Authors Note:

I dunno how many of you wrote that bday note I asked about, but thanks to any of you that did! It's much appreciated!

ANYWAAAAAYY, Let's just jump write into it :D


Last Time

"I don't know," Percy said sighing. "I want something related to the ocean though," He added. "I'll figure it out eventually."

"Make it soon," Sally said. "Having to call her "Percy's Cat" Is getting really old."

"Sorry, mom!" Percy said. "Anyway, I should go get my stuff packed." With that, Percy shoveled down the rest of his breakfast and retreated back into his room.

In about an hour, Percy was done with his packing. His textbooks had been placed on top of each other neatly in one corner of the trunk. Another corner housed a small box with his beginner's potions material, with his cauldron next to that. Once he had placed his robes and the rest of his belongings, Percy closed the trunk and set it off to the side, smiling. He was all set to go to Hogwarts now!


Present - September 1st, Jackson Residence


"Hey Percy, it's time to get up," Sally called from the kitchen.

"Just 5 more minutes mom," Percy answered, his voice muffled from the pillow his head was buried in.

"Percy if you don't get up now, the train will leave without you," Sally yelled. "Remember you leave for Hogwarts today?"

Upon hearing that, Percy was up in a flash. "I'm awake!" He yelled. "No missing the train." Percy quickly brushed his teeth and took a quick shower before heading into the kitchen.

Sally ruffled his hair before setting a large plate of blue cookies on the table, with a tall glass of milk next to it. "This is a treat for you, saying as you may not receive any more for the next few months," She said.

Percy's eyes widened at the sight. "Wow mom, this is awesome," he said, attacking the plate of cookies. "Wait, what do you mean, I won't receive them for a few months?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well, I can't exactly come to Hogwarts and bake cookies for you, now can I?" Sally said, showing off a bit of her sarcastic side.

Percy frowned. "No, but I expect parcels of blue cookies every few weeks," He added, crossing his arms in front of him.

"We'll see," Sally said, laughing at her son's antics. "I'll have to go over to Diagon Alley each time though," She added.

Percy pouted. "B-but...I need my blue cookies..." He groaned.

"Maybe if you're a good boy at school," Sally said, smirking.

"Speaking of school.." Percy said. "When do we leave?"

Sally checked her watch. "We're on time," She said. "We can leave as soon as you finish your breakfast."

"Great!" Percy said as he started to wolf down the cookies. Within a matter of minutes, the plate was empty, and Percy had even licked off the crumbs. "All right mom, I'm ready," He called.

"Ok, let's get going then, honey," Sally called, walking to the fireplace with her pot of Floo powder. "Don't forget your trunk. And your cat."

"Of course not, mom!" Percy answered. He quickly ran back into his room to collect his belongings. A few minutes later, he walked back outside with his cat's cage in one hand, pulling his trunk along behind him with the other.

"Ready to go?" Sally asked, handing Percy the pot of Floo powder.

"Let's just get this over with," Percy groaned, grabbing a handful of the Floo powder from the pot.

Sally only smirked and threw her powder into the fire. "The Dursley Household," She shouted. The fire turned bright green and rose to unnatural heights. Percy and Sally stepped into the roaring fire and disappeared.


The Dursleys' home


The next morning Harry woke up bright and early. In fact, he was up at 5, too excited about Hogwarts to be able to sleep again. By 6, he had taken a shower and put on his jeans and t-shirt, deciding that it would be better if people didn't see him with Hogwarts robes until he got onto the train.

To pass the time, Harry double checked, then triple checked his Hogwarts list to make sure that he had everything he needed. About an hour or two later, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps bounding down the stairs and realized that the Dursleys had finally woken up.

Harry got up from his bed and walked down to the kitchen. "Good morning Uncle Vernon," He said, nodding to his uncle. "Good morning Aunt Petunia." As before, Vernon only grunted in response, while Petunia continued to focus on the pan in front of her, giving no sign that she had heard him. Harry internally groaned. 'Looks like they're back to the silent treatment,' He thought.

