Platform Nine and Three-Quarters had to have been a joke. Or a very unfunny prank that Minnie was playing on her.
She didn't bother with stopping a passing guard. None of them had probably ever heard of Hogwarts and when she looked at the large display with the train timings, there wasn't any train that left at eleven o'clock.
Thankfully Magnus was next to her, looking at his watch, as absolutely lost as she was.
He looked rather strange in plain pants and a shirt, his hair hair-dried with no gel and no makeup on his face.
She supposed she looked odd too, with the faint glamour on her that lightened her hair and changed her eyes. Just so that she could last until Hogwarts without anyone knowing who she was.
"You know, it would have been amazing if Minnie could have told us anything about what to expect." He muttered.
At that moment, a group of people passed just behind them and Kaye caught a few words of what they were saying.
"-packed with Muggles, of course. Now, darling, that you're in your third year, you have to-"
She swung around. The speaker was a brunette woman who was talking to a miniature version of herself. There was a man with black hair standing next to them, but he was clutching a newspaper, looking as disinterested in the conversation as one possibly could. There were the makings of a thick black tattoo snaking up his arm, but it was mostly hidden by the sleeves of his robes.
"Are you sure you've got everything?"
Kavya turned to Magnus. "Yes. Although, if I didn't, there isn't much we can do considering I have," she looked at the watch on his wrist, "ten minutes to be on the train."
She kept an eye on the trio, who were obviously sending their daughter off to Hogwarts, and watched as they approached the dividing barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten.
They began briskly walking toward the barrier - they were almost there - and then suddenly they weren't there anymore. A portal.
"I got it!" She smiled and began pushing the trolley toward the barrier.
"You figured it out?" Magnus looked confused, even as he easily kept up with her pace.
"The barrier is a portal, you just have to go through it."
"Alright, then."
She pushed her trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.
What if she was wrong? What if the barrier was just that? A barrier.
She started to walk toward it, and then began moving more quickly. She was going to smash right into that barrier and then she'd be in trouble - leaning forward on his cart, she broke into a heavy run - the barrier was coming nearer and nearer she wouldn't be able to stop - the cart was out of control he was a foot away - she closed his eyes ready for the crash-
It didn't come and she opened her eyes.
A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Kavya looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it.
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 at one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy 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.
"Alright then." Magnus' eyes were suspiciously wet. "Don't get into any trouble. And if you do, I'm only a portal away."
Kavya smiled. "I know, Dad."
"You still have your lunch, right? Just in case you don't like anything on the train." She lifted the small bag, containing a grilled steak and fries in response. "And your books and robes?"
"All here."
"Oh no. I didn't double-check your wand. We'll have to go all the way back to New York and you'll miss your..."
Kaye hugged him. "I have everything I need. Thank you."
"Alright then." His arms wrapped around her. "You better right every day. If you don't, you're not coming back here next year."
"I know, Dad." She pulled away from him and bumped into the girl whom she had followed into the barrier.
"My bad," The girl muttered.
"Don't worry about it. You're in third year, right?"
"What's it to you?" She raised a dark eyebrow to Kaye.
"I'm joining as a third year. I just transferred from Ilvermony."
"Oh! Lovely to meet you. I'm Pansy Parkinson." She stretched a hand to her and Kaye shook it, eyeing the countless bags that were floating behind her.
"Kaye... Bane." She hesitated with 'her' last name.
"You can sit with my friends and me, if you'd like."
"That would be great!"
Kaye waved a bye to her father, before setting off down the corridor and into a compartment that was already almost full.
"Who's the little pet, Parkinson?" A boy with pale hair and skin drawled from where he was sitting next to the window.
"I'm Kaye Bane." She stated, ignoring the dig of the word pet.
"Don't be rude, Draco," A small voice chided. It belonged to a girl with light brown hair and green eyes. "I'm Daphne Greengrass." She gestured to a girl with black hair next to her. "This is my younger sister Astoria."
"Where are you from? A dark-skinned boy with a buzz cut asked. "I'm Blaize Zambini, by the way."
"New York. I'm a third-year transfer from Ilvermony."
"Well, come on in." A boy with brown shaggy hair covering half his forehead stated, eyeing where Kaye was still standing on the threshold. He pointed to himself, "Theodore Nott but call me Theo," his finger moved to the blonde boy who was still scowling, "That arse over there, is Draco Malfoy."
She took a seat across from Pansy Parkinson and next to Theodore Nott. "So, what's Hogwarts like?"
"It's great," Blaise Zambini said. "The entire school's inside a castle and you're divided into four houses - Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. We're all in Slytherin so you better get sorted in it too otherwise we can't be friends."
"What's the difference between the houses?" Minnie had explained it to her, but she wasn't paying any attention.
"Each house has its own common room, dorms, and table during meals. Most of your classes will be within your house and while there is no rule against students from different houses mingling, most people just stay friends with people within the same house. Everyone has a House Ghost, which is essentially a mascot that used to be a pupil in that house. You get a Head of House as well." Astoria Greengrass explained, her voice soft.
"Slytherin's obviously the best house, our colors are green and silver. We have an animal - a snake." Daphne Greengrass cut in.
"Right," Kaye confirmed, nodding as though she understood everything. "And a talking hat will choose my house?"
