A/N: First off, the name of this came from the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles (One of my favorite movies. You really need to see it :) ) Also this is the introduction of one of the final main characters, Megan. She is one of my awesome Hufflepuff buddies :-D It might be a bit before I update any of my stories as I am finishing up moving my stuff. Anyways, hope you enjoy :)

Planes, Trains, and Flying Automobiles

The rest of the month was spent reading everything I could about Hogwarts. Ginger came over everyday her mother worked, as my house was right on the way to her mum's job. Everyday she came over we read more and more about our school. Ginger was very impressed with all the magic that protected the school and their massive library (which said in Hogwarts: A History that the books automatically updated themselves every year. If one was to read a book about something that happened five hundred years ago and read the exact same passage a year later it would say five hundred and one). We also read a lot about the four houses at Hogwarts (Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin).

We didn't spend the whole time, however, reading about Hogwarts and trying simple spells from Standard Book of Spells Grade One. We also got to know each other quite well. Ginger's mother was also a single mum. Her father had worked in the Royal Air Force testing planes and fixing them if they needed to be fixed. One day when she was seven, her father went to test a new plane and died shortly after takeoff when the plane exploded. Ginger's mother was devastated and the British military wasn't helping them much with expenses. They lived in a small townhouse outside the city while her mother was working at a secretary at a drill company called Grunning's. Her boss was a terrible man who used to yell and shout at her every moment he could.

Finally, September first came. I sat in my room making sure I had all my robes, my cauldron, my books, and everything else I would need. I had everything packed the night before, but I kept checking and rechecking. Midge was safely in her cage with a fresh batch of food, and had her head under wing sleeping. I took one look at my room and sighed. I wouldn't be back here for another few months for Christmas.

As I was locking up my trunk, mum called from down the hallway, "Drea! Ginger and Linda are here to pick us up! Hurry up now! Don't want to be late!"

I grabbed the end of my trunk and Midge's cage and took one last look at my room. I shut the light off and walked to the door. Ginger and her mother were standing there waiting for us. Mum and I decided to go with them, as Mrs. Christ had a van and it would hold our trunks and our animals. After everything was loaded, we set off for Kings Cross Station. The whole trip was spent talking about what we would do for Christmas when we were going to be on break. We ended up deciding that since we didn't have any family to speak of, to spend Christmas together at our flat.

We finally got to the station and Mrs. Christ went to get trolleys while my mum helped get our trunks and animals out. Piling our things onto the carts, we set off for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. We went to the barrier between nine and ten and saw a boy with curly hair kissing his mum and dad good-bye. With a final wave, he ran toward the barrier and in an instant, he was gone. Ginger and I shook our head, not expecting that to happen (even though Professor McGonagall had told us what to do).

"Well, that was odd," said Mrs. Christ, laughing a bit.

We kissed and hugged our mothers good-bye and looked at the barrier. It looked completely solid, and I had a feeling of apprehension. The barrier was wide enough that two people could go through at the same time.

"You want to go first or should I?" I asked Ginger.

"Let's do it at the same time," she said, the same apprehension in her voice.

"One."

"Two."

"THREE!" We broke out into a run and couldn't stop. The barrier seemed to disappear and looking back, we saw nothing but a brick wall. We turned around to see a bright red steam engine. It looked like it was quite old, but it was very well taken care of. I looked at my watch and noticed we had a little over fifteen minutes before the train was set to leave. There were a few students bustling around the platform, say hello to old friends from the previous year. We went down the train looking for an empty compartment and found one that had nobody in it. We heaved our trunks inside and placed our pets next to the trunks.

"I still can't believe we're going to Hogwarts," Ginger said, flopping down in the seat across from me. "Once the train gets going, want me to get my Exploding Snap cards out of my trunk?" Ginger had bought this wizarding card game when they were in Diagon Alley. It is very much like the card game "Old Maid" in that each player had a certain number of cards and had to pick a card from the other players' hand. The only difference was that you didn't know which card was going to be the exploding one.

"Sure, that sounds fine," I replied, looking out the window at the people saying good-bye to their parents.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud right outside our compartment and a girl cried, "Bloody hell!" Our door slid open and a tall girl with black hair stood there. She was wearing jeans and a zip up sweatshirt. She pushed the hair out of her eyes, and said, "My stupid trunk fell on my foot! Are these seats saved for anyone?"

"No. Go ahead and sit," I replied.

"My name is Megan Shafur. I'm a first year. What about you guys?" We both nodded as she put her trunk up into the rack. She continued, "So which houses do you guys think you will be in?"

"We've only read a bit about them, but either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff," Ginger replied.

"I think I'll do good in Hufflepuff," I said.

"My parents were in Hufflepuff, as were my dad's family. I'm a half-blood, mum was a Muggle-born. What about you?"

"We're both Muggle-born. We met in Diagon Alley a few weeks back," I replied. "So you grew up with magical parents?"

"Yeah. They both work at the Ministry. They work in the Magical Games Department. Both of them are huge Quidditch-"

"Quid-what?" Ginger asked.

