English is my second language. Even though I have read the chapter several times and have let other people check it as well, I apologize for any mistakes. All possible mistakes in this chapter belong to me alone.


Chapter 2 – Ride Into a New Future

His last month with the Dursleys before leaving for Hogwarts felt like an eternity to Harry. After one had a glimpse of paradise, or what one thought was paradise, it was difficult to settle down again with one's normal, insignificant, and above all magicless life. It was little consolation for Harry that the Dursleys were completely ignoring him now. At least, they no longer shouted at him or forced him to do any tasks for them. They also didn't hit him anymore, nor was he locked up in the cupboard that Harry loathed so much.

Still, the days until September 1st passed unbearably slowly for Harry, even so, he had company with Hedwig, the snow owl that Hagrid had given him. Otherwise, Harry spent most of his time reading his schoolbooks late into the night and imagining his life at Hogwarts. What would it be like to live with many other children his age, far from the Dursleys and his previous life, which he hated so much? What kind of magic would he learn? What kind of people would he get to know? With the last question Harry had to think of the girl, Daphne, whom he had met while visiting Diagon Alley. Did she feel the same way as he did at the moment? In any case, he decided to look for her on the platform, after all, she was the first and, so far, the only one of his future classmates whom he had already met.


When the day of departure finally came, Harry was already awake at five in the morning. After the Dursleys finally got up, they drove to London shortly afterwards. The train to Hogwarts would not leave until 11 a.m., but Harry had persuaded the Dursleys to drop him off at the station a little earlier, so that Harry had more than enough time to find platform 9 ¾ and prepare for departure. Hagrid had told him how to get on the platform, but on such an important day in his life Harry preferred to have a little too much time than not enough to really enjoy everything.


As soon as Harry walked through the barrier between tracks 9 and 10, he was rewarded with the sight of a sparkling, scarlet steam locomotive that stood on a platform and glittered in the light.

Harry glanced over the platform, noticing that there were not many people yet. Only a few people were on the platform, and almost all of them gave the impression that they were still busy with some last important preparations such as loading the wagons.

At the very end of the platform, though, Harry saw a petite figure with familiar honey blonde hair leaning back on a large suitcase. That had to be Daphne, Harry thought. But why was she sitting there all alone? He started moving in her direction, pushing the large luggage cart in front of him. Some people who Harry passed by seemed to be eyeing him curiously, but Harry simply ignored them.

When Harry reached Daphne, he spoke happily to her, "Hello, Daphne!"

The girl opened her eyes, which she had previously closed, straightened up, and looked into Harry's face. A shadow passed over her face. "Good morning, Mr. Potter. I see you found the platform."

"Why are you so formal? We already know each other. You can just call me Harry," he laughed.

Daphne frowned, seeming to think hard. At least that was what Harry thought, but finally, she nodded briefly. "Agreed," she said calmly.

"You're here early," Harry tried to start a conversation. "The train leaves in over an hour. And aren't your parents here at all?"

Secretly Harry was glad to not find her parents here. Their last meeting had been anything but pleasant, especially with the father, but Daphne's mother also seemed to have some resentment against Harry that he could not quite explain.

"You're already here as well, Harry," Daphne replied, deliberately emphasizing his name, which made Harry smile. "And I might as well ask you why you are here all alone. At least my parents are already gone after they brought me here. That's why I wait here until we are allowed to enter the train."

"My relatives only dropped me here and then went on to get things for my cousin." When Daphne didn't reply, Harry just kept talking. "They're Muggles, you know. And they don't think much of all of this." The understatement of the century, Harry thought. "Is everyone in your family a wizard or witch?" He would like to learn more about Daphne and the wizarding world in general.

"Yes. My parents are both wizards. And my little sister, too. Otherwise, I have only a few relatives."

"Then you must know a lot about magic, right?"

"I've seen a lot. But I haven't done magic myself yet."

"At least, you know your way around better than I do," Harry joked. "I haven't seen almost any magic yet, and until Hagrid told me, I didn't even know I was a wizard. I didn't know anything about my parents and Voldemort either."

Now Daphne looked at him in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"It's just... not many dare to call him by his real name, You-Know-Who ... That you use his name of all people..." Daphne seemed to be impressed. She eyed him with obvious curiosity.

"Please don't think I want to look particularly brave or anything like that when I use the name. I just never learned that you shouldn't do it. Do you understand what I mean? I really have a lot to learn... I know so little about everything here, about this world." Harry gestured with his arms to the whole surrounding area. "I bet I'll be the worst in class..." Harry looked down at the floor, depressed.

