Chapter 5: The Train Ride

Sarah

Saying good-bye to my brothers and my dad and my mom was probably the hardest thing I'd ever done. I did everything for my mom—cleaned house, cooked, did dishes, took out the trash, mowed the lawn. I was lying to my brothers and dad about where I was going, and would have to keep up that pretense for seven years. I admit, I was a little more grown-up than a lot of eleven-year-olds, and I could keep a web of lies intact easily enough. I hated telling them to my brothers, though, and hoped, within reason, that Matt or David would follow me.

The simple fact that I had to say my farewells to my brothers and dad at home was what I really didn't like. They'd never be able to see me off at the train station, because they thought I had to take a plane. Mom drove me to King's Cross, the car silent as we made our way through the thick London traffic.

My mind was ticking away at the ticket I held, which proudly proclaimed that I would be picked up at Platform 9 ¾. Of course this had to be some kind of magically involved platform, but the question remained of what it was. The train station obviously had only whole numbers, so it was there, but it wasn't, so to speak.

Mom parked in the lot and I got her chair out and then my trunk and Lucky's cage. Fancy enough that I spotted Kaz and Kurama saying good-bye to their mother in the parking lot a bit across the way. She didn't accompany them. I pushed mom toward them, pulling my trunk along behind as she half-propelled herself on one side and I on the other.

"Hey, guys! Guys!" I called, waving. They waved back and made their way over. "Hey, how was break?"

"All right," Kaz said, smiling. His cat, Eikichi, was in a little cat atop his trunk, strapped in soundly and with care. "Where do you think this platform is, anyway?"

"I dunno. Prolly some kind of magic, and prolly between nine and ten," I said, reasoning it out aloud. "The book said the train always picked up from here, but it didn't really say how to get on it."

"That's because you didn't read the extended Muggle edition." Hermione Granger's voice said, followed quickly by her face as she came closer with her mom and dad. "You just run into the wall of ten. The engine's conductor casts a spell that brings you right to the platform every year. It fades five minutes after the train is scheduled to leave."

"What would we do without you, Hermione?" I asked, grinning. "Let's go!"

Hermione and her parents led the way over the cobblestone walkway toward the brightly-colored platforms of nine and ten. The wall looked solid enough to me, but I couldn't tell one way or the other. I spotted an elderly woman with a vulture as a hat, and a small, chubby boy run toward the brick wall. I cringed as for a moment they seemed about to hit it, and was that surprised when they vanished.

"Guess that proves it, then," I said. "Who's first?"

After a brief silence, Hermione stepped forward with her trunk and raced for the wall. Her parents watched in horror as their little girl vanished. First her mother, and then her father soon followed. I grinned and looked down at my mom.

"Ready?"

"No, but let's anyway," she said, bracing herself. I pushed her as fast as I could and before I knew it, we were both standing in broad sunshine upon a wooden platform. For a half mile in either direction was an old, bright red steam engine, sitting on tracks that seemed to vanish after only a mile or two.

Kaz and Kurama soon followed, both of them looking around at the sights with pleasure. I smiled down at my mom and pointed out other families that I'd seen in Diagon Alley. We moved away from the barrier and I kept an eye on the time. I saw the boy I'd seen earlier, along with the lady with the vulture hat. I said hello, thinking I may as well be polite.

"Oh, hello, there," said vulture-lady. "You're a Muggle-born, aren't you? Welcome to Hogwarts, dear, very nice to meet you. This is my grandson, Neville."

"Hi, Neville," I said, grinning. "I'm Sarah. This is my mom, Wanya. I see you've got a toad there."
"His name's Trevor," Neville said, smiling shyly.

"This guy's Lucky," I said, pointing at my half-hawk, half-owl bird. "I rescued him. The shopkeeper was gonna have him put down, cause of his eye."

"Then he truly is lucky, isn't he," smiled vulture-lady. A loud train-bell sounded behind us. "Oh, you'd better be getting aboard the train, kids. That's the five-minute warning. You'll want a seat."