"Yeah. The Sorting Hat will sort you based on your values. Slytherin's are cunning, resourcefulness, leadership, and ambition." Theo responded. "You'll have to go up on-"
He was cut off by a scream.
Kaye had her wand out and pointed toward Astoria who yelled out, "Snake!"
She relaxed instantly, and put her wand to the side, reaching across the compartment. She picked up the snake who obediently curled around her arm, and sat back down.
She is very very loud, Bubbles protested, her tongue flicking over Kaye's neck, making her shiver.
"Sorry, she's mine." She ran her hand along her pet's spine. "This is Bubbles. She must have gotten out of her cage."
"Bubbles?" Draco Malfoy's cold voice asked.
She felt herself flush. "I was five when I named her. My owl has a white coat and her name is Snowy."
Theo started laughing. "You'll fit in just fine at Hogwarts, Bane."
"Is that common? Calling people by their last names?"
Pansy nodded, "You can call us by our first names because we're friends, but everyone usually uses last names in general. Wait for someone to tell you to call them by their first names before you do. It's just polite. Teachers also use last names."
"Where are your parents from?"
Kaye turned to Draco and shrugged. "They both went to Hogwarts but, if you're asking racially, my mom's British and my dad's mainly from India."
"The man I saw you with at the station?" Pansy asked.
"No, that's my adopted father." She didn't elaborate even though she knew the others wanted her to.
"But are you a pure-blood?" Draco's voice was insistent.
"I'm half. Dad was fully wizard and my mom was a muggle."
Everyone turned to Draco. It seemed as though the very air in the compartment dropped a few degrees.
Theo reached into his bag, and pulled out a Wizards Weekly magazine and a couple of licorice wands. He held them out and everyone took one except for Draco.
He kept staring at her, and then sighed. "Well, half is better than none."
Just like that, everything was fine. Everyone began talking about their summers and Kaye had no idea what just happened.
She stared out the window, over Blaise's shoulder and suddenly the train wheezed and a fresh plume of grey-white steam clouded Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, obscuring everyone left behind. The engine lurched and suddenly Kings Cross station was rolling away as the train slowly pulled out from the platform. Her heart thumped against her ribs and she watched until her father was lost in the steam.
She felt a lump rise in her throat, just as the door to the compartment opened and a boy ran in, panting.
"I've been looking everywhere for you guys. I-" He cut himself off once he saw Kaye and his eyes widened. He smirked, "Well, hullo."
"Take a seat, Berkshire." Draco rolled his eyes.
"I'm Kaye. Third year transfer from Ilvermony."
"Lorenzo Berkshire, but you can call me Enzo," He held out his hand. Kaye blinked and after a moment's confusion placed hers in his for him to shake. But he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "It's a pleasure to make the acquaintance of someone as stunning and marvelous as you."
Heat raced up her cheeks and she resisted the urge to yank her hand out of his grasp. "Umm... thanks."
"Do you play Quidditch?" Astoria asked Kaye, as Enzo took a seat. Kaye nodded. "What position? Draco's a Seeker, and Enzo and Theo are Beaters."
Oh. They called Quidditch Invenpila in Ilvermony. Her version of Quidditch was something entirely different where players were allowed to jump from broomstick to broomstick mid-air and tackle each other. "I'm a Chaser."
"Hopefully, once you join the team, we'll be able to trash Harry Potter and his group of Mudbloods." Pansy declared.
"Mudblood?"
"It's an insult."
Kaye nodded. "Alright then."
Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"
"Oooh," Daphne clapped her hands together, looking very much like a child who had been offered, well, candy. "We simply have to get you one of everything."
"Alright," Kaye smiled back at her, and reached in her bag to get her wallet out, but Blaise snatched it away before she could.
"It's your first time, there's no way your paying."
She tried to protest, but given the odds as six-to-one, with Draco not bothering to pipe into the conversation, they bought her a few of every single candy the woman had.
Bertie 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 she had never seen in her life.
They tipped it onto an unfoldable table. It was nice, sitting there with everyone, eating their way through all the pasties, cakes, and candies. The lunch Magnus packed lay forgotten.
"What are these?" She asked the group, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs.
"Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect - famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy." Enzo explained
She unwrapped her Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. 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!"
"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Astoria.
Kaye turned over her card and read:
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.
They opened the bag of Every Flavor Beans and dared each other to eat the colors that looked suspicious.
Suddenly, the door burst open and a bright-eyed girl looked in, a shiny Head Girl pin on her robes. "Been told to tell everyone to put on their robes," She said, smiling brightly at everyone. "We're nearly there."
They all took off their jackets and pulled on the long dark robes.
A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
The train slowed right down and finally stopped, just as everyone joined the crowd thronging the corridor. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform.
Kaye shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and she heard a loud booming voice "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"
A big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. "Oh, you too, miss! You're the transfer, aren't you? Gotta watch out for precious cargo. C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
"Go on ahead with Hagrid," Pansy tilted her head toward the large man. "Apparently Harry Potter fainted on the train. We're going to go check it out."
"Fainted? Does that happen often here?"
"No." Pansy smiled. "Never.
Slipping and stumbling, she followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that she thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud "Oooooh!"
The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. There were two towering, hooded creatures standing guard on two columns.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. She followed three others into a boat.
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then FORWARD!"
The fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over Kaye as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.
They clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of a castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.