Platform 9 & 3/4
"I'm gonna miss you, Harry," said Morgan with sniff as she hugged her best friend tightly. "You will write to us, right?"
"At least twice a moon cycle," Harry promised as he returned the embrace. Standing at near the edge of the forest with his family, he was waiting for Lupin to pick him, who would take him to the King Cross station where a train would be leaving there for Hogwarts. With his trunk and Hedwig nearby, he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt finished off with a pair of trainers, more like the clothes he use to wear when he still lived with the Dursleys, but for once they actually fit him. Although, he wasn't sure how he felt about the trainers, they felt constricting since the usually the only time he wore shoes was during the winter, and they were made of leather and fur that were perfectly molded to his feet. He wondered how often he could get away with being barefoot...
"And - sniff - you won't get a new best friend?" asked Morgan with a blush. "You won't get someone to replace me?"
"You'll always be my best girl friend, Mo," said Harry with a laugh. "But I got to get a best guy friend too, right?"
"... Alright," Morgan said with a slight narrowing of her eyes. "But I'm still your first best friend, and your best best friend."
"Always," Harry agreed as he gave her another hug. Finally letting her go, he turned to his adoptive uncle. "You're gonna watch over Mum, right?" he asked with a seriousness that made the older werewolf throw back his head and laugh.
"If I didn't, I'm pretty sure you'd be using some of those fancy new magic tricks against me," chuckled Fenrir as he ruffled Harry's already wild hair. "But don't you worry, wiz-kid, I'll take good care of her."
"Like I need protecting," said Elysia with a roll of her eyes.
"At the very least I'll have to be holding you back when Lupin gets here," said Fenrir with a wink, and in return Elysia growled, flashing a dark look at him while Harry just sighed. His mother had argued with Dumbledore when he came to the clan a few days after he ran, to sign the paperwork. She snapped that she didn't want "a poison drinking, Mother Moon hating beast" taking care of her son, and went on about it for sometime. But after a lot of talking, his mother had to accept Lupin, for there was no one else ready or able to take of Harry. And Lupin was a friend of his parents, so it wouldn't be such much of a shock to anybody.
"Lupin is nice, Mum," said Harry reassuringly. "He'll take good care of me."
"Mm," huffed Elysia, but instead of going on about it, she knelt down and pulled her son into a hug. "You be a good cub, Harry. Make sure you eat properly, and go to bed on time. Homework is always first, understand? And don't forget to go on a run once in awhile, especially on the full moon -"
"Girly, let the kid breathe," Fenrir said with a barking laugh, as Harry was turning a a pale pink at his mothers attention. "I don't he have to worry about homework if he doesn't even make it there."
Releasing Harry just enough so he wasn't crushed, Elysia pressed her nose into his wild hair. "I'm going to miss you so much, my little cub," she whispered. "But I know you're going to do good things, great things. And now you're one step closer to do that." She kissed the top of his head and pressed something soft into his hands. "Open that when your alone. And make me proud, Harry."
"I will, Mum," promised Harry as he slipped the present into his bag.
Any further goodbyes were halted when the Knight Bus appeared with a loud boom that made Morgan screech and hid behind Elysia, who let go of Harry reluctantly as she stood. Fenrir growled and rubbed his ears. "Forgot how much I hated that damn thing," he muttered just loud enough for Harry to hear.
"Harry!" said Lupin as he stepped off the Bus, a large smile on his face, "Are you all ready to go..." The smile quickly faded away when he saw who was standing near him. "Hello, Fenrir," he said in a cold tone that just didn't seem to match the usually happy man. "Dumbledore told me that you might be here."
"Its been awhile, pup," said Fenrir with a glance over the younger werewolf. "You certainly are a lot bigger since the last time I saw you," he added with a barking laugh, obviously trying to rile Lupin up.
Growling lowly, Lupin's eyes flashed a dark gold before he shook his head and looked back to Harry, a smile back on his face, though it was forced. "Ready to go, Harry?"
Nodding, Harry gave one last hug to his family as Lupin got his trunk and placed in on board the bus. "Bye Mum, bye Uncle Fenrir, bye Morgan! See you a few months!"