Just then, Dudley came running down the stairs, his pigtail waving in the air behind him. "Good morning Dudley," Harry said. Dudley whimpered and hid behind Aunt Petunia as Vernon turned and glared at Harry.

"So boy," Vernon growled, drawing Harry's attention away from Dudley. "We'll be leaving in about an hour."

"All right," Harry said. "I've got everything packed up."

"Good because we won't be waiting even one minute," Uncle Vernon answered, tapping his watch.

Harry retreated to his room, where he grabbed Hedwig's cage in one hand and the handle of his trunk in the other. Taking both downstairs, he showed them to Uncle Vernon, who grunted again.

"See I'm ready," Harry said.

"Put everything in the car," Uncle Vernon replied. "Not the SUV, put it In the van. You'll be sitting in the back so Dudley won't have to sit next to you."

Harry took his trunk and Hedwig's cage and walked out to the back, where he opened the trunk of the car. A few minutes later, his trunk and the cage were safely placed in the back so they wouldn't move around too much, and Harry had returned to the kitchen.

"When do we leave?" Harry asked.

"In about 30 minutes," Uncle Vernon answered, looking at the clock on the fireplace mantle.

These must have been the slowest 30 minutes of Harry's life. Never before had he felt each passing second go by so slowly. After the first five minutes, Harry had volunteered to wash all the dishes to speed things up. After fifteen, he had finished a bunch of other chores, and yet the Dursleys still hadn't finished. At this point, he had taken to just pacing around the room, tapping his feet on the floor impatiently as he waited.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the Dursleys finally finished their breakfast and stacked up their used plates in the sink. Harry almost cried with happiness as Uncle Vernon grabbed the keys from the coffee table.

"Are we leaving now?" He asked hopefully.

"In a few minutes," Vernon Dursley grunted. "Did you take all of Dudley's medical papers?" He asked, turning to Aunt Petunia.

"They're in my purse, dear," Petunia said. Uncle Vernon gave a curt nod before making his way to the door.

"Let's go then," He said. The four made their way towards the door when suddenly the whole house started to shake.

"Daddy! What's going on?" Dudley screamed.

Uncle Vernon turned and glared at Harry. "Boy, did you do something?" He asked angrily.

"Me? How would I cause an earthquake?" Harry retorted.

"There's no telling with your lot," Petunia added, glaring at Harry. "Oh Vernon, what's happening!"

The four of them got their answers a split second later when the fireplace in the living room burst open. A massive green fire rose from the fireplace, as bits of ash and melted bricks flew into the air.

The Dursleys screamed as their fireplace was destroyed.

"I am so sorry about that," A feminine voice said through the smoke and the green fire.

"Yeah sorry, but the fireplace was so small," a younger voice said. "We couldn't fit through it, especially with this trunk."

Harry gasped. The voices sounded so familiar. But no. It couldn't be. How could they have flooed themselves over here all the way from New York? Nevertheless, he walked forwards. "Mrs. Jackson? Percy?" He questioned.

"That's us," Percy answered, emerging from the smoke. He spat the ashes out of his mouth before continuing. "Glad you still remember me," He said.

"What-How-?" Harry stammered. "How did you guys get over here?" he asked.

Sally Jackson appeared from the smoke, dragging Percy's cauldron behind her. "We used the Floo network," She answered. "The International Confederation of Wizards had this fireplace hooked up to their network, thanks to Dumbledore."

Uncle Vernon sputtered with rage as he looked at his torn down fireplace. "How dare you," He said. "How dare you destroy a part of my beautiful home!" He screamed.

"Sorry about that," Sally said. She turned to the rubble and pointed her wand at it, before muttering some words under her breath. Instantly a bolt of light burst from her wand and onto the remains of the fireplace, which started to glow. In a few seconds, the bricks had rearranged themselves and the ash and dust had made its way back to where it used to be, making it look like nothing had ever happened. "There, good as new," Sally said with a smile.