I kissed my mother smartly and gave her a huge hug. "You'll be able to get your chair in okay, right, mom?"

"If she doesn't, I'll stick around and give her a hand, now, dear," said vulture-lady. I grinned a thank you and waved good-bye. Neville and I climbed aboard the train together, just in time to nearly bowl over a black-haired boy with round glasses.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean it, there's so much going on, I—"

"It's okay," he said, picking up his trunk. A great owl, brilliantly white, was sitting all ruffled in its cage. "It's okay, Hedwig."
I righted my own trunk, grimacing. "Lucky, you're just fine. Come on, then. Oh, Neville, get up here, the train'll leave any minute!" I pulled my own trunk to the side and grabbed Neville's. Trevor hopped out of his grasp and started for the head of the train. I stopped the toad with gentle pressure on its back and waited for Neville to right himself, then handed him the toad.

"Thanks. He keeps trying to make off on his own," Neville said, grinning. "Just like a toad, eh?"

"I guess. I've never really seen one that big before, but I guess that's why he's a magic toad and not a normal one."

The train started away from the station. "Better find seats," Neville said. "Compartments fill quick, so my Gran says."

I nodded. "Come on. Hey, what'd you say your name was?" I asked the black-haired boy.

"Uh, Harry. Harry Potter," he said.

Neville stared at him. "Are you really?"

I had, of course, read of the great Boy Who Lived, but I wasn't really all that interested, to tell you the truth. So the Killing Curse didn't work just that once—maybe some other, more powerful magic was at work. Maybe Harry was just immune to it. Who knew? Better witches than me had tried to puzzle it out, and putting him as a one-year-old on a pedestal wasn't going to change much. I mean, You Know Who was dead. What'd it matter?

Nonetheless, I could tell that Neville was curious about him. Harry lifted up his hair to show his scar—really cool looking, actually, shaped like a lightning bolt. Other than that…not really much left to him. He was a wizard who grew up Muggle. Naturally, that meant he had either read a lot about it, or he wasn't like that and was still completely clueless.

From his reactions to things so far, I waged on the latter.

The three of us found a compartment near the end of the train that contained only one boy, a redhead with a rat.

"Hey, can we sit with you?" I asked.

"Sure."

With that, the three of us put away our trunks and sat down. Me next to the new redhead, and Neville across, next to Harry. Neville was still regaling Harry with questions about You Know Who.

"You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" asked the redhead. Neville looked chagrined when Harry glared at him, but he nodded, tossing his floppy, uncombed hair out of the way so the boy could see his scar.

"I can't remember anything, so stop asking, and don't start asking," Harry said, looking at Neville and at the redhead.

"Wasn't gonna," said the boy. "I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley. And this is Scabbers."

"He looks a little sick," I said. Actually, he looked like a carrier for the Plague, but I didn't want to beat my chances at having friends right from the start.

I was pretty sure there weren't that many compartments on the train, so either we'd be expecting at least two stragglers in the car, or we'd be left to our own devices. Considering what I'd read, I think it would be the former, at least for one other. Sure enough, about ten minutes or so later, a familiar face slid the compartment door to the side, looking quite bedraggled. Her foofy brown hair was even more out there, probably from the stress of trying to find a compartment. She'd probably looked through a lot, considering how far back we were.

"Hey, Sarah," she said, breathing just a bit erratically. "Can I sit with you, everywhere else is full."

"Sure, have a sit," I said, patting the seat beside me. "There's room for your trunk by mine, if you like." She grinned and set about putting her trunk up. There was no pet with her, so I wondered what Kaz and she had done while Kurama and I got our birds. Probably nothing more than got the potions to lengthen Eikichi's life.

"I'm Ron Weasley, that's Neville Longbottom, and he's Harry Potter," Ron said, pointing at Neville and then Harry.

"The Harry Potter?" Hermione asked. Harry, for his part, looked like he was about to shout to the whole train that yes, he was Harry Potter, and no, he didn't want to sign any autographs, thank you very much.

