6
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
The twins only had to be at the Dursleys for one more month when they returned from Diagon Alley. In the four weeks, Dudley could not be in the same room as the twins and ran out of any room they were in screaming and clutching his bottom as he went, while their aunt and uncle on the other hand refused to acknowledge them at all. Emily noticed the few times her uncle did acknowledge her presence, was by grabbing her by the arm and dragging her into another room and using grunts to let her know what he wanted.
The twins happy not to be at the end of their aunt and uncle's wrath were still finding the situation a bit depressing. Before at least they were worth the time to criticize now it seemed they no longer existed in their relatives' eyes.
Emily and Harry kept to their room as much as possible. Harry had decided to name his owl Hedwig, which was something he found while reading his history of magic text. Emily had named her owl Apollo after the Greek god who like her, had a twin and was known as the god of light and prophecy.
The twins enjoyed reading their new school books, both staying up late into the night reading together on their bed. Emily who had finished her school books, had moved onto the extra books she had purchased in Flourish and Blotts. She was determined to know as much as possible about this new world they were a part of.
Emily and Harry had a tendency to leave the window in their bedroom open so Apollo and Hedwig could come and go freely since it seemed cruel to keep them locked up in their cages. Emily could just picture the look on Aunt Petunia's face if she were to see the mice that Apollo and Hedwig kept bringing back with them as prizes.
The twins had pinned a calendar to the wall and together they would check off the days till they left for Hogwarts.Their excitement at being rid of the Dursleys was mounting with each 'X'.
The night before they were to go to Hogwarts the twins decided it was finally. time to ask their aunt and uncle if they could have a ride to King's Cross.
Emily and Harry went downstairs knowing Petunia and Vernon would be watching one of their nightly TV shows. As soon as Dudley noticed the pair he let out a high pitched squeak, grabbed his bottom and waddled from the room as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Uncle Vernon?" Emily tested.
He grunted at her in response, clearly not fazed by his own son's reaction.
"We are supposed to go to Hogwarts tomorrow."
Another grunt.
"Could you take us to King's Cross to catch our train?" Again he grunted and Emily took it to mean he was saying yes.
Emily thanked him and took Harry's hand to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon spoke.
"What happened to all the flying carpets that you have to take a train?" Emily had read that flying carpets were illegal in England but decided that it was better to remain quiet then be smart and inform him of that fact. "Where is this school even located?"
"Scotland," Emily answered promptly tightly holding her brother's hand. "Our train leaves from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven."
Their uncle just gaped at them and then asked her to repeat the platform number.
"It says platform nine and three-quarters on our ticket."
"That's nonsense," Uncle Vernon laughed. "There's no such thing."
"It's on both of our tickets," Harry spoke up defending his sister. "It can't be wrong."
"There mad! All of them! Don't you agree Petunia?" the woman in question merely nodded her head but refused to look away from the TV. The answer was good enough for her husband who turned his attention back to the twins. "Oh, we'll take you tomorrow and you'll find out! We have to go into London anyway."
Harry decided to ask why the Dursleys had to go into London causing Emily to roll her eyes, there was no point in trying with the Dursleys. To her surprise though her uncle answered that they were taking Dudley to have the pig tail removed. Emily was shocked they had left it on him for a month as it was, their perfect son had been having to hide his imperfection and discomfort for so long, when normally all Dudley need do was make a slight face of discontent and his parents would be jumping to solve the problem.
Vernon didn't wait for the twins to say another word and turned his attention back to the TV, the twins took the sign for what it was and made their way upstairs. Slipping back into their room they tucked themselves into bed and were happy with their small victory of getting a ride to the train station in the morning.
The pair woke early the next morning and they both knew there was no way they were going to be able to fall back asleep. So instead of lying in bed they proceeded to get up and get dressed, Harry in jeans and a t-shirt while Emily wore her new emerald green dress. They weren't sure if it was the best idea to be walking through the train station with muggles, dressed in a cloak after Hagrid has stressed the need for secrecy. The pair decided they could change once on the train.
Emily took a moment to make sure her trunk was well organized as Harry tossed the last of his things in his own trunk. It had taken her quite some time to get it just right so that everything would fit. She even put her favorite books in her new book tote so that she didn't have to leave anything at Dursleys'. She wouldn't put it past her relative to come and clean the room after they were gone and toss anything left behind.