"That was so cool..." Percy said.

"Yea!" Harry agreed. "Will we get to do things like that?"

Sally chuckled at their eagerness. "In time, you will."

"Awesome!" Harry said, his voice filled with excitement. "By the way, it's great to see you both again," He added, shaking Percy's hand. "Are we going to go to the station together too?"

"We sure are, man!" Percy said, a gleam in his eyes. "We thought your aunt and uncle wouldn't take you, so we dropped by just in case."

"Yea, that and the fact that we thought it would be fun to go to the platform together," Sally added. Her eyes were twinkling mischievously. "The platform isn't very obvious to newcomers."

Harry was about to ask what she meant by that when broke in. "Hey what's that blob over there?" he asked, spying Dudley cowering behind the couch, his whole body shaking with fright.

"Oh that's my cousin, Dudley," Harry answered, stifling a laugh at Percy's comment. Dudley whimpered softly at the mention of his name. "He's umm...pretty afraid of magic and wizards and stuff ever since..."

"Ever since?" Percy prodded.

"Every since Hagrid gave him a pig's tail," Harry finished.

Percy looked on silently for a second, before bursting into laughter. "I can see the resemblance," He whispered to Harry.

"Anyway boys, we should get going," Sally said.

"Yea, let's go," Percy said.

"We were going to drop him off at the station," Uncle Vernon said. "You didn't need to come here to make sure," He added, trying to sound angry even though everyone knew how scared he was at the prospect of 3 wizards in his home.

"Don't worry," Sally said. "We'll just be joining you for the ride."

"Yea, I'm sure that won't be a problem right?" Percy asked.

Uncle Vernon turned even whiter. "No problem at all," He managed to say. "Dudley, you'll be in the back, these three can take the middle seats, and me and Petunia in the front."

"Perfect, let's get going," Harry said, walking out the door with the rest following behind him.

About 15 minutes later, Harry, Percy, and Sally Jackson were sitting comfortably in the middle seats of the car. They probably would have started the drive sooner, but Uncle Vernon had to quite literally stuff a frightened Dudley into the backseat. Even then, Dudley moved his seat all the way back as far as it could go, hoping to get as far from the wizards as possible.

About halfway through the drive, Uncle Vernon turned back and faced the wizards. "What platform is your train at anyway."

Percy pulled out his ticket. "It says here that we need to board the train at platform nine and three quarters-"

"Hold it," Uncle Vernon interrupted. "Platform what?"

Harry peeked over the ticket. "Platform nine and three quarters" He repeated.

"Don't talk rubbish," Uncle Vernon said, scoffing. "There's no platform nine and three-quarters at Kings Cross Station."

"That's what it says on my ticket," Percy said, shrugging.

"Mine too," Harry added, pulling his own ticket out of his pocket.

"Barking mad, you all," Uncle Vernon said. "You'll see. You just wait until we get there."

In about a half hour, the group had arrived at Kings Cross Station. They slowly exited the car, and Percy and Harry piled their luggage onto their carts. To Harry's surprise, Uncle Vernon took his cart and started to wheel it into the station for him.

"Let's get going," Sally said, as she took the lead, the rest of the group following behind her.

When they reached platform 9, Uncle Vernon Stopped dead in his tracks, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face. Finally the kindness of wheeling his cart made sense to Harry. "Well, there you are, boys," Uncle Vernon said, sneering. "There's platform 9 and that's platform 10. I don't see a 9 and 3/4 though." Uncle Vernon was right. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, but nothing in between the two of them.

"It's gotta be here," Percy said angrily.

"Maybe they didn't build it yet," Uncle Vernon taunted, an even nastier grin on his face than before. "Anyway, have a good term." He broke off into laughter as walked back out to where Petunia and Dudley were waiting.