The three said goodbye and wished him luck as Harry stepped onto the bus with Hegwig, Lupin just a few steps ahead of him. While his new guardian payed for his ticket, the boy couldn't help but look through the window and out at the forest. The place that had been his home for six years. But while he would most defiantly miss it, he couldn't help but be excited to head off to Hogwarts.
He was going to learn about magic!
"Here we are," said Lupin, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and leading him towards a pair of empty chairs. It was only then that he noticed there was other passengers on the bus, and there was a lot of noise in the level about them, maybe a large family. The passengers on this level were all staring at him or the family he was leaving, probably wondering why he was being picked up in the middle of the woods. Hunching his shoulders, Harry scrambled into his seat and tried not to notice the stares as Lupin spelled down Hedwig's cage before the bus suddenly shot forward.
"Do you have the paper?" asked Harry as Lupin settled in next to him.
Nodding, Lupin handed him the newspaper he had in the bag next to him. "Go ahead and keep it, I've already read what I need."
Thanking him, Harry glanced over the articles on the front page, wondering what had been happening since he last was in the wizarding world.
Marauding with Monsters Released by Gilderoy Lockhart!
What To Do While Your Children Are At Hogwarts!
Harry Potter At Diagon Alley - Will He Appear at Hogwarts?
Pausing when he saw his name once again in the paper, Harry frowned as he read the article, written by the same woman that wrote the last article he saw, Rita Skeeter.
As reported last month, Harry Potter was supposedly seen in Diagon Alley last month by multiple people, hidden among all our other children that were off to buy their school supplies for another year of schooling. Now the question remains - will Harry Potter actually be seen at Hogwarts?
This reporter has of course tried to talk with Albus Dumbledore, the person best to answer that question. He would not give any answer at the time, just as before when he was question about Harry Potter disappearance six years ago -
Shoving the newspaper into his bag, Harry closed his eyes as he made sure his bangs were hiding his scar. It was a little overwhelming, and maybe even a little scary, how much people talked about him, how much they gossiped about him, all because of something he did when he was a baby and didn't even remember. He wondered how bad that would be once he got to Hogwarts...
The ride to Kings Cross was a bit long, thanks to the fact that the bus kept stopping to either let people off or to gain more passengers, but Harry barely noticed as he buried his nose in the newspaper, reading nonsense articles about magical cleaning products and some book that a man named Lockhart just came out with. He was more then eager though to get off when the conductor, the same Ashley from the last time, announced that they had reached their destination.
"Keep up, Harry," said Lupin as they stepped off the bus. "Don't want you to get lost."
Nodding as he jumped down the last step with Hedwig in hand, Harry clutched the closest thing he could - Lupin's ratty robes - and held on tight as they walked into the station and towards the carts. While Diagon Alley had been crowd, Kings Cross was even more so, and so much louder, the sound of screeching trains and rattling carts to add to the already loud sounds of people talking and shouting. The smells too - the various smells of people, the faint smell of animals even overlapped with fuel and coffee from a nearby stand. Harry couldn't imagine how people could live like this everyday; he was already missing the quiet of the forest and the crisp smell of grass and leaves.
"Over here, Harry," Lupin said as he gently guided Harry and his cart away from the nearest platforms, which were Platforms Nine and Ten. "We are going is Platform Nine and Three Quarters."
Harry looked up at Lupin with an odd expression. "But there is no such thing as Platform Nine and Three Quarters," he said, pointing at the signs Nine and Ten in turn. He might have been living in the woods with a pack of werewolves for the past six years, but he wasn't stupid.
"Remember Diagon Alley," Lupin reminded him. "Both that and the Platform are hidden, to keep it out of sight from Muggles. We just have to be a little careful about how we enter this time."
"Alright," Harry said with a nod, think it made a bit of sense. "So, how do we get there?"
Lupin smiled. "We run that," he said simply, as if he was stating how bright it was outside, while gesturing towards the barrier nearby, "at that wall."