The twins made sure Apollo and Hedwig were in their cages and were comfortable before settling in to wait for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, all the twins' things were loaded into the car and their aunt had convinced, more like bribed, Dudley to sit by them for the ride to drop them off at the station.
When they arrived at King's Cross their Uncle Vernon loaded all their things onto carts for them and even pushed Emily's into the station.The man seemed far too helpful and came to a stop when they were standing between platforms nine and ten grinning widely at the twins. "Well there is nine and there is ten, but I don't see a nine and three-quarters."
Emily couldn't deny he was right as she looked between the two platforms. Uncle Vernon smiled as he gave a big wave and left the twins on the platform alone. Emily and Harry watched the Dursleys brake into laughter as Vernon join the rest of his family in the car and sped off.
The twins were not sure what to do. They were attracting a lot of attention because of Apollo and Hedwig, people weren't used to seeing someone carrying an owl through the train station.
Emily told Harry to wait while she went to talk to a guard she spotted just a few feet away. She knew she shouldn't mention platform nine and three-quarters or Hogwarts to the man. It was unlikely if he was a muggle that he had heard of the school.
"Excuse me can you tell me where the trains to Scotland are loading?"
The officer turned at the sound of her voice and smiled down at her, "Of course, platforms 2, 5 and 8."
"Do you know which one leaves at 11?"
"I don't believe we have one leaving at 11 today, do you need some help?" The officer looked concerned for her as he searched the nearby area likely wondering where the adult accompanying her was.
"I'm fine thank you, it's just my brother and I go to school in Scotland. I must have read our tickets wrong."
The smile returned to the man's face as he nodded in understanding, "One of platform 8 leaves at 1 perhaps that was the time you were looking for."
Emily looked down at her ticket, careful not to let the guard see the odd markings on it. She laughed and nodded her head, "You're right it was 1. Thank you sir!"
"Anytime, there's a good café next door if you two want to wait there for your train."
Thanking the man one more time she waved as she rejoined her brother. Glancing back she watched the guard walk away and turned her attention to the big clock over the arrivals board, there were ten minutes until the train left to Hogwarts.
"Nothing?" Harry asked looking at the clock worriedly with his sister.
"No, not one train is going to Scotland at 11."
"What are we going to do?"
Just then a group passed behind the twins and Emily swore she heard someone say the word 'muggle'.
Emily looked to see if Harry had heard it as well, he nodded and they both turned around to get a better look. The person who spoke turned out to be a stout woman surrounded by four boys who all had red hair.
"Look they also have an owl," Harry whispered to his sister trying to discretely point at the cage on top of one of the boy's luggage.
The twins hung back enough that they could hear what they were saying but not near enough to be noticed by the family. They heard the mother ask what the platform number was and the twins instantly held their breath.
A little girl who was holding her mother's hand replied and Emily's heart leapt when she heard her say nine and three-quarters. The mother smiled and nodded letting the girl know she had answered correctly before turning to ask, who looked to be the oldest son 'Percy', to go first. He began to walk toward the two platforms but as luck would have it the platform was swarmed with a large group of people and the twins lost sight of the boy. When the crowd had passed he was already gone. The mother than pointed to one of her sons she called Fred and told him it was his turn. He looked to his twin and told his mother that he was George when she apologized he told her he was joking and went running off before his mother could say anything else. Emily watched but in the blink of an eye he was gone and she wasn't sure how he had done it.
The other twin quickly followed the first and ran towards the barrier and just as suddenly he was gone. Emily decided the best thing she could do was ask the woman how to get on the platform. The woman was very nice to them and pointed out that it was her youngest, Ron's first time going to Hogwarts as well. The twins explained that they didn't know how to get on the platform. She explained that they needed to walk into the barrier between the two platforms to reach the train.
Emily saw Harry glance at the solid wall with a bit of skepticism. She couldn't blame him it did look very solid,but it would explain why the red-haired boys all disappeared from sight so quickly. Emily thanked her, and the twins pushed their trollies around so they were pointed towards the barrier.
"I'll go first, you follow me," Emily instructed Harry as she began walking quickly towards the wall. When she thought she was going to crash she closed her eyes tight and started to run. She kept waiting for the impact but it never came. Upon opening her eyes she realized she was staring at a red steam engine that had not been in sight when she started to walk through the barrier.