After a few seconds of silence, he heard Daphne's voice again. "Pull yourself together. The school year hasn't even started. Learn eagerly and always do your best. Besides fortitude, magic is above all training and practice. Lazy people don't become great wizards or witches."

Harry raised his head again and noticed that Daphne was still watching him carefully. "Would you maybe study with me at Hogwarts, Daphne?" he asked hopefully.

"Let's wait and see which in which houses we get sorted in Hogwarts."

Harry had read a bit about the Hogwarts houses, but he still did not understand the concept in detail. When he opened his mouth to ask Daphne about it, she interrupted him, pointing to the train.

"The doors are now open. We can get on the train." Daphne got up from her seat on the suitcase and pushed it towards the next wagon. Harry followed.

They had a few problems lifting their heavy suitcases on the train, but finally they had managed to do it with the help of each other and were now sitting in one of the compartments on opposite seats. Harry had not asked Daphne to sit with her, but she had not said otherwise.

Daphne took a book out of her luggage, and Harry realized it was their textbook for transfiguration. Following his seat neighbor, he also took out his book to read, and soon they were both immersed in their respective reading. They only marginally noticed how it was getting fuller and louder on the platform as the families of their future classmates arrived. The train filled up too, but no one else came to the two of them in the compartment, and finally, the train started rolling and soon left London behind, passing meadows with cows and sheep.

After the train had been on the move for half an hour, there was a loud clink from the aisle and an older woman pushed open the compartment door, asking with a smile, "Would you like a snack from the food truck, sweeties?"

Harry had not had a proper breakfast, so he jumped up to hurry to the car. What he saw there surprised him; none of the sweets looked familiar to him.

"Can you recommend something, Daphne," he asked.

Glancing up, Daphne looked at him. "No. I don't care about sweets."

Harry shrugged and just bought something from every sweet. Back in his seat, he tried everything one by one, particularly liking the chocolate frogs, even if he found it somewhat irritating that they were moving. After repeated requests from Harry and a loud stomach rumble on her part, Daphne finally accepted some sweets offered by Harry, and, according to her expression, she seemed to like it extremely despite her previous statements ... she was still a mystery to Harry.

Meanwhile, Harry asked her more questions about her life and the wizarding world. Daphne did not reveal much of herself, but she answered all the other questions, albeit a little taciturnly sometimes. She did not ask Harry any questions, but Harry would not have said much about himself anyway, so he was okay with it.

Several hours passed, and they saw forests, rivers, and hills rushing past the windows as the train kept going north. By now, both of them were absorbed in their books again. Suddenly, however, the compartment door was pushed open, and a girl with bushy brown hair looked inside, already wearing her Hogwarts cloak, a boy with a round face standing behind her.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville here has lost his," said the girl in a commanding voice, pointing to the boy behind her.

"No, we didn't see a toad," Harry replied, but the girl did not seem to be listening, instead looking at the books in his and Daphne's hands.

"You read your schoolbooks? I have already memorized all of them. I just hope that's enough. No one in my family is a wizard. By the way, I am Hermione Granger and who are you?" All of that was told by the girl, Hermione Granger, without taking a breath in between.

Harry looked over at Daphne, who sighed slightly.

"My name is Daphne Greengrass."

"Harry Potter."

"Really?" Hermione called out loud. "Of course, I know everything about you. I have read other books. And you are addressed in The History of Modern Magic, in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and in The Great Chronicle of Twentieth Century Magic. We have to meet sometimes so you can tell me everything about how you defeated You-Know-Who."

Doesn't this girl have to take a breath when she talks?

"I don't remember anything," Harry said carefully. He was a bit curious though. "So what's in those books?"

"Especially the events of October 31, 1981," Hermione replied cheerfully. "That You-Know-Who killed your parents and then tried to kill you. That his death curse somehow fell back on him. You survived, and only your lightning-shaped scar testifies to the death curse. By the way, you are the only person who has ever survived a death curse. The authors of my books cannot explain why that was the case. Truly a mystery. But for the celebrating wizards afterwards, the exact reasons didn't matter anyway. Apparently, the Ministry of Magic had to do reams of overtime to prevent that the international statute of secrecy was irretrievably broken. A certain Dedalus Diggle, for example, is said to have caused a firework of shooting stars over Kent, which was reported and speculated extensively on Muggle television. Even my parents could remember it..."