"But - But its a wall," Harry replied in a way that sounded rather stupid even to him. "How are we going to get passed it?"
"Like I said, we run at it. Now come along, the best way to learn is through experience." Lupin adjusted the cart so it was pointed right at the supposed enterance to the platform that shouldn't exists. "Hold on tight to the handle - there you go - and when I say go, we'll go at it together. If you get to nervous, just close your eyes, alright?"
"Alright," agreed Harry with a nervous twinge. He wasn't so sure about this; his senses were in overdrive now, telling him this was wrong. At least at Diagon Alley he could smell the path that had people had taken - here, there nothing.
Plus, it was just good sense not to go throwing yourself at a wall.
"Ready... go!" whispered Lupin as the crowd cleared for a moment, another coming up on them quickly. Harry felt like a squirrel trying to cross a busy street as he and his guardian darted forward, the cart rattling in front of them with Hedwig squawking in way that showed she was clearly not happy about this.
As they got closer and closer, Harry couldn't help but screw his eyes shut, waiting for the impact and pain...
But nothing happen. At least not at first. But Harry noticed that any smell from the station was gone, as was the noise. He wondered what sort of magic this was.
Seconds ticked by, and as Harry felt Lupin slow them down, he felt a rush as both the noise and smell returned - but instead of fuel, it was smoke that reminded him of his clan's campfires, and the smell of animals was almost overwhelming. Opening his eyes, the young wizard felt his jaw drop.
"Whoa..."
A new scene was in front of him - scarlet steam engine waiting next to a platform packed with people, smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd. Cats of every size and color wound here and there between their owners legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the chatter and the thuds of heavy trunks. A sign overhead read Hogwarts' Express, just about ten minutes before 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.
"It certainly is something," Lupin agreed with a small smile. "Now, can you go on alright from here? I have a meeting soon, but if you need help getting on the train -"
"I'll be alright," quickly spoke up Harry. "You can go if you need to. Really," he insisted when Lupin looked a little hesitant. "And thank again for bring me here."
"Of course Harry." Lupin gave him a hug, a pat of the back with a warning to be careful, and walked off to a sign that said 'Approved Apparition Point' with an wave. Waving back, Harry started pushing his cart towards the train, catching conversations as he went.
"Gran, I've lost my toad again."
"Oh, Neville," sighed a older woman as she shook her head at her grandson.
"Give us a look, Lee, go on."
A boy with dreadlocks, surrounded by a small crowd, 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 wasn't sure he really wanted to know what that was.
"If I get one more owl telling me you've - you've blown up a toilet or -" said a mother as she reprehended a pair of red-headed twins, fumbling to find the right words.
"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."
"Boys!"
Stopping along side the train, Harry lugged his trunk and Hedwig on board with a bit of difficulty - he was suddenly glad he didn't have much - and into the nearest empty cabin he could find, a little happy that he would be alone at least for a little while so he could open his present in secret. Reaching into the bag at his side, he pulled out the small present that Elysia had given him - a pouch made of rabbit fur, and shook out its contents into his hand.
It was a simple necklace with a charm made of wood strung on a cord of leather. The charm was at first a small plain round pendent, but as he examined it closer he could seen a wolf - howling to the sky as it search for its family - carved into it, something felt more then seen as he brushed his thumb over it. Strangely enough, it was comforting to the touch.
Smiling, Harry put it on, letting the charm rest on his collarbone and rubbing his thumb over it again. Now he didn't feel nervous at all - there was something about having a reminder of his family that calmed him as he got ready to head off to his new life as a wizard.
A high pitch whistle blew, and glancing out the window Harry saw the remaining children scrambled onto the train, waving goodbye to their parents and younger siblings. Not worry about that since he had already said goodbye to his family, he wondered what he was going to do during the long train ride as his transportation lurched forward - deciding after a moment to reread Hogwarts, a History, in attempt to be on the same level as all the other witches and wizards who probably learned all this stuff a long time ago.