Above her was a sign declaring the train the Hogwarts Express. She looked behind herself and saw a wrought-iron archway just as her brother appeared to be entering through it. She smiled at him, they had done it.
The twins went further down the platform deciding to look for an empty compartment. They passed a boy who was telling his grandma he had lost his toad and another boy who had dreadlocks surrounded by a group of people trying to see something he had in a box, that looked to be a spider by the leg that was sticking out from under the lid.
The twins eventually found an empty compartment and put Apollo and Hedwig in first before attempting to heave their trunks toward the train door. They must have looked a sight because one of the red-haired twins asked them if they needed help. He called to his brother Fred to help him and Emily made a mental note that this one must be George. So, he had been lying when he told his mom he was Fred and ran through the barrier.
The twins helped Emily and Harry load their trunks into the corner of the compartment. The younger twins thanked the older redheads but when Harry ran a hand through his hair Fred was quick to notice his scar and asked him if he was Harry Potter.
"That makes you Emily Potter," George deduced.
"Yup," she answered popping the 'p' as she spoke. Fred and George were laughing when their mother's voice was heard calling them. They turned to wave at Emily and Harry before running to say goodbye to their mother.
The twins sat down across from each other, next to the window where they could hear the red-haired family talking.Looking out the window, Emily could see the youngest boy trying to dodge his mother's attempts to clean the dirt off of his nose with her handkerchief. He was blushing as his mother wet the tip with her tongue and finally was able to get him still enough to rub the spot of dirt clean.
When his mother was finished she inquired to where her oldest son was. As if knowing his mom was looking for him the boy in question came strolling towards her, already changed into his robes that had a badge with a silver P in the middle pinned to them.
"Mother, I need to say goodbye quickly. The other prefects are waiting for me to join them at the front."
"Yes, mother do be quick!" George mocked his brother pretending to look at his wrist even though he wasn't wearing a watch and tapping it.
"Yes quite right, the Prefects cannot function without Perfect Percy! We must make sure he is ready to join them imminently!" Fred attempted to straighten his brother's badge while George came up and pushed his twin aside.
"No, no it's all wrong I don't think he shined it enough." George used the end of his sleeve to wipe the badge after huffing on it with his breath.
Percy the Prefect had clearly had enough as his face turned bright red and he snapped at the pair to stop their antics at once. "Mother make them stop!" he ordered when the twins continued on.
"Stop annoying your brother," the woman sighed lightly hitting the twins on their shoulders and motioning for them to step back. "Do have a good term dear, and remember to write. I'm so very proud of you."
Nodding Percy turned and moved towards the front of the train after letting his mother kiss him on the cheek in goodbye.
Fred and George couldn't contain their laughter as their mother turned to them and began to scold them. The pair didn't seem to really be listening to her but they nodded their heads and attempted to stop their laughter.
"You two better be listening to me, I don't want to receive one owl telling me how you've blown up the toilets again!"
"Never tried that one, have we Gred?"
"No, I don't believe we've blown up a toilet before, Forge."
"Oh no you don't!" Their mother was turning red as she realized the pair might seriously attempt the idea.
"Oh, don't worry so much Mum."
"Yeah, it will be fun!"
"Thank you…" Fred said kissing his mom on the cheek before she could explode.
George copied his brother's actions, "Yes, thank you we will be sure to send you a toilet seat as a token of our appreciation!"
Realizing she had lost the woman sighed and changed the subject, "Just look after Ron alright?"
"No need to fear Mum!"
"We will watch over little Ronnikins!"
Ron looked a bit annoyed at being talked about as a young child and Emily noticed there was a pink spot on his nose from where his mother had rubbed it clean earlier.
The twins seemed to take pity on their little brother and told their mother how they had just met Emily and Harry Potter on the train. The little girl seemed to be excited and started begging her mom to let her go onto the train to see Harry.
Emily snickered, "Someone has an admirer…" Which only earned a groan from Harry.
"Absolutely not Ginny, there's no time and it would be rude. I'm sure today is hard enough for them."
"Are you sure it was them?" Ron asked looking at the train then back to his brothers.
"Yeah, we saw one of their scars and they even confirmed it!"
"That's nice dears, but please no asking them questions about it. And especially no questions about You-Know-Who. Are we clear?" the mother instructed her sons. "They don't need to be reminded of everything they lost on their first day at Hogwarts. This should be a happy day for them."
