Chapter 6: Platform? What?
Being a busy train station, no one took the time to notice strange lights coming underneath the restroom doors. Paige, Phoenix, and Katie came out of the women's as the two Henrys came out of the men's. They lifted the trunk onto a cart with Cali's cage sitting on top. Henry volunteered to push.
"Okay, so now where do we go?" asked Katie handing Phoenix her bag she brought from the house.
Phoenix reached in a compartment inside and pulled out her ticket. She was about to read it out loud but did a double take.
"What does it say?" asked Henry, as he pushed his sister's cart.
"Um… we must go to… um… platform nine and three-quarters."
"What!?" exclaimed Katie while she snatched the ticket out of her sister's hand. "This has got to be a joke. There is no such thing!"
'Katie is right, there is no such thing. Or is there? I mean, we made it this far.'
"Maybe they protect it like Magic School?" Henry told his sister, sneaking a small peek at the ticket.
'Maybe he is right. It would make sense. We hide Magic School and the entrance.'
"Well, let's walk around until we find platforms nine and ten. Then we can go from there, okay?" Ushered Paige.
Looking around for the right direction, they headed towards their destination. Platforms five and six came by, followed by seven and eight. Then platforms nine and ten came into view. The numbers were huge on each side, nine on one and ten on the other.
"Okay, according to your ticket, Phoenix, the platform should be in the middle." her father, Henry commented.
"Right, so where is it?" asked Katie in the same tone as before.
"Like, I know! All the ticket says is platform nine and three quarters!" Phoenix retorted back.
As the fighting continued, Paige walked up between platforms nine and ten, placed her hand on the cold concrete, closed her eyes, and concentrated.
"Paige?" Henry asked.
"I sense something behind this pillar." She responded as she opened her eyes and looked up and down the pillar.
'I can sense something too! I wonder if Katie can? Henry doesn't seem too.' Phoenix looked over toward Katie as Katie nodded. 'I thought so.'
Henry let go of the cart and checked behind the pillar for anything suspicious. "Nope, looks the same from over here." He looked back at Katie and placed his hands on his hips. "See! I told you they could protect it like Magic School!"
'Oh boy, here we go again! Is he trying to pull that off?' thought Phoenix, as she closed her eyes in annoyance.
Katie gave him a dirty look and crossed her arms, "Okay, genius! Then how do you get on platforms nine and three quarters?" she challenged.
Henry pondered, "How about knocking? I'm sure someone is there to open the door."
"Knocking? You think knocking will let us onto the platform?" Katie asked skeptically.
'Out of all the things we have seen knocking is what he came up with?' Phoenix couldn't believe it. She really thought he was more creative than that.
"Why not?" Henry ran to the other side pushing in front of his mother and knocked several times.
'It would be hilarious if this worked. I wonder if we could have just orbed? Though we could end up exposing our magic, and we do not know how these people would react.''
Unfortunately, nothing happened.
"Told you it wouldn't work!"
"Will you two knock it off!" Henry shouted as Katie and Henry jumped at the sound of his voice. Henry looked around to see if they have attracted any attention. Sure enough, some people stopped and stared at them. The guard behind one pillar kept his eyes on the suspicious bunch. "Let's look like we are waiting for a late train over here while we figure out what to do." He said.
Phoenix sat on her trunk, chin on her hand, Katie sat at the end of the cart, and Paige, Henry, and Lil' Henry sat on the bench. They all stared at the pillar. They only had fifteen minutes before the train will leave and everyone but Paige and Phoenix gave up.
Five minutes went by and the sound of bustling people and trains whistling distracted the Matthews. As soon as Phoenix looked away from the noises, she saw a family of redheads nearing the platforms. She couldn't hear what the older woman was saying, but knew they were in a hurry. As the family reached the platforms one boy looked both ways and ran right through the pillar. Phoenix jumped up, looked at her mother, and back at the redhead family. 'Did I just see…?' Phoenix couldn't think what she saw, but looked back and saw her mother Paige getting to her feet. Paige walked over as another boy was getting ready to go through the platform. The rest of the family soon followed Paige.
"Excuse me?" Paige whispered not to attract the suspicious guard.
The red-headed woman turned around, conversation interrupted. "Yes?" she asked cheerfully.
"Um… my name is Paige Matthews, this is my husband Henry, and our three children."
"Please to meet you dear, my name is Molly Weasley." said Mrs. Weasley shaking Paige's hand.
"We are not from around here, and I was hoping you could show us how to get onto platform nine and three quarters,"?
Mrs. Weasley gave a soft smile, "It will be my pleasure. Its Ron's first time to Hogwarts as well." She stated pointing to her youngest son who gave a proud smile. Phoenix smiled back. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier that is between the platforms nine and ten. Don't stop or you will crash into it."
Katie looked at Mrs. Weasley in disbelief. "That's it!? Just walk straight at it? We tried that, and it didn't work!"
Mrs. Weasley looked at Katie with a confused look in her eyes.
"Katie, honey, be quiet." Henry said through clenched teeth.
"Maybe we didn't try it hard enough. Or we didn't do it right." Stated Phoenix trying to help Mrs. Weasley.
"Try it now before Fred and George." Mrs. Weasley pushed aside her children.
Paige looked at her husband and down at her son. "Yes Honey, why won't you try it?" she smiled.
Henry rolled his eyes, knowing what she meant. The two Henrys grabbed hold of the cart and briskly walked towards the barriers. Phoenix closed her eyes, expecting a crash and her father gripping. When she didn't hear any of them, she opened her eyes. Her dad and brother vanished. Phoenix looked from Katie to her mother, their jaws open and eyes wide.
Baffled Paige closed her mouth and looked at Katie, "You're… um… your next Katie."
"Why can't we just orb? We know how to get in the alternative way. You can't expect me to do that!" exclaimed Katie, pointing to the barrier.
"We can't expose our magic, Katie. We don't know how different their magic is!" retorted Phoenix.
Katie rolled her eyes at Phoenix, looked at the barrier, and ran toward it. Like the two Henrys, she disappeared.
"Very good! You guys catch on quick." Mrs. Weasley commented.
"Thank… thank you." Said Paige speechless. "I'm sorry we kind of just butted in. How about you go next? Phoenix and I can wait."
"Oh, that is so kind of you dear!" Mrs. Weasley looked at one of the tall red-headed boys, "Fred, why don't you go next?"
"I'm not Fred, I'm George! And you call yourself our Mother?"
Phoenix couldn't help but chuckle. 'I wish Katie and I would have been able to pull that off.'
"Sorry George, dear." Said Mrs. Weasley.
The boy positioned himself and before he took off, he shouted back, "I'm only joking. I am Fred!" George went after him.
Phoenix walked in front of the barrier to get ready herself. Her mother walked up beside her. Before Phoenix started taking off though, she heard a creaking of a cart and a small voice saying, "Excuse me."
Phoenix turned to the sound of the voice. It was the same boy from the bank. 'Hey! I saw him at Greg Fart, Tog tarts oh! What ever! that bank we went to!' This time he was alone. 'I wander where that man he was with is? Surely he isn't alone?' Phoenix looked the boy over. He had a very thin face. He looked like he never had a proper meal. He wore round black glasses with…' Is that tape?' His eyes, she noticed, were bright green. 'Wow, those eyes!' His hair was black and messy 'Does he ever comb his hair?' Then she looked at his forehead. On his forehead, she noticed a thin scare resembling a lightning bolt. 'That is an unusual spot for a birthmark.' Phoenix was about to listen in on Mrs. Weasley when her mother interrupted.
"Phoenix honey, we have got to go!" Her mother grabbed her by the arm and into the barrier they went.