CHAPTER FIVE
I'm really sorry this took me soo long! Skools starting up and stuff, ya know? I'm skipping ahead to the 1st of September, cuz I want to. I hope this is good! Don't forget to review (a lot)!
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I came downstairs with all my stuff on the first of September. It wasn't an easy load to handle either, but I made it on my own. Tom took me outside to the waiting ministry cars. What a fun ride this'll be… They loaded my luggage into the trunk and I said my thanks to Tom. It was ten thirty when we set off.
We arrived at quarter of, and I was supplied with a cart to wheel my things around in. The ministry man walked me into the station said, "Well, here you are," left without another word.
"Here I am," I whispered, not having any clue where the platform was. Sure, I knew exactly what I had to do, but did it matter which barrier? I wandered around hopelessly, knowing better than to ask the guards for help. I began searching for an owl. Any owl would do, but as long as it was an owl, then I'd be all set. I could just follow somebody onto the platform. I looked through the crowd and finally saw the snowy owl sitting in a cage. Harry was talking to a guard, and he looked how I felt: panicked.
"Harry!" I shouted running over to him, with my cart in tow.
He looked over as the guard walked away, shaking his head. "Kailey! Do you have any idea how we get to the train?"
"I've some thought as to how we do it, yeah." I said and Harry exhaled, relieved. "I just don't know where the platform is."
"Oh, well…then…what should we--"
"—packed with muggles of course--"
We looked at each other and wheeled around to see a group of redheads walking together, and with them was an owl. Without a word we followed them. We stopped a short distance away and watched them carefully.
"Now what was the platform number?" said a pleasantly plump women.
"Nine and three quarters! Oh mum, can't I go?" pleaded a small girl.
"No, Ginny, you're not old enough, yet. Percy, you go first."
A tall boy with horn-rimmed glasses marched forward he reached the barrier and just was…gone. I had to blink to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.
"Fred, go on,"
"He's not Fred, I am!" said one of the twins.
"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother?" said the other twin.
I let out a giggle, as the twins went through the barrier as well. Harry looked at me and nodded towards them. I nodded for an answer.
"Excuse me," said Harry as we walked towards the remaining redheads.
"Hello, dears, first time at Hogwarts?" we nodded, "Ron's new, as well."
She pointed to him. He as tall as his mother already and he was gangling and of course, tons of freckles.
"Yes, the thing is – the thing is, we don't really know how to – to…"
"How to get onto the platform," I interrupted.
"Oh, not to worry, all you have to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten. Don't be scared or you'll crash into it. Why don't you two go on now before Ron?"
"Ok, um…thanks" I said, hoping that Harry wouldn't make me go first.
"Er – Kailey, why don't you--?"
I gulped and nodded. I pushed my cart towards the barrier. My heart was thumping against my throat. I was going to crash I just knew it. I broke into a sprint and closed my eyes. There was a quick icy sensation and I opened my eyes. I had made it through!
I stood a little ways from the barrier so that Harry could come through without crashing into me. I looked up at the giant scarlet steam engine packed with people waiting to begin the journey to Hogwarts. I looked back at the barrier and Harry appeared suddenly from it. His eyes grew wide as he looked around.
"Let's go find a place to sit." I said, and Harry nodded.
We walked down the platform until we found an empty compartment. It was so weird watching people walk around like this all was completely normal. Cats weaving between your legs, and owls hooting and screeching all over the place. I looked in on one compartment and saw a toad sitting on the floor.
We started attempting to get our trunks onto the train. The effort was useless; we just couldn't get the trunks up the narrow stairway. I jammed my finger against the wall on one side, causing me to let go, landing the trunk on Harry's foot.
"Oh, Harry I'm so sorry." I said clutching my finger, which was turning red as I spoke.
"That's alright," said Harry rubbing his foot.
"Want a hand?" said a voice from over my shoulder, which made me jump. It was one of the twins.
"Yes, please," Harry and I chorused.
"OY! Fred get over here and help us with these!"
The second twin appeared and went down on Harry's end and the four of us managed the trunks quite easily. I rubbed my hand, my finger still throbbing slightly when one of the twins said "What's that?" he was pointing at Harry's forehead.
"Blimey, are you--?"
"He is! Aren't you?"
I raised my eyebrow. I thought twins thought alike…
"Am I what?"
"Harry Potter!"
"Oh, him," that made sense... "I mean, yeah, I am." Harry corrected himself.
The twins stared open-mouthed. Again I was shunted to the side.
"Fred? George? Are you two in there?"
"Coming mum," said the twin closest to me. They took another look at Harry and jumped off the train.
Harry looked at me, "How often do you think that'll happen?" he said nodded toward the twins.
"Hmm…this is just a guess, but I think it'll happen…enough that you'll get used to it."
"That much, huh?"
I laughed and we sat down in the compartment. Harry leaned away from the window slightly, watching the redheaded family.