The whistle for the train blew and the twins grabbed their brother Ron before jumping onto the train. "Don't worry Mum, we get it!" Fred called back.
"We'll be good!"
The woman's look clearly showed she didn't believe that sentiment for a moment. The little girl for her part started to cry. Fred and George promised to write and send her the seat to the toilet they blew up since it would likely be wasted on their mother anyway.
The train started to move and the little girl still crying let go of her mother's hand and ran until she couldn't keep up with the train any longer.
Emily looked to Harry, "I can't believe this is happening." Harry nodded his head as his body relaxed back into his seat. They both knew whatever they were heading towards would be better than the life they had led at the Dursleys.
The twins turned when the door to their compartment opened. It was the youngest red head asking if he could join them. The twins nodded and the boy sat down across from Harry. His eyes darted to Harry's forehead before quickly looking out the window.
"There you are, Ron," Fred and George chimed, joining the small group in the compartment. "Lee has a tarantula and we are going to go check it out."
"So, if you need us we'll be there." Ron made a noise of understanding but otherwise didn't answer his brothers.
"Harry, Emily" said Fred giving a slight bow, "We are Fred and George Weasley. This is our ickle little brother Ron. Have fun you guys!"
The three first years waved in goodbye to the pair as they closed the door. Ron was quick to turn to Harry and asked if he was really Harry Potter. Emily tried to introduce herself but he paid her no mind. Since she didn't feel like being ignored she decided now was as good a time as any to go find Draco.
"Har," she said getting his attention. "I'm going to find Draco. Do you want to come?"
"You can't mean Malfoy!" Ron cried. "Their evil, the whole family! Everyone knows that!"
Emily did not like this boy. "He was really nice when we met him."
"Malfoys are not nice!"
"Whatever, Har are you coming?"
"No, I think I'm going to stay here."
"Fine," Emily said grabbing her trunk and Apollo. "I'm going to go find him and sit there." Harry and Ron were already conversing and ignoring her as she shut the compartment door and set off down the train.
She didn't have to search long till she found the compartment that had Draco and a dark skinned boy with black hair and a refined look to him in it. She decided to knock on the door to get the pairs' attention. Draco looking up and seeing her, waved at her to come in. When they realized she had her things, both boys jumped up to help her put them away.
"I love your owl," the boy she didn't know said as he set Apollo on the rack above their heads.
"His name is Apollo. I'm Emily by the way."
"Blaise Zabini, nice to meet you," his eyes scanned her scar, but he made no comment on it. Emily sat next to Draco and Blaise settled into the bench across from them.
"Where's your brother?" Draco asked looking back at the door.
"He met Ron Weasley and didn't want to come find you once Ron called you evil."
Draco nodded his head in understanding, "He doesn't even know me, but it doesn't surprise me." Emily felt there was more to that statement but she got the feeling he didn't want to get into it right now.
"Aren't the Weasleys the ones that have seven children?" Blaise asked looking at Draco for confirmation.
"Seven!" Emily exclaimed. "That is a big family. I saw five of them when getting onto the platform and I thought that was a lot."
"The oldest two don't go here anymore," Draco informed her. "The oldest Bill is a curse breaker for Gringotts and updates the wards for our manor every summer. Father only wants the best and Gringotts sends him out every year."
"What do wards do? I bought a book on them, but I haven't gotten to read it yet."
"They protect the house. Like repelling muggles so they can't find it or keeping people we don't want out."
"Shouldn't you know about these things?" Blaise asked giving Emily a curious look.
"I was raised by muggles."
"What are they like?"
"Terrible. Not all muggles are I guess, but the ones I live with are pretty bad. This last month has been kind of nice though, I spent most of my time reading through all our books and trying to learn everything I could."
"You sound like a Ravenclaw," Blaise commented.
"I have no idea what house I'll be in. Do you guys have any idea? Draco, you said you were going to be in Slytherin."
"My family has been in Slytherin as far back as anyone can remember. I would hate to find out what my dad would do if I was put in another house."
"My family also has a history of being in Slytherin, though there have been a few Ravenclaws," Blaise added.
"I don't know what House my family generally is in," Emily said feeling a tad sad that she didn't know her family history.