He settled for tiredly nodding. "I don't remember anything. Really."

Hermione nodded. "I thought so. I mean, you were only one year old. Still, it would have been awesome to know what would repel that curse."
Harry nodded hopelessly. He looked like he'd rather get the subject dropped, so I changed it in hopes to make him happier and keep everyone else with a happier ride.

"So, what do you think Hogwarts will be like? I mean, I read Hogwarts, a History, but come on, history books don't say much for the present. You remember Headmaster Dumbledore, Hermione? I wonder what he'll be like there."

"You've met him?" Ron asked.

"Briefly," Hermione said. "He actually helped Sarah's mom get into Gringotts."

"Helped her…?" Neville's unasked question was obvious.

"I'm Muggle-born," I explained quickly. "Mom's got no legs. Amputee. She's in a wheelchair, and…"

"The steps," Ron nodded. "Of course. Cool. I've always wondered what'd it be like not to have body parts like that. I mean, it sort of happens sometimes with Apparition, leaving bits behind. I'd wonder if they could regrow your mom's limbs."

"Be kind of a stretch, I dunno," I said. What would Mom be like with her legs, able to walk like anyone else? "My dad would have to find out that I'm a witch, then, though. I'd like to wait, if that's true, till I find out if I can do it. No need to tell dad, and dash hopes from my mom, you know what I mean?"

"Your dad doesn't know?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," I blushed. "He's uh…"

I was interrupted by the door sliding open again. Kurama and Kaz stood at the doorway, looking at the five of us, crestfallen.
"Sorry," Kaz mumbled, moving to shut the door.

"It's okay," I smiled.

They shut the door.

Kurama

Kaz and I continued down the train, not believing our luck. Not a single compartment so far hadn't been full. Well, except there was one seat left in Sarah and Hermione's car, but I'd rather us not be split up so quickly. We continued down the train in much the same fashion, finding absolutely no seats. The caboose compartment contained one seat only, meaning one of us would have to hope that Sarah and Hermione's compartment still had a vacancy. But then, why would it not? I began to think it was some sort of ploy to pack students in, so that everyone had met five other people the first train ride.

"I'll go back," Kaz said. He smiled at the five occupants of the car, a pair of twin girls giggling beside each other, with another young girl beside them. On the other side were two boys. I took the final seat as Kaz left, hopefully to get a seat with Sarah and Hermione.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" asked one of the twins.

"Kurama Nobunaga," I said smoothly, the new name not fazing me really. I was used to taking on new identities. "That was my twin brother, Kazuma, better known as Kaz."

"I'm Lavender, and these are my best friends Padma and Parvati Patil," she giggled. Although the two (Parvati and Lavender) appeared quite brave, and were speaking with me openly, I noticed that Padma wasn't nearly so bold. I wondered if this was one of those twin things that I would be able to use to my advantage. These two girls, matching in everything down to the ribbons plaiting their hair, were as different as could be. I turned to the two boys.

"I'm Seamus Finnegan," said the one beside me. He had a very heavy Irish accent, making me wonder just how far Hogwarts accepted students from.

"Dean Thomas," said the last boy. Although I was used to seeing all kinds of colors of demon skin, I wasn't so used to seeing so dark a tint in humans. Very few people of color traveled to Japan, and fewer still ended up crossing my path. It was a refreshing reminder of my home in the Makai. He was the only other one in the compartment wearing blue jeans, leading me to ask.

"Are you Muggle-born?"
"Yes," he answered, smiling. He patted the legs of his jeans. "Give me away, do they?"

I nodded, chuckling. "So…I take it you met Mr. Treeamble, too?"

"Yes, I did," Dean nodded. "Oh, I get it. You're wondering why I didn't end up in the same group as you for the initiation in Diagon Alley."

I nodded, that being exactly what was on my mind.