"What's that 'P' on his badge for?" Harry asked.
"It just means that he's a prefect." I said.
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"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" the twin's voice floated through the window.
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"See?" I said, grinning.
They continued their conversation and I opened my book to page 96, from which I could quote everything that they were saying.
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"Hey, mom, guess who we just met?"
I looked up to see Harry squishing himself against his seat, as far away from the window as he could get.
"You know that black-haired kid who was near us in the train station?"
"The boy or the girl?"
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"My hair is not black." I said, shaking my head.
"It's not?" said Harry.
"No, its just really dark brown."
"Oh, well, if you say so,"
"I do say so,"
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"Harry Potter!" The twins had finally told their mother.
"Oh, mum, can I please go and see him?" Ginny's voice was high and excited.
"You've already seen him Ginny, he's not a zoo animal," scolded her mother. "Is he? How do you know?"
"We asked him," said one of the twins (Fred?) proudly.
"Do you think he'll remember anything about the night that it happened?" said the other (George?)
"I forbid you to ask him that! As if he needs to be reminded of that on his first day of school!"
"Alright, alright,"
"Keep your hairnet on!"
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The whistle sounded and I looked up at Harry.
"Last chance to stay here," I said with a smile, as the train started moving.
"I'll pass, anywhere is better than with the Dursleys."
The door of the compartment slide open and the freckliest of the boys entered.
"Oh, sorry," he said beginning to move on.
"No, wait," I said jumping up and sitting next to Harry. "There's plenty of room."
"Yeah," said Harry.
"Thanks," said the boy smiling. "Everywhere else is full."
"No problem,"
He glanced quickly at Harry then looked away when he saw me watching. His nose still had a small blotch on it.
The door slid open again, "Hey, Ron. Listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."
"Right," mumbled Ron.
"Cool," I said brightly. The twins looked at me.
"I don't think we introduced ourselves. I'm Fred Weasley," said Fred.
"And I'm George," said George. "People tell us we're identical, but we don't really see the resemblance. Who're you?"
"Kailey," I said, smiling.
"And this is our brother, Ron." Said Fred, "Well, we'll see you guys later."
"Bye," said the boys.
"See you," I said, as the door shut again.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron asked suddenly.
"Yeah," said Harry.
"Told you so," I said, smiling at Harry.
Ron looked confused.
"He asked me how many times people were going to ask him who he was." I explained.
"Oh --- well, I um…thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes." Defended Ron, "Do you really have the--"
"The scar?" I filled in, and Ron nodded.
Harry lifted his bangs and Ron stared.
"So that's where –?"
"Yeah,"
"Wicked,"
"But I don't remember what happened."
"Nothing?"
"Just a load of green light."
"Whoa,"
We all stopped talking again and faced different directions.
"Are all of your family wizards?" asked Harry suddenly, his face full of interest.
"I think so," said Ron, frowning slightly trying to remember. "I think my mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we don't talk about him."
"My dad's an accountant." I said suddenly.
"Really? What's the deal with your parents?"
"Both muggles, and, as far as I know, I'm the first witch in the family in a few generations."
"And you live with muggles too, don't you Harry, at least that's what I've heard."
"Yeah,"
"What're they like?" asked Ron.
"Horrible,"
I stared, "Horrible?"
"Well, at least the Dursleys are. I'd rather have three wizard brothers."
"Five," said Ron, kinda gloomily, "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. Do you have any siblings, Kailey?"
"Yeah, a little brother," I said. "Two words: not fun."
"Better one than five," said Ron.
"Or none," said Harry.
"I'd rather have a sister to a brother."
"No you wouldn't," said Ron, shaking his head. "Sisters are worse."
"Oh, really?" I said smiling.
Ron's ears turned bright pink. "Oh, well, obviously not all sisters…"
"I think I'd prefer an older sister to a younger brother though,"
"No, cause then you never get anything new. And you're never the first one to do stuff. Like my brothers, Bill and Charlie have already left Hogwarts. Bill works for Gringotts doing stuff in Egypt. And Charlie studies dragons in Romania. But Bill was head boy, and Charlie was the captain of the Quidditch team, and now Percy is a prefect and Fred and George are really funny and everybody likes them. And I'm supposed to be as good as all of them, but it doesn't even matter cause I'm just doing the same stuff they did, even with their old stuff! I mean I've got Bill's robes, Charlie's wand, and Percy's rat."
"Yeah, but at least you know what you're getting into. You've got a better idea than us as to what's going on." I said as Ron pulled out the rat.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." He said looking at the fat rodent. "This is Scabbers, and, as you can see, he barely ever wakes up."
"That's nice," I said leaning away from the rat.
Ron and Harry exchanged looks, looks I didn't like. Then Harry said, smiling, "Are you afraid of Scabbers?"
"What? Afraid? No don't – don't be – Get him out of my face!"
Ron sat back down laughing along with Harry.
