Chapter 4

Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

Finn walked back and forth; he had woken up early had started reading a book that Miss Granger had picked out for him to teach him about the history of Hogwarts. "Cursed Vaults, Secret Chambers and Death?" What kind of school is still open after all of what happened?' he thought to himself as he paced around the room. Finn is beginning to have second thoughts about attending this magical school, he thought about what he had read in the book. He started to feel his chest tighten and panic started raising up inside of him. He stopped pacing then closed his eyes and started concentrating on slowing down his breathing to calm himself. A knock at the door caught his attention so he walked over and opened the door to see Mr. Longbottom standing on the other side.

"You all set?" Mr. Longbottom asked smiling.

Finn walked over and grabbed the book he had been reading then tossed it into his trunk before closing it. Mr. Longbottom took out his wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa" and flicked his wand towards the trunk. The trunk lifted up and floated towards the door. Mr. Longbottom gave Finn a smile then stepped aside allowing Finn to walk out of the room, with the trunk following behind them. The two wizards made their way down the hall towards the staircase. As Finn descended the steps he looked around at the pub since it would be the last time, he saw it until maybe Christmas break if he wished to return. When he reached the final step, he saw Miss Granger sitting at a table with loaded with food. He followed Mr. Longbottom over after being motioned by Hermione and took a seat across from her.

"Eat up Mister Barrett, it's going to be a long train ride" Hermione said with a smile.

Finn returned the smile then started placing food on his plate before he started eating. He paused his chewing and glanced up from the table. He felt like someone was watching him again just like when he had first arrived and again yesterday when he was in Diagon Alley. He jerked his head around to look behind him but saw nothing, so he looked around the room again. The two adults with him shared concerned glances at each other before looking back at Finn.

"Finn, are you alright?" Hermione asked concerned.

Finn wanted to let them know what he sensed but something told him that they wouldn't believe him nor would they understand.

"No, there's nothing" he responded in barely a whisper then started to eat again ignoring the looks on their faces.

Finn shook his head then spoke again, "It felt like someone was watching me… I ... could feel their eyes piercing the back of my neck and not just today. I felt it yesterday in Diagon Alley too" Finn said.

Neville and Hermione looked around the room, but they saw no one out of place then again no one in the room looked like they belonged anywhere.

"Don't worry Finn, Hogwarts is the safest place in the world" Mister Longbottom said leaning towards him.

Finn looked at the older gentleman with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry sir, have you read the history on that school, "Cursed Vaults, Chamber of Secrets and War?" Finn replied with skepticism in his voice and an eyebrow raised.

"Maybe safest isn't the best word to describe Hogwarts but you won't be alone" Hermione said looking first at Neville then back at Finn. "I'll be there, you'll have the professors and any friend you make while you're there" she added with a slight nervous grin before taking a sip of her drink.

Finn leaned back his seat; he didn't know how to feel about everything still. It was just three days ago he had been beaten by other boys in the orphanage and punished by Miss Jax for no reason. Now he was about to head off to some school where he was going to be taught magic.

Once they were done with the food the three got up and made their way out of the pub to a car that was waiting for them. Finn stood there while Hermione got into the back of the cab and Mister Longbottom placed their luggage in the trunk of the car. When he was done, he closed the trunk and made his way over to where Finn was standing.

"All right Mister Barrett, this will be the last time we meet, that is until Christmas, but don't worry you're always welcome back" Mr. Longbottom said with a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

Finn returned the smile then climbed into the back of the cab; he closed the door then waved at Mister Longbottom as the cab drove off.

(!)

The cab pulled into the parking lot of a train station. Finn watched as people moved around hurriedly to catch their respective trains. Finn reached into his front pocket of his coat and grabbed the letter he received about being accepted at the school. He jumped when he felt someone touch his arm only to let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Hermione. They got out of the cab and made their way to the back of the car, the cab driver met them and popped open the trunk. The driver pulled their luggage out and placed it on the carts so they could push their luggage.

Finn and Hermione grabbed the handles of their luggage carts and made their way into the station. When they entered, Finn looked around trying to find the platform where the train would be picking them up from. Finn looked at each number of every platform they came across but none of them said anything about 9 and three quarters. He opened his mouth to say something to Hermione only to stop when he saw a group of people standing in front of one of the pillars then to his shock he watched as they started running into the pillar and disappear into it.

"They… they walked through the wall!" Finn said in disbelief, still reeling from what he had just witnessed.

Hermione chuckled. She remembered her first time of walking through the portal onto platform nine and three quarters.

Finn noticed something out the corner of his eye, so he turned to see someone waving at him. He recognized the person as Faye Cooper, the girl he had met outside of Flourish and Blotts yesterday. Finn waved back before turning back to Hermione who was staring at him with a smile on her face.

"Who's that?" she asked him.

"Faye Cooper, I met her yesterday outside the bookstore, she calmed me down when I was having that panic attack" Finn replied a little embarrassed.

