Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own.
A/N This is the first chapter in which all main characters will be together. I hope you enjoy. Please review and tell me what you think. Reviews mean a lot to me!
September 1st
Harry had seen some weird things in the last month. But the way to get onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters probably topped the list. He looked over at Ms. Larkin to see if she was joking, but she didn't have much of a sense of humor and he knew she was serious.
He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.
He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked faster. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble... Leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run. The barrier was coming nearer and nearer; he wouldn't be able to stop... The cart was out of control... He was a foot away. He closed his eyes ready for the crash. It didn't come... He kept on running... He opened his eyes.
A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. He had done it.
Serena came hurrying through, barely managing to stop her trolley before it hit his. It was close enough that Monet had started squeaking and running for the back of his cage. They both looked around in wonder.
Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.
Ms. Larkin and Caitlyn came through the barrier, with Caitlyn flinching like she expected it to suddenly not work after Serena and Harry had gone through. Ms. Larkin, looking flustered since they had arrived later than expected, fixed her hair and motioned towards the train.
"Let's find you tow a spot to put your trunks."
The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. They passed a round-faced boy and caught a snippet of their conversation:
"Gran, I've lost my toad again."
"Oh, Neville."
Further down the platform, a boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.
"Give us a look, Lee, go on." The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.
Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. With Ms. Larkin's help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment. They did the same with Serena's and then stopped to catch their breaths.
They said their goodbyes and Ms. Larkin made Caitlyn hug Serena before they left. Everyone was hurrying to board the train, since they only had minutes until the train started moving toward Hogwarts. With one last round of hugs that embarrassed, and pleased, Harry, Ms. Larkin ushered the two onto the train.
The train started to move as Serena and Harry took their seats. They watched the platform disappear from view as the train rounded the corner and instead houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.
The door to the compartment slid open to reveal a black haired, grey eyed girl. She was dressed in ripped jeans and a tattered black hoodie, hair pulled back into a high ponytail. Something about the way she carried herself made her seem older, though Harry knew she couldn't be any older than Serena and himself.
"Do you mind if I sit in here?" She looked between the two of them, who both nodded.
"Please." Serena waved her in and the girl slipped inside and shut the door again behind her. She sat down cross-legged on the same row of seat as Harry, though not exactly next to him. "I'm Serena Larkin. This is Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter? As in the Boy Who Lived?" The girl asked, looking in between the two. Harry shifted in his seat uncomfortably and Serena seemed unable to form another word, looking worried that the girl might start bombarding Harry with questions he didn't know how to answer. "Good. Maybe I won't be the center of attention." She added with a scoff, settling back in the corner of the seat.
"Why would you be?" Harry asked.
"Phoebe Black. As in the daughter of a mass murderer."
"Oh." Harry said, unsure of what else there was to say.
"Oh." Serena echoed, though there was something off about her voice.
"Yeah. Oh." Phoebe agreed with a humorless laugh.
"So what do you know about Hogwarts?" Serena changed the subject and everyone was glad. The talk turned to the school and soon the trio was laughing instead.
It was when the train was speeding past fields full of cows and sheep that the door to the compartment slid open again. This time, a sandy-haired boy in an over-sized sweater stood there.
"Mind if I join you guys? The last compartment was full of idiots." He offered as explanation. They invited in him and he collapsed in the seat next to Serena. He introduced himself as Thomas Lupin and another round of introductions was offered. When Phoebe introduced herself, first and last name, Thomas looked at her for a long moment and then said: "Mate, that's messed up for you." No empathy, just a comment.
"Thanks." Phoebe told him, barely containing a laugh.
The talk again turned to other subjects, with Phoebe and Thomas managing to crack everyone up with their own brands of dry humor and witty sarcasm. They talked about everything from quidditch to school to the weird things they now knew was accidental magic happening when they were younger. Thomas's mother had been a muggle-born and he knew about both worlds, as did Phoebe for different reasons. The four of them had plenty to talk about, magical and otherwise.
Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door.
"Anything off the cart, dears?"
Harry jumped up, his pockets rattling with money from his parent's vault. Phoebe followed him out into the corridor while Thomas muttered something about not being hungry and Serena merely stayed put without a word.