Harry's mouth went rather dry. "What do we do now, Percy?" He asked.

"I don't know. The platform should have been here," Percy added.

Sally's eyes twinkled. "I'll see if you boys can figure this one out yourself," She said rather mysteriously. "I think i"m going to head back home. But don't worry. I know you guys will find it eventually. Try asking around." She gave the boys a mischievous smile and hugged them both before making her way back outside.

After she left, Percy and Harry looked at each other nervously. What on earth were they to do now. They were already attracting a lot of funny looks due to Hedwig and Percy's cat. They came to the silent agreement that they would have to ask someone.

Percy, looking around, spotted a passing guard. "Do you know where the train heading the Hogwarts is?" Percy questioned.

"Hogwarts?" The guard asked. "Never heard of that place. You must be looking for something else."

"Oh sorry," Percy said.

"He means the train that leaves at eleven o'clock," Harry broke in.

"Sorry lad, but you may have the wrong station altogether," The guard said. "We have no train leaving at 11. What part of the country is this place in?" He questioned.

Percy and Harry looked at each other, panic evident in their eyes. "Umm, we don't know.." Percy said.

The guard snorted. "Little kids..always wasting time," he said, as he walked off.

"Let's try asking for the platform number," Percy said, as they approached another guard.

"Excuse me," Harry called. "Can you tell me where I might find Platform 9 and 3/4?"

"9 and 3/4?" The guard said. "Think you're being funny do you?" He too shook his head and walked away from the boys.

"Harry, what are we going to do now?" Percy asked, trying hard not to panic.

"I don't know, mate!" Harry said.

Numerous scenarios went through both boys' heads. According to the rather large clock over the arrivals board, they had 10 minutes to get on the train before it left without them, and they had no idea how. They were stranded in the middle of the station with two trunks they could barely lift by themselves, a handful of money, and in Harry's case, a rather odd pet.

AT that moment, a group of people passed just behind the two boys and the two boys caught a few of the words they were saying. "-Packed with muggles, of course."

The two boys looked at each other surprised, before whipping their heads around towards the speaker so fast they that they could have gotten whiplash. The speaker was a plump woman talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. each of them, like Harry and Percy, was pushing a trunk in front of him, and they had an owl with them too!

"Let's go follow them," Percy whispered.

Harry nodded. Hearts hammering, Harry and Percy pushed their carts after the group. As the group stopped, so did they, just close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Now then, What's the platform number?" The boys' mother asked.

"Platform Nine and Three Quarters," piped a small girl, also red headed, who was holding her hand. "Mom please, can't I just go and see.."

"Ginny, You're still too young, now be quiet," The mother scolded. "Now Percy, how about you go first."

The younger Percy opened his mouth, probably to ask how she knew that he was watching when the oldest boy from the group marched forward towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Harry and Percy watched, making sure not to blink, as the boy reached the dividing barrier. A large crowd of tourists suddenly came swarming in front of him. Percy and Harry craned their necks trying to view over the tourists but to no avail. By the time the last of the tourists had cleared, the boy had vanished from sight.

"We missed it," Percy said angrily. "Stupid tourists."

"Let's wait. Maybe the rest of them will go too," Harry said, turning his attention back to the plum woman.

"Fred you next," She said, pointing to one of the twins in the group.

The said twin walked up to the front. "I'm not Fred. I'm George," the boy said. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother! Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry George, dear," The woman said apologetically.

The boy walked forward. "I'm only joking. I am Fred," He said, smirking as he ran off. His twin called back at him to hurry up, and it seems as though he had listened because a second later, he was gone. Percy and Harry blinked in surprise, wondering how it happened.

As soon as the second brother had disappeared, the third one walked briskly toward the barrier. He was almost there, and then suddenly, he wasn't anywhere in sight. He had disappeared too.

"No way!" Percy whispered, eyes wide with shock.