Just reaching for his bag, he instead jumped when a someone hit his compartment door with a 'bang', followed by a muted shout of pain. With a tilt of his head in curiosity, Harry watched as the door was shoved open awkwardly and someone entered the room backwards, dragging along with them a trunk and a small cage tied to it.
"Hello," Harry spoke up.
Yelping in surprise, the newcomer dropped his trunk with a heavy 'thud' and whirled around, eyes wide. "Oh! Sorry, sorry, I thought this compartment was empty!" apologized the boy profusely. He was plump and pale blond hair that made Harry think of Dudley - though instead of blue the boy had brown eyes. That made him faintly wonder if he would see his cousin before they arrived at Hogwarts - he also noticed that the boy smell like dirt and soap.
"Sorry, I'll go find another compartment," he said in apology while struggling to pick up his trunk again.
"Oh, its alright," insisted Harry, waving the boy back in as he stood up. "I don't mind. Here, let me give you a hand with that."
"If - If you're sure..." the boy stuttered even as Harry held him drag the trunk to join his. "I'm Neville, by the way."
"I'm Harry." Not bothering to give him last name since Nevile didn't either, he sat down on one side while Neville sat across from him. It was silent for while, both awkwardly look anywhere but each other and neither willing to speak up just yet. It was Harry that broke the silence after a few long minutes. "Are you a first year at Hogwarts?"
"Yeah," answered Neville timidly. "I think my Gran's more excited then I am that I got a letter. Maybe more surprised too. You?"
Nodding, Harry fell silent again, but only a few moments this time. "You come from a wizard family?"
"Its just me and Gran really," Neville said after a beat. "But yeah. What about you?"
"Er, I wasn't raised by wizards," Harry said, trying to think what was the best way to describe his unusual family. "I'm adopted. My birth parents were wizards though. And my uncle, though he doesn't really use his magic. But still, you must know loads of magic then."
"My Gran taught me a bit," admitted Neville. "Trying to get me ready, I guess. But I'm not very good."
"You still probably know a lot more then I do," Harry shrugged. All he really knew was how to transform - everything else was all new too him, just like when he was dropped in the middle of the woods by Vernon Dursley. "And not just about magic - my uncle told me a little bit of about the magical world, but he didn't do that a lot because I don't think my mom liked it when he did that."
"I understand that," Neville said with a tiny smile. "My Gran is like that about somethings."
"Really, I'll probably be the worst in class."
"I don't think you need to worry too much - there's other people who come from Muggle families and they learn well enough," Neville reassured him. "Gran says they have really good teachers at Hogwarts - she still has tea with the Head of Gryffindor once in awhile."
"Gryffindor, that's one of the four House's we get sorted into, right?" questioned Harry.
"Right." The small smile on Neville's face fell a little. "My Gran really wants me to be in that House, like both my parents were."
"But... you don't want to?" asked Harry with a tilt of his head.
"It not that I don't want to," Neville said as he shifted in his seat nervously. "I just... I don't think its the right House for me. I'm not brave or anything like that. But if I not a Gryffindor, Gran will be really disappointed in me. My parents will be really disappointed in me."
"I know how that is," Harry admitted as he absentmindedly rubbed his forehead, thinking about how worried he had been about disappointing Elysia.
Suddenly, Neville yelped, scrambling back in his seat until he hit the back. "But - That - You can't -" he squeaked, barely audible.
"Wha -? What's wrong, Neville?" asked Harry with concern over strange behavior that suddenly came over his new companion.
"You're - You're Harry Potter!" forced out Neville finally, shaking in his seat as his voice rose to a high tone. "You've got the - the scar!"
Blinking, Harry's hand went back to his forehead, realizing he had brushed away the bangs that usually hid his scar, kept it out of sight. "Oh. Well yah, I do."
Neville started to babble words that even Harry's heightened hearing couldn't understand, and he sighed. "Really, its no big deal, Neville. I'm Harry. Just Harry. I'm not special. And I don't remember anything about the guy that tried to kill me - Voldie something."
With yet another yelp, one so loud that Harry flinched, Neville clamped his hands over his mouth, eyes still wide. Sighing, Harry shook his head. "Neville... can't you just treat me like a normal kid? Please?"
