I'm on a boat, this was probably written long ago (from when you are, if that makes any sense) because I thought I had wifi access on this holiday, considering I'm in the best suite on the Norwegian Jade cruise ship (14500-14504), but nooooo, that is totally unreasonable. This is the first chapter not written to music, most of them are written to wrock/trock/black veil brides, the previous one was written to aeroplane muzac.

Platform and plastic pets

I awoke to the sound of a muggle song called 'Barbie Girl' blaring at approximately a trillion decibels into my ears. I sat up in bed and went about frantically grasping at my ears. It stopped. I looked down at my hands and saw a pair of ear buds. Oh, so that was what it was, I had set my phone alarm the previous night, that hellish song is the only thing that can wake me up, and, evidently, I had fallen asleep listening to the radio.

I glanced at the alien –like blue light radiating from my clock/radio and saw that it was 5:55 am, damn my paranoia, I always set things far too early. I thought about going back to sleep, but that would just end in a mad rush and me having five minutes to get to Kings Cross, which, trust me, even with side along apparition is not possible.

I stumbled out of bed in a state not unlike the time I had a hangover from those champagne truffles (I didn't know they contained actual champagne). I all but fell into my already open wardrobe and grabbed something before realising that I should just wear my uniform on the train, because I would never remember to change while on the way.

It took me about thirty minutes to get all my toiletries together in my case; I then checked everything about four times. My mum came in at seven, surprised that I was awake, and insisted that she check everything as well. By the time all was done, I had thirty-seven minutes to get there, putting my mum's idea of going by muggle DLR to rest, I flooed to my nana's, then we all flooed the ministry-designated floo stop for Hogwarts students. I only just managed to convince my nana not to shout 'accio breakfast' in the middle of the throng of muggles in dull grey suits, reassuring her that I'd get something from the snack cart, leaving out the fact that it would be sugar free pumpkinade and loads of chocolate pieces with sugar shells.

'So which train do we get on?' Asked Rosa, looking at a massive board with all the train times written on it.

'Hogwarts express, of course.' My nana replied, as if it were an obvious fact.

'Which platform?' A still staring Rosa questioned.

'Nine and three quarters.' My nana said, too loudly for comfort.

Rosa looked utterly bamboozled at the concept of there being fraction platforms, so I explained to her that it was a secret one that muggles were totally unaware of.

'So...how on earth do we get in? It is on earth, right?' She asked, genuinely questioning its location in the space/time continuum.

'Of course, it's just like a T.A.R.D.I.S,' I said, I then noticed that what I had said did, in fact, imply, that it was not on earth, and hurriedly added 'it's bigger on the inside than the outside.'

'So, how do we get in?'

My nana decided to answer this question, tactlessly as always, 'Just run strait at that wall, you'll go right through!' She said cheerily, that added, 'Probably, have fun!'

Rosa's eyes went wide and, being my cruel self, I pushed her right through; luckily, she was too scared to scream.

'Welcome to Platform nine and three quarters!' I said with my hands over her eyes, I took them away to reveal a normal looking railway platform, so full of people that, if it weren't for the charms, at least five people would've fallen on the tracks.

'C'mon,' I said to Rosa, 'If we don't get on soon we'll have to sit with other people.'

'Oh, that would be just terrible,' she said sarcastically, 'varying the people we hang out with so that we experience lots of traditions and cultures, sound's like hell.'

'Actually,' I stated, 'my idea of hell is socialising, ball games, loud noises and religious music, hanging out with other people would probably result in two or more of those. I said I'd meet the others in compartment 8K, we can tell them you're a witch!' With that I grabbed Rosa's arm and pulled her through the crowd and onto the train.

On our left I saw a compartment labelled 4F and on my right I saw 4E, so I pulled Rosa left, much to her surprise, causing her to almost fall over and shout 'Hey!'

When we finally got there; Lara and a person I was pretty sure was Ella were sitting there. 'Hi Daisy, Rosa.' Lara said, unusually friendly, 'Wait! What's Rosa doing here?'

'I am a witch.' She said, her metaphorical feathers thoroughly ruffled.

'And why did we not know of this before young lady?' Probably-Ella asked indignantly, I was unsure as to whether this question was directed to Rosa or me.

'She only found out on the twentieth, give her a break!' I requested.

'She only found out twelve days ago, and she's done all the reading and got all her supplies?' Ella asked, it normally took her about a month to even think about maybe replacing the eraser she lost, so it was not surprising that this concept shocked her.

'Not quite that twentieth,' I corrected her sheepishly, 'more like theoneinApril.'

'The one when?' Lara asked, only just properly tuning into the conversation.

'April.' Rosa said, as if this would cause no problems.

'April? And you didn't tell us at Muggle School! Why Rosa? Why do you keep so many secrets? And don't look so smug Daisy! You knew!' Shouted Lara, this had started off serious, but ended fairly jokily, when Lara realised how much she sounded like a geography teacher.

'This is Winter.' I said, gesturing to the grumpy ball of fluff in a cat carrier 'And this is Ares.' I pointed to my golden brown eagle owl, in a desperate attempt to steer the conversation towards something altogether more pleasant.

I noticed that Lara had a pet; I think it was a cat of some sort, but she was allergic, so I decided to ask why she had something that would cause her such distress, 'Lara, why do you have a cat?'

'Oh, I forgot you didn't know! I've already told Ella about him, he's hypo-allergenic, his fur is made of sillicoglysodium, that's why he's blue!'

So that was why she seemed so happy, but, wait, silico, as in silicon, ha, she has a plastic pet, I pointed this out to her, causing a pretend strop.