his name, should such an action be possible. "Never say that, please."
"Oh for Pete's sake" said Harry, with mild disgust. "Oh for Pete's sake" has a long and complex etymology. Then commonly accepted theory among many etymologists is that the phrase is a bowdlerisation of "For God's sake", using Saint Peter instead of God him/herself. However, many disrespected lexicographers would have you believe that it is based in Polyethylene terephthalate, a thermoplastic resin of the Polystyrene family (a phrase which here means "plastic"). It may also have a lot to do with a certain receptionist's certain husband.
"Well, Dumbledore told me and I just assumed…" said Klaus uneasily.
"Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard", replied Hermione matter-of-factly.
"Wow – he's the headmaster of the school, right? Is he nice?" said Violet, getting slightly excited at the prospect of an important wizard being there to protect her. Perhaps her and her siblings can escape Olaf this time.
"He's really cool", said Ron, "really cool indeed – I wouldn't recommend getting on the wrong side of him though: as we said, he's very powerful."
"He would never use his powers on a student", said Hermione, "He's a fair headmaster, respected by all of the students."
Ron cut in. "Except for Slytherin!" he said, "Hope you don't get sorted into Slytherin. That's a point – how will you get sorted?"
"Yurtza!" said Sunny, which probably meant something along the lines of "We were told to meet Professor McGonagall when we got to the gates"
"What sunny means", Violet translated, "is that we were told to meet Professor McGonagall (whoever she is) when we got to the gates. How do we get to the gates – does the train go all the way there?"
"I'm not sure", said Harry, "The first-years travel by boat the rest of the way, but you're not first-years. I really don't know. Maybe you should just travel with us in the carriages up to the castle."
"Well, actually, Hogwarts: A History (which, incidentally, you two should read) says that you, as it's you're first time, should go with Hagrid along the river to the castle", said Hermione.
"I definitely will", said Klaus, excitedly, "I love to read. Have you read –"
Just at that moment, Harry, Hermione and Ron heard the familiar sound of the Tea Lady, making her rounds up and down the train. Ron jumped up. "That's the Tea Lady! I'm getting quite hungry here – I really do fancy some Chocolate frogs!"
"What are chocolate frogs?" Klaus asked eagerly.
"Ah, you'll find out", said Ron, "they're really cool"
A round of frantic buying ensued, the usual argument broke out about whether Harry should buy everyone's. Galleons, Sickles and Knuts flew about as the six bought so many sweets and chocolates, any normal human would be sick, like I was one Sunday afternoon in June. Their money sacks considerably emptier and arms laden with sugary products, the six students waddled back into their compartment and began munching happily, the incident with Draco fully behind them. Harry had persuaded himself that his loss meant nothing – he could still beat anything he faced.
As the afternoon started drawing to a close, the hole in the wall reappeared with the opening of the door. This time, a wholly nicer sight greeted the six of them, Neville Longbottom, a boy also starting fourth year was the one to appear in the doorway with currently devoid of his normally ever-present toad, Trevor.
"Hi, have any of you seen Trevor?" he said, slightly out of breath.
"Why, has he gone missing again?" said Hermione, "When did you last see him?"
"Garsha?" implored Sunny, which probably meant something along the lines of "Who (or indeed, what) is Trevor?"
"Who's Trevor?" asked Klaus, diligently translating.
"He's my pet toad. He always goes missing."
"No, we haven't seen him", said Ron, "Not since last year, anyway."
"Well, can you help me find him?" asked Neville, "I'm really worried."
"Yeah, sure" said Harry, "Come on, Ron."
"Can I come?" asked Klaus, excitedly, "I've just read a book about toads."
"Sure", said Harry and with that, Harry, Ron and Neville left through the hole, sealing it up behind them.
"So what classes are you going to take, do you think, Violet?", asked Hermione, reaching for the last Pumpkin Pasty.
"Well, from the little Dumbledore mentioned, I really like the sound of Transfiguration", said Violet.
"That's a very difficult lesson you know, Violet. It takes a lot of skill and a lot of practice. Plus, Professor McGonagall is the teacher, she's very strict."
"Uvlum!" reminded Sunny.
"Yes, Sunny. We have to met her when we get to the castle."
"You don't want to do Divination", Hermione said scornfully, " a load of rubbish".
"Klaus did say something about that from one of the books he read."
"Yeah, really stupid." replied Hermione, having finished her Pumpkin Pasty, moving on to a sherbet lemon.
"So where do we sleep at the castle?" asked Violet, reaching for a Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean.
"That depends on your house", replied Hermione, "I can't tell you until you're sorted but you get a dormitory and a common room. I'm in Gryffindor."
"Ewww! Yuk! That's disgusting!" cried Violet suddenly, "It tastes like ... I don't know what it is ... Chicken-flavoured ice cream. It's revolting"
Hermione chuckled to herself. "Yes, I never eat Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans any more, myself. You never know what flavour you're going to get..."
Harry, Ron and Klaus rushed back in, panting. "We found Trevor" said Harry, slightly out of breath, "but the train is nearly there – we have to change, quickly!"
"Oh no, time's just gone so fast", said Hermione, pulling her cloak on.
"So we put our cloaks on now do we?" inquired Violet, "Won't we been seen?"
"Nah, Violet", replied Klaus, getting his cloak caught briefly on Hedwig's cage. "As it says in Hogwarts: A History, the Castle is protected by many an anti-muggle charm."
"Oh, OK" she replied as she brushed down her cloak ready to go.
And not too soon for just as she'd done that, the familiar rush of steam sounded and the train was there: the Baudelaire's first glimpse of Hogwarts. The nerves of earlier were gone and the three orphans felt confident as they departed the train: Olaf was out of their lives for good.