He was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry, but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, licorice wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.
Harry dumped the load onto the seat, with Phoebe sitting on the floor to make room with her own handful of candy, which she passed out to Thomas and Serena. Both looked hesitant to take any but she gave them a look and then obliged.
"Go on, have some." Harry encouraged, motioning to his stack. He'd never had anything to share with friends before and it was a nice feeling to sit around with the other three, eating their way through the pile.
Phoebe and Thomas challenged each other with Every Flavor Beans. Harry joined in at first, but wasn't brave enough to just blindly taste all of them like they were and came to the conclusion that both of his new friends were either incredibly brave or incredibly dumb.
Serena drew the line at the chocolate frogs. She didn't fancy eating anything that had once moved or was still currently moving. Harry, feeling brave, opened a box.
The frog hopped onto the window and then jumped out. Serena let out a cry of surprise and held Monet closer to her chest.
"Oh, that's too bad. They only have one good jump in them." Thomas said and popped another bean in his mouth before promptly gagging and having to clench his jaw shut before swallowing hard. Once he had done that, he continued above the sound of Phoebe's laugh: "Even better the second time... Anyway, it's the cards that you want. They're collectible. You can trade them."
"You can trade them?" Phoebe perked up, tossing a small handful of every flavor beans into her mouth without a care in the world. The girl had an amazingly non-existent gag reflex, or perhaps just no working taste buds at all.
Harry pulled out his card and flipped it over. It showed a man's face. He wore half- moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.
"So this is Dumbledore!" He read the information on the other side.
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.
Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.
"He's gone!"
"They do that." Thomas said nonchalantly.
The compartment door slid open again. This time, three boys entered. There was a pale, blond boy and two larger goons by his side.
"Is it true? They're saying all down the train that people are catching glimpses of Harry Potter. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes." Harry replied. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle." The boy said carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." He glanced around the compartment at the others, finally looking down at Phoebe, who was still sitting on the floor. She jumped to her feet, sending the candy wrappers on her lap flying across the floor.
"Draco." She said it in a way that made Harry think she knew him. Draco's confident smile faded slightly, but then he merely pushed her aside and stuck out his hand to Harry. Phoebe looked as though he had slapped her. Thomas stood, looking between Phoebe and Draco like he was wondering if he should get involved.
"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter." He said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either."
"Hey!" Serena was on her feet in defense of her best friend immediately, setting Monet down on the seat and trying to make her small self look bigger.
"Say that again." Thomas encouraged. "Go on." His tone was humorous, like it was all in good fun, but his expression said something entirely different. Draco just sneered.
"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?"
"Unless you get out now." Harry said, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than any of them.
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."
Goyle reached toward the pile Chocolate Frogs. Harry leaped forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell. Monet the rat had leaped up onto the other row of seats and had reached Goyle before Harry; he hung from Goyle's finger by his teeth. Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Monet round and round, howling, and when Monet finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once.
"Monet!" Serena picked him up, cradling him in her hands like a baby.
"Is it dead?" Phoebe questioned.
"No!" Serena snapped.
"It looks dead." Thomas put in.
"He's not dead! He's... He's asleep." Serena looked surprised herself, but then gently laid him back down in his cage and everyone sat down again.
"I've heard of the Malfoy family." Thomas put in as the shock of the moment passed. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side. Knew him school, he did. The Malfoy's have always been Slytherins."
"Well, people aren't their fathers." Serena put in, shooting a none-too-subtle look at Phoebe. Harry looked between them, trying to figure out what was happening, but Phoebe just smiled and nodded gratefully to Serena.
They relapsed back into silence until it became uncomfortable and Serena spoke up again:
"Well. That was exciting. We've gotten into a fight before we've even gotten to school."
"Technically, he fought." Harry pointed at Monet, sleeping sounding in his cage.
"Are you sure he's not dead?" Phoebe questioned.
"He's fine!"
"He looks dead." Thomas added.
"He does not!"
"Well..." Harry began.
"He's fine." Serena frowned, then reached over to put her fingers on his stomach to feel for breathing. "Yeah, he's fine."