Chapter 5 – The Hidden Station

Adam woke up early the next morning. He had decided last night that on his last day as a resident at the orphanage, he didn't want any help from the carers. He would make his own way to the station. He had packed everything except for Chalky's cage inside his old trunk and at 6.00 in the morning, before there was any sign of life inside the orphanage, he left to catch the bus. Standing outside on the corner, he reached into his trunk and pulled out his new wand. He held it up in the air and waited for the sudden flash of purple.

Professor McGonagall had told him that he could use the Knight Bus to get to King's Cross Station, but because of the protections on Platform 9 ¾, he couldn't get directly on to it. Even though her letter had explained all about the bus, Adam still couldn't believe his eyes as the triple-deckered, poisonous purple bus came into view.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus…" said the pimple-faced conductor named Stan Shunpike. With his help, Adam got his heavy trunk onto the bus and he sat down just in time before the bus lurched off towards his destination.

The bus sped along road after road, Adam's vision getting continually blurry. They seemed to have gone all over England in order to let the other passengers disembark. Adam had got on to the bus when it was nearly full, so a lot of people needed to get off before him. He was starting to feel quite ill when the conductor named Stan came up to him and told him that his stop was the next one. Adam felt too queasy to reply.

About two minutes later, Adam, highly dizzy and disoriented was helped off the bus by Stan.

"We don't charge you since your only going to the station. We already got your fare from Prof M." As soon as Adam and a hissing Chalky dismounted the bus, it shot off to its next destination and it took several minutes before Adam felt up to moving without being ill. He walked through the station till he reached the barrier between platform's 9 and 10. Although Professor McGonagall's letter had explained how to get on to the station, he didn't feel confident enough to actually do what he was required.

"Are you OK?" asked a kindly voice from behind him. He turned round to see a bushy-haired female in her late teens smiling back at him. He saw that she too had a heavy trunk and a cat, but hers was bandy-legged and ginger.

"Yes thank you." Adam was going to ask her exactly how to get onto the station, but he didn't want to in case this girl was actually a Muggle, but then he noticed the Hogwarts school logo on her trunk. "Do you know, how to…how to…"

"How to get onto the station? Yeah, I had trouble with it in my first year too. You just walk straight through the barrier. If you feel worried then it's best to run." She stood back slightly and watched Adam expectantly.

Turning his trolley to face the barrier, Adam half-walked, half-ran at the barrier, sure that whatever the girl had told him he was going to crash. But he didn't. He passed straight through the solid barrier and came out onto a new station, a gleaming scarlet train engine before him, a sign overhead telling him he was on platform 9 ¾. The bushy haired girl followed him through the barrier and came up to him.

"Do you want some help getting your stuff on the train?"

"Yes please." The two of them walked down the station and safely stored their trunks on the train. The girl checked her watch.

"I'm meeting up with some friends on the train, so I'll see you later. My name's Hermione by the way."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Adam." After the exchange of names, Hermione walked off down the station with her own cat while Adam and Chalky got onto the train.

There was only about five minutes till they left and a lot of people were hanging out the windows, waving goodbye to their families. Adam was trying to find an empty compartment, but every one he came across had a big group of people, clearly friends from previous years, sat inside, huddled in conversation. Eventually, Adam felt the scarlet engine underneath him roar into life as the train started to move.

Now that they had pulled away, all of the carriages seemed to have magically filled with the other students. Most of the new first years seemed to know each other as well, presumably from magical families. He kept on the lookout for Hermione, as she was the only person on the train that he actually knew, but there was no sign of her. Continuing down the train, he came across another carriage which was almost empty. The only person in the carriage was another boy, who was clearly another first year. He looked lonely and nervous, so Adam decided it was best to join him. He tapped briefly on the glass before entering the carriage.