"Look at that, haven't even started school and you're already making friends" Hermione said with a nudge to Finn who blushed with embarrassment. "Okay now let's get going onto the train" she said then motioned for him to follow her to the pillar that everyone was running into. "Okay so all you have to do is run straight into the wall" Hermione said with a reassuring smile to try and calm his nerves.

Finn nodded his head then tightened his grip on the luggage cart. He took a deep breath and rushed towards the wall. His eyes widened in shock when he magically appeared in an entirely different place. He looked around at all the people rushing around then his eyes finally landed on the large red train. He moved closer to the train, just as Hermione appeared next to him, so they made their way towards a couple of workers who were loading people's luggage onto the train. After leaving their luggage with the workers they made their way onto the train. As they made their way along the train, that's when Finn saw all the people who would be attending Hogwarts along with him. He was in awe of how many students there were. They came to a stop when Hermione located an empty cabin, and they went in.

"All right Finn, you should be good here, the treat cart should be around if you get hungry and if you need me, I'll be right up front with the head boys and girls" Hermione said.

Finn nodded his head then watched as Hermione closed the door to the cabin. He sat there in silence for a moment letting it sink in a little before turning to look out the window. He jumped and turned his head quickly when the door to the cabin slid open. Faye standing there with a smile on her face,

"I knew I would find you" she said then walked over and took a seat next to him.

She was about to say something else when the sound of knocking could be heard so the two first years turned their head to see a girl their age standing in the doorway. Finn recognized the girl. He had seen her at the Leaky Cauldron before going to the Diagon Alley.

"Hello Raven" Faye said cheerfully with a wave.

Raven stared at them for a few moments then a small smile broke out onto her face, she stepped inside and closed the door then made her way over to the seat across from them.

"Hello Faye" Raven said then turned to look at Finn. "I don't believe I know you" she said with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

"My name is Fergal but please call me Finn" Finn responded.

Raven didn't respond but continued to stare at him. He jumped a second time when the door came flying open and standing there was a group of kids. One a pale white boy who had short black hair with jagged green tips. His emerald, green eyes were piercing with coldness. Standing next to him was the girl that Finn had run into yesterday. She had olive skin, and her hair was black which reached down past her shoulders. Out the corner of his eyes, he saw that Faye looked uncomfortable upon seeing them while Raven looked annoyed at the sight of them which gave Finn the impression that they weren't nicest people. The boy's emerald eyes skipped from Faye to Raven before finally landing directly on Finn. While the staring from Raven didn't faze him, it did coming from the boy. It made him feel just like Faye, completely uncomfortable.

"Can we help you?" Raven asked with a hint of venom in her voice.

The boy's eyes narrowed at Raven then without a word he slammed the door shut making Faye jump in her seat.

"I'm sorry who were they?" Finn asked confused.

"Lee Morgan and Rosa Bloom" Faye said in a whisper almost as if she feared they would reappear upon the mentioning of their names.

Finn looked over at Raven who hadn't said anything, just then train started moving so everyone sat back in silence. Finn didn't know how long the train had been traveling for, but he hadn't stopped looking out the window. A knock on the cabin door gained their attention so the three kids turned just as the door opened to reveal the treat cart lady. Finn stayed seated as Raven along with Faye got up and made their way to the cart. He watched as the two girls picked candy from the overflowing cart then watched as they giddily made their way back to their seats.

"Anything for you dear?" the lady asked Finn.

He tensed up at being put on the spot and slunk down in his seat and shook his head, the lady nodded her head then closed the door.

"It's okay Finn…. Here have a chocolate frog" Faye said as she held a small purple and gold box out to him.

"Thank you" he whispered. He opened the box, then to his shock the chocolate frog jumped up and started hopping around the cabin. Finn looked around frantically trying to find the frog. Faye burst out laughing as it hopped around while Raven sat there eating one of her treats totally ignoring it. Suddenly she reached up and caught the frog in her hand without even looking at it. Raven then stretched out her hand to Finn who held out his then she placed the chocolate frog in his hand before she closed it, stopping the frog from escaping again.

"Thank you again" he whispered to her.

Then slowly he opened his hand a little to look at the chocolate frog sitting in his hand, he watched as the frog tried to move around, so without thinking he shoved whole frog in his mouth to the laughter of Faye. He looked up at Raven who wasn't looking at him, but he could see the small smile on her lips.

"Which card did you get?" Faye asked him as he was chewing.

"What?" Finn asked confused and muffled still eating the chocolate frog.

He turned his head when he heard Raven clear her throat.

"Every chocolate frog comes with card which features a famous witch or wizard" she said.

"Oh…" was all Finn could say then he looked down at the discarded box that had contained the chocolate frog.

He lifts it up and pulls the card out then looks at it.

"Herpo the Foul, an ancient Greek dark wizard, infamous for being a pioneer of the Dark Arts." Finn said reading the back of the card out loud before slipping the card into his pocket.

He lifts his head to look up but stops when sees something out the window, "What's that?" he asks pointing out the window.

The two girls both get up and peer out the window, off into the distance a large castle could be seen coming into view.

They had arrived.