1 September 2011
Harry had been to King's Cross Station before - many times during trips into the city proper with Auntie Vi or Uncle James or Uncle Sirius, but none of them had been as exciting as today.
Today, he was going from King's Cross to Platform 9 3/4 and from there onto the Hogwarts Express and finally start studying magic formally.
Auntie Vi and Uncle Sirius were with him - Uncle James was out of the country for work - and, if Harry were honest, it was hard to tell which of the three of them were more excited.
"Write as often as you like," Auntie Vi said with a smile as they approached the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. "Every day is too much to ask for, but I do want to know all about it."
Uncle Sirius barked a laugh. "You just want to know how it's different from B- where you went to school."
"Not just," Auntie Vi said, and though Harry couldn't see it, he was sure she'd rolled her eyes. "I'm curious how it will be different from primary school, also."
"How are we on time?" Harry asked, grateful once again for the Disillusionment Charm Uncle Sirius had put on Hedwig's cage. Very few people at King's Cross had pets, and none of those pets were a snowy owl like Hedwig.
"It's barely half-ten," Auntie Vi responded. "Plenty of time."
Harry let out a sigh as he maneuvered the cart with his trunk and Hedwig's cage through the throngs of people toward the wall that would take him to Platform 9 3/4 … only to come to a sharp halt as he realized another family lingered beside it.
The family reminded him oddly of his own - mother, father, child - except that their child was a girl with bushy brown hair, who looked more sad than excited.
"It's not fair," she was saying as Harry drew closer.
"It's all right, sweetheart," the mother said. "We knew we'd be losing you for a large part of the year when we agreed to let you go."
"It's still not fair," the girl protested, and Harry was a little surprised that she didn't stomp her foot.
"Sorry for the interruption," Harry said. "But what's not fair? Maybe it can be fixed."
The girl looked up. "Not unless you-" she paused. "Oh, you do, don't you?"
"I do a lot of things." Harry grinned at her. "Can you be more specific?"
The girl's eyes widened, even as her parents chuckled softly. Then she scowled briefly, and it took a moment before Harry realized that must be her thinking expression. Finally, she said, "Are you going to school today? A school in Scotland?"
"A secret school?" Harry countered, and she nodded. Harry grinned again. "Yep! So - what's not fair?"
"My parents can't go through to see me off on the train," the girl answered. "They…"
"Never qualified to go to that school," the father finished easily enough. "But as we were saying, it's…well, not really all right, but we knew what were getting into. Or, we thought we did."
"Well, if that's all that's concerning you," Auntie Vi said, "I think we can help. If you will, Sirius?"
"Of course - but shouldn't we introduce ourselves first? I'm sure your mum taught you never to go anywhere with strangers." Sirius grinned.
"Oh, sorry!" Auntie Vi shook her head. "My apologies. Jane Moneypenny."
"Sirius Black."
"I'm Wendell Granger. My wife, Monica, and our daughter Hermione."
The adults shook hands all around, and the girl - Hermione - stared at Harry, impatiently.
"Well?" she asked - more like demanded.
Harry offered her the best smile he had. "I'm Harry - Harry Potter."
"Are you really?" said Hermione, sounding a little excited. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twenty-First Century - So Far."
Harry couldn't stop the grimace, and her face fell. "Sorry," he said. "It's just - nobody knows what happened that night. Not really - I mean, there were only four of us involved. Three are dead, and I was too young to remember. So whatever you read in those books is probably speculation."
"Thank you," Mrs. Granger said. "You see, Hermione? Not all books are good resources."
"And that's a discussion for another day," Sirius said. "Else we'll be here all day, and these two would miss their train. Mrs. Granger, may I escort you onto-" he lowered his voice dramatically "-Platform 9 3/4?"
He offered his arm, and Mrs. Granger took it with a curtsy and a smile. A moment later, they disappeared through the barrier.
In turn, Mr. Granger offered his arm to Auntie Vi. "Ms. Moneypenny, will you do me the great honor of escorting me?"
"Of course, kind sir," Auntie Vi said. She took his arm and then they, too, were gone.
Harry hesitated, and Hermione said, "Well?"
"I think if you take my arm, we won't be able to control the trolleys," Harry said. "So I'm trying to figure out how to be a gentleman in this situation, especially since you don't actually need my help to get through."
"Oh." Hermione thought for a moment. "Shall we go through together?"
Harry grinned. "We shall."
He lined up his trolley so it was parallel to hers, like cars lining up for Le Mans, then looked at her. "Three."
She took a breath, suddenly looking nervous in a way she hadn't before. "Two."
"One." Harry waited until she started to move before pacing her through the barrier.
Before them, a scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform full of people - including Auntie Vi, Uncle Sirius, and the Grangers.
Mr. Granger turned at the sound of their trolleys. "Glad you made it." He grinned, mostly at Hermione but including Harry as well. "It's really something, isn't it?"
Hermione nodded, wide-eyed, and Harry had to admit the train was an impressive sight. More impressive than he'd expected, if he were honest about it.
"Go on, then," Auntie Vi said, her voice rough. "If you get aboard now, you'll have a better choice of seats."
She bent down, and Harry hugged her, letting her buss his cheek, before Sirius caught him up in a bear hug.
"Study hard to make your Mum proud," Sirius told him, "and have a little fun to make your Dad happy."
"I'll do my best," Harry promised.
"That's all any of us can do," Auntie Vi said, unloading both Harry's and Hermione's trolleys with a wave of her wand. "We'll take them back for you."