"Your parents were Gryffindors," Draco informed her. "Though as far as I know, Potters don't have a specific House they tend to be sorted into. I believe your grandmother was a Slytherin and I know there have been some Ravenclaws in your line as well."
"Really?" Emily looked at the blond with a bit of wonder, how did he know these things about her family?
"It's pretty common knowledge among the Old Families, though my mom was in the same year as your parents and her cousin was your father's best friend."
"Gryffindor is the one House that I don't think fits my personality very much from what I have read." Emily felt slightly disappointed that she would likely not be in the same House as her parents but she guessed, at least if Draco was to believed, her family had a mix of personalities so maybe they would have been proud of her anyway. The boys, sensing she was a bit down with the talk of her parents, pulled out a game of exploding snap and taught Emily how to play as the train carried them out of London. Soon Emily was laughing and enjoying herself with her new friends.
Around twelve o'clock a lady pushing a cart filled with sweets slid their compartment door open and asked if they wanted anything. Draco stood up and Emily followed, she hadn't had any breakfast and was ready to buy as much candy as she could carry. The cart was filled with treats the young witch had never seen before. There were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Exploding Bon Bons, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, Peppermint Toads and a number of other strange things.
"What would you like?" Draco asked gesturing to the cart.
"You don't have to Draco."
"I want to, now what sounds good?"
"The chocolate frogs and licorice wands look interesting."
Draco nodded and turned to the woman, "We need a carton of chocolate frogs, three licorice wands, three boxes of Bertie Bott's and a bundle of sugar quills please."
The woman handed over the candy and Draco paid her before joining the other two. They all shared the candy and talked about various topics from what they expected their classes to be like to Blaise's recent holiday in Greece. It was a nice feeling for Emily, sitting with Draco and Blaise, eating their way through all the treats. She had never had friends other than her brother before and there was a sense of freedom she was starting to feel as the train whisked down the tracks further and further away from the Dursleys.
When the group got to the chocolate frogs Emily grabbed one of the boxes and examined it. Opening it she had to react quickly to catch the frog as it took a big leap into the air. "Whoa…."
"Don't worry, it's just a spell," Draco chuckled as Emily stared down at the chocolate in her hand. "Check and see what card you got though, all chocolate frogs come with cards you can collect."
Nodding Emily bit the head off the chocolate frog as she picked up the card from the box. It showed a man with a long white beard and purple hat on his head. Under the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore. On the back of the card was a short summary that mentioned the man had worked in alchemy and enjoyed bowling.
Emily turned the card back over and saw that Dumbledore had vanished. "Where did he go?"
"Pictures don't stay in one place," Blaise said offhandedly reaching for another frog himself.
"In the Muggle world, people stay frozen in pictures, they don't move at all."
"How odd."
Deciding to try her luck with a different sweet Emily reached out to pick up one of the boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"Be careful," Draco warned her. "They truly mean every flavor, you can get anything from apple to vomit flavored ones."
"Want to see how lucky we are? Grab one without looking and then we all compare what we got. We'll see who has the best luck." Emily offered holding the box out in front of her. The boys agreed and soon they were all making faces and laughing at their picks. Emily didn't do too badly; she got strawberry, coffee, grass, cinnamon, marshmallow, pepper, curry, sour lemon and bacon.
As the group was laughing from Blaise's reaction to a rotten egg flavored bean, a tearful boy that Emily had seen on the platform knocked and then proceeded to open their compartment door. "Sorry," he spoke rather awkwardly, "have any of you seen a toad around here?" They shook their heads and the boy seemed to be down trodden, "I'll never find him and we haven't even made it to Hogwarts yet."
"I wouldn't worry too much, I'm sure he is on the train somewhere," Emily offered with a smile.
Nodding the boy turned away as if he didn't believe her and left without another word.
"Toads went out of fashion as pets years ago," remarked Blaise as he pushed the box of Bertie Bott's away from him. "If my mom had gotten me one I would have lost it before anyone could see it. I don't know why he's so worried."
"Did you bring a pet?"
"No, I thought about bringing an owl but my mom will probably write often enough that if I need to send her something I can just send it back with him. If not, the school has owls we can use."
"Have either of you heard about the break in at Gringotts?" Draco asked as he glance at the paper he had sitting next to him. "Someone tried to rob one of the vaults and got in and out of Gringotts without being detected. Father says the Goblins are livid."
"I don't get the newspaper living with the muggles. Have they caught the person?"