"I went with another group. My parents were working that day. There were three other groups, or so I'm told. Me and Terry Boot were the only ones who got that little tour. I heard the first group had a handicapped lady, and the second was stuffed so full that Mr. Treeamble had someone else helping him, a Mr. Weasley."

"That explains things, then," I nodded. "By the way, I was in the group with the handicapped lady. She was the mother of Sarah Galis."

"Ah, cool. Man, I'd hate to have a mom like that. It'd be cool, but still. Everyone staring at you…"

"Sarah seemed to have a good deal of respect for her mother," I said evenly.

The conversation turned back to more comfortable topics, but I was lost in my thoughts and only nodded once in a while. Sarah's mother was an anomaly, something I'd never seen before in all of my long years. The only other person I knew of with any kind of disability was Yomi, and he certainly was better off for his.

After a few hours, a little old witch pushing a trolley cart loaded down with impossible amounts of candies and snacks opened our compartment door.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked. I looked at her selection curiously. The mission really, here, was to experience all that I could of the wizarding world. Certainly that meant candy and foods, too. I smiled and looked around the compartment.

"Choose what you like," I told the others. "I'll pay."

"That's very generous of you, dear," smiled the trolley lady.

Seamus and Dean both got a few Chocolate Frogs and a bag each of Every Flavor Beans, while the girls opted for Sugar Quills and Fizzing Whizbees. I asked for a sampling of each item on the cart, including amber-colored bottles called Butterbeer. I placed most of my stash in my pack. I was curious enough about the Chocolate Frogs to buy a dozen. That was the only thing I kept out.

"Probably a good idea," said Parvati. "From what our mother said, we don't get a lot of candy, per se, at Hogwarts. We get deserts, but we're not able to go to Hogsmede until third year."

I thanked my inner self for its foresight, because then I wouldn't have been able to sample such succulent delights for another two years. Well, at least not until the ride home, I figured. I unwrapped the Chocolate Frog and was that surprised when it leapt from my hands and onto Padma's lap. She laughed and grabbed it, handing it back.

"Hold on tight to it," she said, the shyness gone for a moment. "They're bewitched to jump. Although most will tell you it has one good jump, don't mean it doesn't have a couple more smaller ones."

"Compared to the one, I think I'll be more careful here on," I chuckled. I bit off the frog's leg, trying to act like any normal eleven-year-old boy.

"Oh, look at that!" said Dean, pointing to the inside casing of his Chocolate Frog packaging. "His name is Albus Dumbledore. Wonder who he is?"

"Our headmaster," I said quietly. The inside of my wrapper had someone named Agrippa on it, but the sheer fact that I'd made that connection startled all the others.

"How d'you know?" Seamus asked.

"Mr. Treeamble told me after he helped Sarah's mother enter Gringotts," I said, smiling.

Dean and Seamus each read their cards aloud, and I did as well from mine. Lavender giggled at every other word, and I dearly hoped that I would not have to put up with another fan club dedicated solely to my face all over again.

After a few more hours, we were informed that we had to get our uniforms on. The "robes" were little more than a white dress shirt, black slacks, and a simple black cloak that went over it all. A gray tie completed the ensemble. I supposed students were allowed whatever sort of footwear they wanted, because I noticed that Padma and Parvati were still wearing sneakers under their uniforms when I returned from the men's room. Apparently, the announcement to dress was made by each compartment, because I had no trouble getting dressed.

"We're slowing down," Seamus said, grinning ear to ear. I reached in the cage to stroke Okuroshi's feathers as the train started to squeal. None of the other occupants of the compartment had brought a pet. I wondered in the back of my mind whether they had just decided not to, like Hermione, or if they hadn't been able to afford it.

Just as soon as I'd begun to think we weren't going to stop, we did. A loud, authoritative voice told us to leave all of our things on the train, that they would be taken care of. I petted Okuroshi one more time, then filed out with the others to see what awaited us outside.

Whelp, there's the fifth chapter. :) I really like how the first day of classes went now that they're written! I kinda wish someone would tell me how this is going, though.