"I'll miss you," Harry murmured. "I know I'll be back at Christmas, but that's so far away…."
"And that's why we'll write," she said. "Remember to describe everything for your Uncle James."
"I will, I promise. See you in December!" Before he could cry like a child, Harry turned toward the Hogwarts Express.
Hermione joined him a moment later, and he hoisted her trunk onto the train. With a tap of his wand, he ended the Disillusionment Charm on Hedwig's cage and handed it up to Hermione, who'd paused at the top of the stairs to help him with his own trunk. Hedwig shook out her feathers and gave him a reproachful prek.
"Oh, she's beautiful," Hermione said. Practical girl that she appeared to be, though, she set Hedwig's cage aside and turned back, ready to steady his trunk as he hoisted it onto the train.
"How'd you know she's a she?" Harry asked as they started down the train.
"The spots. Males don't have any. What's her name?"
"Hedwig - she was a birthday present from my Uncle Sirius. How far back do you want to sit?"
"Does it matter, really? All the windows on the same side will have the same view within a minute or two of each other, won't they?"
"Probably," Harry said, "but it's a magic train, so who knows? Still, lady's choice."
"Are you always so polite?" Hermione asked. "Not complaining, just curious."
"I'm polite until I have a reason not to be. Uncle James would be disappointed otherwise."
"How about here?" Hermione asked. "And I thought James was your father."
"My Dad's name was James, too," Harry said, maneuvering so he could get her trunk in the compartment she'd chosen.
An overhead rack looked big enough for four trunks, and it was the work of a few minutes to lift first her trunk and then his into the rack.
He placed Hedwig's cage on the seat by the window and settled into place next to her. Hermione took the seat opposite.
"So you grew up with magic," she said. "What was that like? Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough. Do you think it will be?"
Hermione said all of that very fast, and Harry found himself deciding whether to parse what she'd said or not. Finally, he gave it up as a bad job, and decided to be honest.
"Hermione," he said, hoping his tone was gentle enough not to offend, "you seem like a really nice girl, and somewhere in there is someone I'd like to be friends with. But you've got to let a fellow get a word in edgewise now and then."
Hermione's mouth formed an O and her cheeks suffused with red. "I'm so sorry! It's just - I'm nervous, and I talk a lot when I'm nervous."
"What's there to be nervous about?" Harry asked, genuinely confused. "I thought we were getting along quite well. And why wouldn't your knowing our course books by heart be enough?"
"Well." Hermione blew out a breath, and Harry could see her determination not to ramble as she had before. "It's all so very different, isn't it? We don't know what they'll ask of us at the sorting, do we? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. But what if they want more than that?"
"We're eleven," Harry pointed out. "They won't ask much of us until we've had some classes at least."
"But the sorting," Hermione protested. "I couldn't find anything about it, not even in Hogwarts, A History. How are we supposed to prepare?"
Harry debated just a moment before leaning forward conspiratorially. "Uncle Sirius went to Hogwarts. He wouldn't tell me about the sorting, but he did say that it's not as scary as everyone says."
Hermione looked shocked. "Why would anyone say it's scary if it's not?"
Harry shrugged and sat back in his seat. "Tradition, I suppose - scare the firsties."
"Hmf. I'm not sure I like traditions like that."
*BREAK*
2 September 2011
Dear Aunt Vi, Uncle James, and Uncle Sirius,
I was really expecting more from the Hogwarts Express. It's a magical train, right? So why did it feel like taking any other train?
Aunt Vi - I know I grumbled about you packing a lunch for me, but thank you. A snack trolley came around about halfway through the trip, but it had just that: snacks. No sandwiches, pasties, soups, or anything resembling a meal. Despite the welcoming feast we had when we arrived at Hogwarts, it seems rather short-sighted for a train full of kids to have nothing but sweets for several hours.
You'd be proud of me, Uncle James - some kid named Malfoy came by the compartment Hermione and I were in, said he could help me make the "right sort" of friends. Instead of punching him, I thanked him for his offer and told him I'd never had much trouble making friends, but would ask him if I did. He looked like he didn't know what to do with that.
Wasn't Malfoy - not the kid, but his father, maybe? - one of Voldemort's staunchest supporters? I don't want to punish the child for the sins of his father, but I can't help thinking that he's very likely his father's son, just like I'm the son of Uncles James and Sirius, and if that's true, he might be someone to watch out for. Plus, I really didn't like his attitude.
Anyway - the part Uncle Sirius is surely waiting for, my Sorting. (And really, a telepathic hat?) Anyway, after a lot of blather about how I could do well in any house, specially noting that I could be "great" in Slytherin, I was sorted into Gryffindor.
So was Hermione, the girl we met at the station…and all of the Weasley kids, you remember the family that Pettigrew was hiding with? The youngest, Ron, wants to be my friend, but I'm having a hard time overlooking the fact that they kept Pettigrew safe. Oh, I know it's not entirely their fault, that Pettigrew charmed them not to notice that he lived so long, but still. If any one of them had shown even the slightest doubt…
But, as Uncle James says, it's no use crying over spilt milk.
Uncle Sirius would like the Weasley twins, though - they're pranksters! On occasion their pranks border on bullying, but I suppose that's at least partly a matter of perception. I'm just grateful that I grew up with a prankster, so I know what to watch for!
I'm starting to ramble, so will cut this short. Don't worry, Aunt Vi, the next letter will have a ton about Hogwarts itself. Did Uncle Sirius forget to mention it's in an actual castle?
All my love,
Harry