"They're all just disappearing," Harry said, his shocked expression mirroring Percy's.

"Let's just go ask," Percy said, dragging his cart towards the woman with Percy on his heels.

"Excuse me," Harry called out to the plump woman.

The woman turned and looked at the two boys. "Hello dears," She said in a kindly tone. "First time to Hogwarts?" The boys nodded. "Great! Ron's new as well." She pointed at the last and the youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose. He also had the trademark fiery red hair that they all did.

"The thing is, ma'am," Percy said. "We don't know how to-"

"How to get onto the platform?" The woman finished for him. Percy nodded. "Not to worry, dear," She said. "Now, all you have to do, is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten."

Percy and Harry looked at her incredulously. "Really?" Harry asked, with uncertainty evident in his tone.

"Of course! Don't be scared you'll crash into it," The woman said. "That's very important. It's best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous."

"Ok then," Percy said. "Thank you so much."

The woman smiled at them. "Go on now. Before Ron."

Harry and Percy nodded and pushed their carts towards the barrier, breaking into a run at the last second. The two brothers closed their eyes, sure that they would smash right into the barrier and miss their train. Leaning forward, the two boys increased their speed. The barrier was getting closer and closer and they knew they wouldn't be able to stop. They were out of control. Just another few feet. The boys clenched their eyes shut, expecting a crash...which never came.

The boys kept running. Percy slowly came to a stop and opened his eyes. Next to him, Harry did the same. Both boys looked around in awe. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said "Hogwarts' Express, Eleven o'clock." The boys grinned at each other and looked back. Where there was once a barrier was now a wrought-iron archway. Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Many people even had their own owls with them, which were hooting at each other in very disgruntled ways over the babble and scraping of heavy trunks.

Harry and Percy looked over the train. The first few carriages were already packed with students, they noticed. Some were hanging out the window to get some last words with their families. Others were fighting for seats. Harry and Percy pushed their carts down the platform, looking for two empty seats. Along the way, they passed a round-faced boy. "Gran, I've lost my toad again, "He said.

"Oh Neville," He heard the old woman say as she sighed.

Moving on, the boys noticed a boy with dreadlocks being surrounded by a small crowd.

"Go on, Lee, give us a look," Someone from the crowd said. The boy with the dreadlocks, now identified as Lee, lifted the lid of the box in his arms. The people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.

Harry and Percy pushed on through the crowd until they finally found an empty compartment near the end of the train. They first kept their pets' cages inside before trying to shove and heave the trunks toward the door.

Percy dropped his trunk on his foot and jumped in pain in a futile attempt to lift it. Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind him. "You boys want a hand?" The voice belonged to one of the red haired twins they had noticed running through the barrier.

"Oh, sure," Percy said gratefully.

"Yes please," Harry added, panting heavily.

With the twins' help, the boys' trunks were finally tucked away in a corner of the compartment.

"Thank you," The boys said, still panting.

"What's that, by the way?" One of the twins asked suddenly, pointing at Harry's scar.

"Blimey, are you?" The other one said.

"Of course he is," The first twin answered.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You're Harry Potter aren't you?" The twins asked together.

"Oh him," Harry said. "I mean, yea I am." Percy sniggered as Harry went red in the face.

"And who are you?" The twins asked, turning to Percy.

"My name's Percy," He said.

The twins were about to respond when a voice called to them from outside. "Fred? George? Are you there?"

"We're coming mom," The twins said.

"Anyway, we must be going now. Nice meeting you, Harry, Percy," They said. They gave the boys one last look before hopping off the train.

"Well, looks like we've got this one all to ourselves," Percy said, plopping down on the seat next to the window.

"Yup!" Harry said, taking the seat across from Percy.

The two brothers looked out of the window, where, half hidden, they could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. The plump woman from before had just taken a handkerchief out of her purse. "Ron, you've got something on your nose," She said.

The youngest boy tried to move out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose. "Mom, geroff," He said, wriggling free.