"...S-Sure." Neville flushed a dark pink as he dropped his hands. "Sorry, its just I don't really talk to anyone my age, let alone someone kinda famous. Sorry."
"It's alright - I didn't even know I was kinda famous till I got my letter," said Harry with a comforting smile, and then out of habit, he sniffed the air. "Oh, you're toad is escaping," he said suddenly, pointing at the small animal that was quietly hopping towards the closed door.
"Trevor!" Neville scooped the toad up quickly, muttering, 'Bad Trevor,' to his pet as he placed him back in his carrier. "Thanks, he's always trying to get away. I don't think he likes me very much. My Gran gave him to me - said it be better then me having an owl for some reason, I think its a family tradition or something like that." He nodded towards Hedwig. "Yours is really pretty, by the way."
"Thanks, she was a present from a friend," said Harry as Hedwig chirped and ruffled her feathers in appreciation.
"So how come you don't know a lot about magic? Should you have bee raised with, ya know, wizards?" asked Neville cautiously before he shook his head in apology. "Sorry, that was probably rude, wasn't it? Sorry."
Harry shook his head. "Its fine - I guess..." He paused. Why did Dumbledore put him with his Muggle relatives in the first place? Had he know how awful they would be to him? How they probably never would have told him about magic? "I guess he just didn't want me to be overwhelmed," Harry finally answered with a shrug. "Finding out I was famous when I really young, things like that I guess."
"I guess so..."
There was a rattling outside their door, and a dimpled woman opened their door, peeked inside and smile. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Leaping up, Harry went over, reaching into the pocket that held his coins while Neville mumbled he wasn't hungry. He had been so nervous he hadn't had breakfast, but now he was starving. He grabbed a bit of everything off the cart, not caring that he didn't know what most of them were; Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, and a number of other strange things. It cost him a total of eleven Sickles and seven Knuts.
"You want some?" asked Harry as he dumped the candy onto the seat next to him.
"I'm alright," Neville mumbled, even though immediately afterward his stomach suddenly grumbled. He blushed and placed his arms over his stomach. "I'm fine."
"Here." Harry tossed Neville the first thing he grabbed, something called a Pumpkin Pasties. "My treat."
"But -"
"Go ahead, I've got plenty," insisted Harry as he plopped down and opened one of the Cauldron Cakes. "Its not fun eat alone anyway."
After Neville begrudgingly took up on Harry's offer, the two chatted away while eating through the pile of sweets: which was mostly Neville telling Harry anything about the wizarding world he was interested - how pictures moved (which Harry discovered upon opening a Chocolate Frog and getting a card of Merlin), how there was supposedly a giant creature hidden in the Hogwarts lake, how there was a small village nearby that they could visit in their third year. He was just about to tell Harry about the school Quidditch games he managed to see with his Gran when the outside of their door frame was hit with a bang that startled Neville so badly that he almost dropped a bag of Every Flavor Beans.
It was a girl, possibly the first girl his own age Harry had ever meet outside of the clan. He noticed as she straightened up and rubbed her shoulder that she had light brown hair, the color of the chocolate bar Lupin gave, that was coming out of its bun and falling around her face so it almost hid her eyes - grey, like a storm cloud, which stood out brightly against brown tinged skin.
"Sorry," the newcomer said as she glance behind her, the hallway filled with older students that were chattering thru open doors. "I didn't mean too..." She glance down the hall again, and suddenly Harry smelled a wave of fear, like a rabbit sensing a hidden hunter. "Sorry." And then she rushed off without another word.
"Wonder what was wrong with her?" Neville said curiously.
"I don't know..." mumbled Harry, worrying about a girl he barely knew. But he did know that she was afraid of something... Still, the two boys turned their attention back towards magic, and they continued on for quite sometime, not even noticing the lights for the room flickering on or the train slowing down until an announcement was made over some kind of intercom.
"Attention student, we will be arriving at Hogwarts in fifteen minutes..."