Harry, however, was not really listening anymore. He felt queasy. "They... they celebrated when my parents died?" he asked hesitantly, directed at himself rather than those present.

Apparently no one had heard him, because this Hermione Granger was still talking loudly. Now it was about the Hogwarts houses and how she hoped to come to Gryffindor because Albus Dumbledore had been there too.

Finally, however, Daphne intervened. "Thank you for your visit, Miss Granger," she said in a sharp tone that showed nothing of gratitude. "But now we would like to enjoy the rest of the trip in peace. Thank you very much."

Harry was grateful for Daphne's intervention. It was obvious that she had had enough of the Hermione girl, and he too had to digest what he heard.

Hermione Granger stopped speaking and closed her mouth, irritated. She turned and left the compartment again, but not without giving one last piece of advice, "By the way, you'd better change your clothes, I think we'll be there soon." Then she was finally gone.

Sighing in relief, Harry saw Daphne looking at him appraisingly, but she said nothing, and Harry was just fine with that at the moment. Did the wizards really celebrate on the day of his parents' death? Didn't it matter to them that the two, his family, were murdered that day, and he was orphaned? Didn't they care?

Harry looked out of the window, deep in thought. However, he was torn from his musings when the compartment door opened again, and three boys entered. The middle one, standing a little further ahead, had a pale face and light blonde hair. The other two boys were sturdier and positioned themselves behind the middle boy as if they were his bodyguards.

"Is it true?" he asked. "All through the train, they say Harry Potter is in this compartment. So, it is you?"

"Yes," Harry replied shortly.

"This is Crabbe, and this is Goyle," the boy introduced his two companions. "And my name is Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Now Draco Malfoy looked at Daphne, snorted, and looked back at Harry. "You'll soon work out that some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. And you don't want to have to do with the wrong kind, do you? I could help you with that."

He held out his hand, but Harry did not want to give him his. "I think I can decide very well who is the wrong kind. Thank you very much," he said coolly.

"I'd be careful if I were in your place, Potter," Malfoy replied angrily. "If you are not a little more polite, you will feel the same as your parents. They also didn't know what was good for them. If you put up with rabble like the blood traitor Greengrass there, it will rub off on you."

Harry looked at Daphne, but if Malfoy's words touched her in any way, at least she didn't show it. She was sitting straight in her seat, her face completely dispassionate.

"We've gotten tired of your company now, Malfoy. Your childish tirades don't impress anyone here. Now go away," she finally said in an ice-cold voice that made Harry's flesh crawl.

Now Malfoy was speechless, but his head got an unhealthy red color. He was about to open his mouth when a voice boomed out of the hall, "Five more minutes to Hogsmeade. Get ready to get out. Leave your luggage on the train and it will be brought to Hogwarts for you."

"We should put our cloaks on now," Harry said to Daphne, starting opening his suitcase, completely ignoring Malfoy.

The latter apparently had decided not to have anything intelligent to say, or maybe he just realized that he still had to put on his cloak, at least he turned around without another word and left the compartment, his two buddies following him.

After Harry and Daphne put on their cloaks, they sat down for the last few minutes. "Would you like to talk about what Malfoy just said?" Harry asked his seatmate.

"No," she replied coldly, looking out of the window.

Harry decided not to investigate further and also looked out of the window; it was getting dark. Finally, they drove into the Hogsmeade train station and the train stopped squeakily. Harry and Daphne rose from their seats and stepped out into the hallway which was already full of students.

Getting off the train and stepping into the cool evening air on the small platform, Harry heard a loud, familiar voice. "First-years! First-years over here!" The tall figure of Hagrid moved along the platform, straight towards Harry. "Alright Harry?"

"Yes! Daphne, this is Hagrid. Hagrid, that's Daphne," he replied with a grin.

"Hello, Daphne!"

"Pleased to meet you," Daphne replied baldly.

Hagrid then started shouting again, "Come on, after me - more first-years there? Be careful where you step! First-years after me!"

The first-years followed Hagrid, who led them to a fleet of small boats with which they crossed over the lake to Hogwarts. When Harry finally saw the mighty Hogwarts Castle with its many battlements and towers and the sparkling windows for the first time, he decided to keep this majestic sight in his memory forever.


Next chapter: A New Home?

Preview:

"Maybe Gryffindor, your parents' house? They would surely be proud of you if you became a Gryffindor."