"Ahh, has ickle Ronni got somefink on his nosie?" One of the twins said.

"Shut up," Ron answered angrily.

"By the way, Where'd Percy go off to," Their mother asked.

"I'm here," The boy in question said, striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes and was wearing a red and gold badge on his chest with the letter P on it. "I can't stay for too long, mother," He said. "I have to go upfront with the rest of the prefects. We've got a couple of compartments at the front to ourselves-"

"Ou are you a prefect, Percy," One of the twins asked, pretending to be surprised.

"We had no idea," The other one added. "Why didn't you tell us."

"Hang on George!" The first one said. "I seem to remember him saying something about it."

"Once-" The other one said.

"Or twice-"

"A minute-"

"All summer-"

"Oh shut up," Percy interrupted.

"How come Percy here gets new robes?" George complained.

"Because he's a prefect," Their mother said fondly. "All right then, dear," she added, kidding Percy on the cheek. "Have a good term and send me an owl when you get there," She instructed.

"I will mom," Percy said, giving her a hug before leaving.

The mom turned to the twins. "Now you two," She said, glaring at them. "Behave yourselves this year, got it?"

The twins nodded. "Of course mom, we never fool around," They said.

"If I get one more owl telling me you've...blown up a toilet...or..."The mom added threateningly.

"Blown up a toilet?" George questioned incredulously. "We've never blown up a toilet."

Fred laughed gleefully. "Great idea though. Thanks, mum!"

"It is NOT funny," Their mother said. "And make sure to look after Ron."

"DOn't worry mother," The twins said together. "Ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."

"Shut up," Ron said again. He was almost as tall as the twins already, despite being 2 years younger than them, and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.

"By the way, mom, guess who we met on the train?" Fred asked. Harry and Percy glanced at each other and moved back quickly so they wouldn't be caught eavesdropping. "You know that black haired boy who was near us in the station?"

"Turns out he's Harry Potter!" George said.

"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom," The little girl asked.

"Ginny," the mom scolded. "You've already seen him once. And besides, the poor boy isn't something you ogle at in the zoo."

"Sorry.." Ginny mumbled.

"Is he really there Fred?" The mother asked. "How do you know?"

"We asked him. Even saw his scar. It's really there! Like a bolt of lightning!" Fred exclaimed.

"The poor dear, No wonder he was alone," The mom said. "He was ever so polite when he asked me how to get onto the platform."

"Forget about that," George said. "Do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

Their mother turned very serious. "George I absolutely forbid you from asking him."

"But mom-" George said.

"No. Don't you dare. As if he needs a reminder of that on his first day at school," She interrupted, glaring at the two boys. Suddenly a whistle was heard from the train. "Hurtt up boys," Their mother said.

The three boys clambered onto the train and leaned out the window for her to kiss them goodbye. Their younger sister began to cry. "Don't Ginny," Fred consoled her. "We'll send you loads of owls."

"Yea we'll even send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat," George added.

"George!" The mother admonished.

"Only joking mom," The twin in question added hastily.

The train finally began to move. Harry and Percy looked out the window and saw the boys' mother waving, and the sister, half crying, half laughing, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed. Then she fell bad and waved. Harry and Percy watched the girl and her mother until they disappeared around the corner.


Authors Note:

Sooooo, still thinking of a name for Percy's cat. I've opened up a poll on fanfiction for the cat's name. The current options are:

Zoe (Character from PJO, Mother is a sea goddess)

Aerwyna (Means "Friend of the Sea")

Avisa (Means "Water" or "Ocean")

Zale (Means "Power of the sea")

Tide (Just cause it's simple)

So if you're on fanfiction, please do go and vote. If you're a Wattpad user, you can just leave your vote as a comment and I'll make sure to take it into count!

Anyway, thanks for reading! Remember to vote/fav/follow and review/comment!

Thanks! byeeeee!