"It isn't funny!" That only made them laugh harder. I glared at them. "Oh my God! Look! Lee's spider got loose!" I shouted pointing.
Ron jumped a foot and a half in the air, banging his head on the luggage rack. Harry glared at the spot that I was pointing at.
"That was too easy!" I said cracking up.
"How did you know I didn't like spiders?" said Ron, rubbing his head.
"Lucky guess," I said trying to calm myself down. I looked at Scabbers again. "I suppose I'll have to get used to seeing rats though?"
"No, most people have owls. Percy got an owl for becoming a prefect but they couldn't – I mean I got Scabbers."
Ron's ears turned pink again, and he looked out the window.
"What's wrong with not being able to afford an owl?" Harry asked, "I used to have to wear my cousin's old stuff. It's a minor miracle I didn't disappear in his shirts and pants, or blow away like a sail in a gust of wind. Let me tell you, my cousin is no where near my size."
Ron smiled at this and his ears were a normal color now.
"One year they forgot my birthday even existed, and for Christmas one time I got a piece of scotch tape, and it was only because Dudley had broken my glasses again."
I was trying not to smile now; it wasn't that Harry wasn't trying to be funny. I just felt mean smiling about the things he was saying.
"…I had no idea I was a wizard before Hagrid and Kailey showed up. I didn't even know that my parents had been murdered by Voldemort--"
Ron gasped.
"What?"
"You-said-You-Know-Who's-name!" Ron said, very quickly.
"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, I just didn't know that you shouldn't say his name." Said Harry, shaking his head again, "I'll bet…I'll bet that I'm worst in the class."
"No you won't, Harry." I said, "You're not the only one who didn't know that they were a wizard…or witch." I added as an afterthought.
A few moments later we heard a clattering outside. The door slid open and a jolly witch stood there with a food cart. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"
Harry and I leapt to our feet, but Ron said, "My mum made sandwiches…"
We went into the corridor and looked at the cart. Harry's jaw dropped.
"Hmm…what should I get?" I muttered to myself. Well, I'm defiantly going to have Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans…but what else to get…?
Harry went all out and asked for some of everything, paying a total of eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.
"I'll take some of those Bertie Bott's and umm…Chocolate Frogs…Cauldron Cakes…and I'll try the Pumpkin Pasties, please."
"There you are dear. Now that'll be nine Sickles and three Knuts."
"Thank you, very much."
I walked back into the compartment, finding my seat full of Harry's sweets.
"Shove over," I said to Ron, "My seat has been invaded upon." I said jokingly.
He moved over while staring at his sandwich. "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."
"I'll swap you," said Harry, holding out a pasty.
"You don't want this…"
"Go on, Ron, its Harry asking you isn't it?"
Harry and Ron and I split the treats. I decided to dump my stuff onto the seat with Harry, lest the chocolate frogs melt. I kept the jelly beans, though.
"These aren't real frogs are they?" said Harry holding up a chocolate frog.
"Nah, it's just a spell. Besides it's the card you want."
"Card of what?"
"Each pack's got a famous witch or wizard. You can collect the cards and trade em and stuff. I've got about 500 myself."
"Wow, that's a lot of chocolate." I said taking another from the pile.
Harry opened his package and the frog hopped right out.
"Get it quick!" I said laughing as Harry lunged at it and missed. We chased it around the compartment before it hopped out of the window. "Nice one Harry." I said still laughing.
"Well, who'd you get on your card?"
"So this is Dumbledore." Said Harry, looking at the back of the card to read the info on Dumbledore.
Ron watched as I opened my box, very carefully.
"You ready to catch this bad boy if he gets by me, Ron?" I asked looking up.
"Yeah, I'm ready." He said staring at the box.
"He's gone!" Harry said, just as I opened the box, which caused me and Ron to both jump, allowing my frog to escape.
"Harry," I moaned, "Look what you've done!"
"But, Dumbledore is gone!"
"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron, trying to corner the frog.
"Yeah," I said, "That'd be boring – Gotcha!"
"Well, in muggle pictures, the people just, ya know, stay put."
"They do? Wow," said Ron, sitting back down on his seat.
"Oh, I don't think I can eat it!" I said holding the little frog.
"Why not? It's just chocolate,"
"But, it's still moving and everything."
"Then knock it out,"
"That's mean!"
They both just shrugged and shook their heads.
"Here, Harry, you take it, you lost your other one."
I handed him the frog, "Here, we'll all split it."
He and Ron held the frog down and ripped off the legs.
"Here you go, Kailey, frogs' legs."
"Ahh…that's so mean." The legs had stopped moving though.
"When you take them apart, the spell stops working." Said Ron, eating his share of the frog.
"Nice," I said accepting the legs. I will never like French foods…
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That's all I've got for this chapter! Sorry it's soo long, but it would've been longer if I'd kept going! I'll try to get the next chap. Up really soon! So remember to review! (and no emails, PLEASE) THNX:-D :- 8-D