"Already? Oh wow, its got dark fast," Neville as he pointed to the darkness outside their window. Harry looked out the same window, his sharp eyes glad to see miles of forest flying by them. At least there would be somewhere nearby that he could change into his wolf form and go wild. He couldn't even imagine being stuck inside a castle all the time, with no chance to have the freedom just run.
A boy appeared in their doorway, still open. "Hey, have any of you seen a gray rat about this big with a front toe missing - he's my pet and I can't find him," whined the red headed boy.
"Sorry, no," said Harry with a shake of his head.
Muttering his thanks, the red-head shuffled on.
"Hey, you all get back to your compartment," they heard an older teen ordered a few minutes later, and a group of girls passed by their open door laughing and whispering amongst themselves. The teen, a girl maybe sixteen, paused just long enough to say, "You all better get ready, we should be arriving at Hogwarts soon."
"Oh, alright," Neville replied back, moving for his trunk. "I'll wait outside and let you change first - What are you doing?!" he asked with a squeak when he turned back around, almost dropping his uniform.
Halfway through lifting up his shirt, Harry stopped so he could tilt his head in confusion. "I'm changing," he answered simply.
"You can't just start taking off your clothes like that," Neville insisted with a slight blush as he rushed to shut the door and close the blinds, even as a girl that passed by gave a slight shriek when she saw an almost half naked Harry. "We're in public!"
"Oh, sorry," apologized Harry, waiting until the door and blinds were closed till he finished taking off his shirt. He was so use to living with people that ran around naked daily that he wasn't even fazed by taking off his clothes anymore.
He quickly changed into the uniform of Hogwarts, struggling only with the tie that he felt was choking him even after Neville helped him out with him. "I hope we don't have to wear these all the time," he mumbled as he tugged at it.
And with a small jolt, the train came to a slow stop, and Harry and Neville looked at each other with grins. They had finally arrived.
People pushed their way toward the door, exited the train and moving out on to a tiny, dark platform. Neville shivered in the cold night air, and Harry shook his head and lifted his face to the crescent moon that was still low in the nighttime sky. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and he heard a familiar voice.
"First years! First years over here! All right there, Harry?" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads, and Harry greeted him with a wave. "C'mon, follow me - any more first years? Mind your step, now! First years follow me!"
Slipping and stumbling, the group of first years followed Hagrid down a steep, narrow path, surrounded by dark and thick trees that hid them from the rest of the world; scaring everyone else but bringing a bit of comfort to Harry as if was so familar to him. Nobody spoke much, just exchanged a lot of nervous glances.
"You'll get your first sight of Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "Just round this bend here."
There was a lot of gasping as the children found themselves on the edge of a great black lake that shone like a mirror. On the other side was a vast castle perched atop a high mountain, its windows sparkling in the starry sky. It was like something from a fairytale book that Harry used to sneak glances at when he was still living with his relatives, or from the stories that Arianna use to tell the children. He grinned, if only Morgan could see this.
"No more than four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Neville, and two others climbed into the nearest boat, the boat rocking hazardously underneath their feet. Gulping, Harry tried not to stare down at the water. He didn't mind water, he swam all the time especially when it was warm - but for some reason, being in a boat was nerve racking.
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat all to himself. "Right then - forward!"
And on his command, the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake without a sound. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead with dropped jaws and awe. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff it stood on. They all bent their heads at Hagrid's command as they reached the cliff, and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in its stone face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to go right underneath the castle, until they reached an underground harbor. Everyone clambered out onto rocks and pebbles without hesitation, Harry just a little fast so he wouldn't be sick.
"Oy, you there! Is this your rat?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them, earning a few shrieks from some of the girls.
"Scabbers!"
They clambered up a passageway after Hagrid's bobbing lamp, which came out at last onto grass in the shadow of the castle before walking up a flight of stone stairs and arriving at a huge oak door.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer rat?" Hagrid glanced at all of them before raising a gigantic fist and knocking three times on the castle door.
SORRY for the long wait - and I could give a thousand different reason why I haven't been updating or writing lately, but I won't. Instead, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and hopefully I'll have the next one ready for next months update soon. Thank you so much for waiting.