"No, they didn't realize someone had broken in until it was too late. What makes it stranger is they didn't take anything. I just can't imagine someone getting past the goblins and not taking anything," Emily and Blaise nodded in agreement. It was crazy to think someone would risk breaking into Gringotts, from what Emily had read, the Goblins may not be allowed wands but they had their own powerful magic without them.
"Have you read about Quidditch yet?" Draco asked changing the topic as he tucked the newspaper away.
"No, I didn't get a book on it. Explain it to me!" Emily said eager to learn about anything magical. With those words the boys were off explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous players they liked and games they had attended. They both followed a team called Puddlemere United and promised they would have to take her to a game sometime next summer, they were determined to make her a fan. She had to admit it sounded like a lot of fun and she really wanted to fly a broom.
At some point during the boys discussing the ups and downs of different broom makers the compartment door slid open and three boys stepped in. The boy in the middle had brown hair and was of average height. He was flanked by two thickset boys.
"Draco. Blaise." The middle boy said inclining his head at the two before his eyes fell onto Emily. "Hello, I'm Theodore Nott, but people call me Theo. This is Crabbe and Goyle," he said pointing to the boys behind him.
"Emily Potter."
"Ah, I wondered where you were. I met your brother earlier, he was sitting with a Weasley."
"Oh they aren't all bad," Blaise said seeing the sneer on the newcomers face. "I've heard the twins are supposed to be geniuses who do hilarious pranks."
Theo shrugged, "Well I'm sure we will see soon enough, I just wanted to say hello. We will see you later." He inclined his head towards them and left. The boys and Emily waved at the boy as he left before settling back into their discussion.
It wasn't much later that Emily peered out the window and noticed that the train seemed to be slowing down.
"Maybe we should get changed," Emily said rising from her spot. Looking out the window the boys quickly agreed.
They all took their turns changing into their uniform and robes as a voice echoed through the train, "We will be arriving at Hogsmeade station in five minutes. Students, please leave your luggage on the train it will be sent to your dorms before the end of the welcoming feast. Have a wonderful evening."
Emily and the boys moved to clean up the mess they made by throwing away their candy wrappers and putting away the exploding snap cards that were still lying on the floor.
As people pushed their way out to the platform Emily and the boys held back a bit waiting for a lull to exit the train. Emily shivered when the cold air hit her skin. Blaise and Draco huddled close to her to help them all stay warm. As they were looking at which way to go Emily heard a familiar voice calling for all the first years. Looking in the direction of Hagrid's voice, Emily noticed her brother standing close to the giant. She tried to catch his eye but he was too busy talking animatedly to Ron to notice her.
Hagrid was quite large and towered over the first years, many looked slightly fearful at the sight of him. Once they were all in a group he told them to follow him as he led them down a steep path. Draco and Emily had linked arms as they walked together. It was a very quiet walk as the reality of actually having arrived was beginning to set in. The boy who had lost his toad was sniffling, which led Emily to believe he had not found his pet on the train.
"Everyone look up as we come around the bend here," Hagrid instructed. The first years did as they were told and were not disappointed as they were met with their first glimpse of the castle.
Everyone seemed to be in awe of the sight. When they reached the end of the path they found themselves standing at the edge of a huge lake. Straight across from them on the mountain was the castle with windows that glittered from the light within.
Hagrid led them to a grouping of boats and told them to get in with no more than four people to a boat. Emily got into a boat followed by Draco and Blaise. She looked over to see her brother and Ron getting in a boat with the boy who had lost his toad and a girl she didn't know. When Hagrid had made sure they were all safely in the boats he commanded them forward. Everyone was silent as the boats floated across the water towards the wondrous castle. At one point they reached a curtain of ivy and Hagrid called for everyone to keep their heads down. Blaise nearly didn't duck his head in time, but he was fine thanks to Draco who had tugged on his arm to get his attention.
Next, they went through a tunnel that took them to a place where the boats docked themselves on the rocks. Draco climbed out and helped Emily out before assisting Blaise. Hagrid found the toad that the poor boy had lost among the pebbles and returned it to him. The boy seemed overjoyed to have found his pet and was holding it tight in his hands close to his chest. Hagrid led the large group up towards the castle and up a flight of stairs to a large wooden door. He doubled checked that they were all there before turning to the door and knocking three times.