"Quidditch. It's a game played on broomsticks." She went on to describe this game and it sounded like soccer on broomsticks. "It's too bad we can't try out for the House team until at least second year. I have been playing it since I was old enough to ride a broomstick."

We chatted for a bit when our door slid open and a dirty blond haired girl with larger than normal eyes asked, "Is this seat taken?" She had a very airy voice.

"Nope, not at all."

The girl put her trunk up on the rack and sat down. She took a magazine out of her robes called The Quibbler and began to read. Ginger, Megan, and I all looked at each other with odd looks on our faces and continued talking. Before long, the train started to move and I could hear a girl yelling up ahead. She was still on the platform with her trunk. I got up quickly, and as my door passed her, I yelled, "Get in quick!"

The girl threw her trunk in and hopped into the moving train. She had faded and worn clothes on and had bright red hair.

"Thanks. I thought I wasn't going to make it." She looked around the compartment and saw the blond haired girl. "Hey, Luna."

Luna looked over her magazine, nodded, and went back to reading.

"I'm Ginny Weasley," the girl said, stowing her trunk away.

We all introduced ourselves and once the train got going, Ginger got her Exploding Snap cards out. Me, Megan, and her played for a bit and Ginny got a journal out of her trunk and began to write in it.

"Who are you writing about?" Megan asked, holding her cards away from her face as one of them started to smoke.

"No one," Ginny replied, blushing slightly.

"Oh, that means it's a boy," I said, laughing a bit.

She blushed even more and she looked like she had a tomato for a head. "It's just one of my brother's friends."

"Would I know him?" Megan asked, shuffling the cards.

Ginny nodded, closing the diary.

"Do tell!" Ginger laughed.

"Harry Potter," mumbled Ginny.

"The Harry Potter?" Megan asked, the shock evident on her face. Ginny nodded.

We all had a good laugh and later in the afternoon, an elderly witch came with a trolley full of sweets. We got up to look at what she had, and I had never heard of anything on the cart.

"What is all this?" I asked.

"That's right! You've never had any of this before," Megan said, slapping her head. "We'll take three of everything."

"Oh, no you don't have to," Ginger said.

"I want to," Megan replied, counting out ten Sickles.

We ate the sweets, which included Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (these actually had awful tasting

beans), and other things. Once we were full, we were very quiet and tired. I looked out the window and saw something I didn't expect.

There was a flying car.

As soon as I shook my head, it was gone again. I kept staring at the sky and I saw it again.

"What in the hell?" I said.

"What is it?" Ginger asked, looking out the window.

"Please tell me you see a car in the sky," I said, pointing to where I saw it. Sure enough, the car dipped under the clouds for a second and went back up.

We looked back and saw Ginny turn white. She got up and looked out the window. The car yet again dove under the clouds and back

up again.

"Oh, no!" she cried and ran out of the compartment.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Megan. We all shrugged. Luna was still reading her Quibbler.

A moment later, Ginny came into the compartment with two twin boys. Ginger and I stood on the seat so they could see the car.

"Is that…" started one twin.

"I think it is," finished the other.

"Wicked," they said together.

"This is not good you two! They can barely fly the thing!" Ginny cried.

"I can't wait to talk to them," said one twin.

"George! This is not funny! I'm going to get Percy." She left the compartment again.

"I think it's totally funny, Fred," said George.

"She doesn't know what she's talking about. Let's go tell Lee. Ladies," they said, bowing out the door.

As soon as the twins left, Ginny came through the door with a red haired boy with horn rim glasses.

"Ginny, I really don't have time for this. I have Prefect duties," said the boy.

"Percy, just look!" Ginny pointed. Percy rolled his eyes and looked out the window, unenthused.

"I'm telling you. There is nothing…" he stopped in mid-sentence. The car dove underneath the clouds again. Percy turned white, much

like Ginny did. "How dare they take the car! Don't they realize how this makes me look? I'm writing mum this instance," he said, stomping out of the compartment.

As it got darker out, we started to lose sight of the car. We continued to play Exploding Snap with one eye on the window. A voice came on overhead saying, "We'll be arriving at Hogsmeade Station in ten minutes. Please leave your luggage and pets on the train. They will be taken to the school."

We all changed into our school robes and when we finished, the train started to slow down. It came to a halt and all around us, we heard compartment doors opening.

Getting out, we heard a booming voice yell out, "Firs' years over here!" The voice belonged to the giant we saw in Diagon Alley.

We walked up to the man, but it seemed like he was looking for someone else. He glanced down and noticed Ginny standing next to me and said, "Are yeh a Weasley?" She nodded. "Where's yeh brother?"

"Percy?"

"Ron."

Ginny turned red again and replied, "He took my father's car and flew it to Hogwarts."

Hagrid stood there speechless.

"Please don't tell anyone," Ginny said. "My father's not supposed to have it."

"We better get goin' up to the castle. Come on firs' years!" he yelled over the heads of students, ignoring Ginny.