Chapter 3: The Journey to Hogwarts
"Hello" – Normal Speech
'Hello' – Normal Thought
"Hello" – Non-Human Speech
'Hello' – Non-Human Thought
DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter or Naruto franchises. Nor do I own the rights to Hogwarts Mystery. Wish I did though.
After a long day of shopping, everyone relaxed at The Leaky Cauldron. While Naruto, Joshua, and Hagrid talked, Harry was in deep thought over something that had been troubling him since buying his wand. Hagrid noticed Harry and asked, "You alright Harry? You seem very quiet." The other two looked over.
"He killed my parents, didn't he? The one who gave me this-" Harry said as he pointed at his scar. Naruto's eyes widened in shock, while Joshua's turned down in sadness. "I know you know, Hagrid, I know you do," Harry said. The three turned to Hagrid for the truth. Hagrid sighed and decided to give them the story of what happened to Harry and his parents, "First, and understand this you two, cause it's very important, not all wizards are good… some of them go bad, a few years ago there was this one wizard who went as bad as you can go, and his name is v-... his name is v-..." Hagrid was hesitant to mention the dark wizard's name.
"Why don't you just write his name down?" asked Harry. "Nah. Can't spell it… alright, Voldemort" Hagrid whispered. "Voldemort," the boys said a little bit too loud. Thehh- keep your voices down," Hagrid said to the boys, and the three looked around making sure no one heard them.
Hagrid continued to explain to the boys what happened by quickly going over the details, such as Voldemort having a huge number of followers, and how he managed to kill Harry's parents except Harry himself. Harry was dumbfounded by this revelation and asked "Me? He tried to kill…me?" Naruto was shocked and wanted to know more. "Yea, that ain't no ordinary cut on your forehead, Harry. A mark like that can only come from a curse… an evil curse at that" Hagrid said. "What happened to Vol-... to you-know-who?" Harry asked. Hagrid looked out to the distance and sighed before saying, "Well, some say he died, codswallop in my opinion, nope I think he is still out there, too tired to carry on, but one thing's absolutely certain-" Hagrid said with the boys leaning in closer to hear him.
"Something about you managed to stop him that night, that's why you are famous Harry, that's why everybody knows who you are, you are the boy who lived," Hagrid said.
For the next month, the boys stayed at Aaron's place, going over some of the material in the books and learning more about the wizarding world from Aaron. Joshua began opening up more and more around Aaron, Merula, the Forest family, Harry, and Naruto. He told them bits about his home world and what his life was like. Naruto told them of his life as well. From what they understood Naruto's Life growing up wasn't easy. "I wasn't really liked by most people… rather I was hated for something I don't even know." He told them, "The people in my village treat me like I'm some sort of freak, monster, etc. Maybe they knew I was a wizard or something, but what I can say is that my whole life I lived alone not knowing who my parents were as I was an orphan trying to survive." Joshua and Harry listened, and both felt sympathy towards him. "Don't worry Naruto, we'll be friends no matter what" Harry said, with Joshua agreeing as they held out hands. Naruto smiled and shook them.
The month of August came and went. It was time to go to Hogwarts. The boys' excitement could hardly be contained as they woke up bright and early on September 1st. Aaron told the boys he would be taking them to King's Cross Station to get on the train to Hogwarts. As they drove to the station, Joshua, Harry, and Naruto were given their tickets. Harry noticed something about the platform number, "Platform 9 and ¾? There has got to be a mistake. There is no such thing as Platform 9 and ¾, is there?" Harry asked. Aaron, deciding to have some fun with them, simply said "You'll see."
They arrived at the station and pushed their carts after Aaron since he knew the way. Just then Naruto noticed something, or rather someone. "Hey, guys, look" Naruto points to a group with the same carts and items.
The said group was a family of redheads, and what surprised the three was that one of the red-haired boys ran through a brick wall and managed to pass through it. Soon a pair of twins from the group also ran through the brick wall. What surprised them, even more, was that Aaron seemed to know them. "Is that you, Molly?" he asked, looking rather amused at the situation. "Oh, Aaron! How are you?" the now-named Molly asked. "Quite well. Listen I need a favor, I am supposed to take these three to the train but I'm in a bit of a rush. Would you mind showing them how to get on the platform for me?" Aaron asked. "Yes," Molly replied. Aaron thanked her and ran off.
Molly turned to smile at the three boys and asked "Hello, dears. Nervous?" to which the boys nodded. "Yes? Well not to worry, dears it's Ron's first time as well," the woman said, as a red-haired boy of the same age smiled at the trio. Harry also notices a young girl from the group blushing at him. "Now all you have to do is walk straight towards the wall between platforms 9 and 10," the woman said. Naruto got into position, "Best do it at a run if you're nervous" Naruto nodded and turned to the other two. "See you on the other side," Naruto said as he ran towards the wall and passed through it. Harry did the same, and Joshua followed.
Naruto greets the other two, and they take a look at their surroundings. Yep, it was totally different than what they had seen in the muggle world as the trains were much different and they noticed some kids their age or older with their parents along with some other wizards and witches. The three heard the train's whistle. "Better get inside quick," Naruto said. Harry nodded, and the two brought their luggage to the employers before boarding the train. The train lets out a whistle before the wheels turn, and students wave goodbye to their parents before they embark on their journey to Hogwarts.
Naruto and Harry found a compartment and sat inside. They look out the window viewing the countryside. "Never thought I would be far from home," Naruto said, Joshua agreed. Harry looked at them and asked Naruto, "What was your home like? Aside from the whole 'people trying to beat you up thing'?" Naruto told them more about the people that did care about him, mainly the Third Hokage, the Ichiraku's, and Iruka Umino. He told them about the view of the Hokage monument. They soon turned the question to Joshua, and he explained the sights he had seen and places he had traveled to. He told them quite a few entertaining stories of his travels. He also showed them how he was able to communicate with other animals by using Kage and Hedwig as examples.
Several minutes pass by and the red-headed boy they met at the station opens the compartment door. "Excuse me, do you mind? Everywhere else is full" the red-haired boy asked. "No, not all" The three said simultaneously before laughing, and Naruto allowed the redhead, who had sweat dropped at the scene, to sit next to him. The red-headed boy thanked the two, and the two nodded. "I'm Ron by the way. Ron Weasley" the red head introduces himself.
"Naruto Uzumaki" the blonde introduces himself and shakes hands with Ron. "Joshua Forest" he shakes hands with Ron, who then turns to Harry, "Harry Potter" the glass-wearing boy introduces himself making Ron go wide-eyed.
"So-so it's true? I mean, do you really have the… the…" Ron Stuttered. "The what?" "The scar?" Ron whispered. "Oh, yeah," Harry responded as he showed off his lightning bolt scar. "Wicked" stared. The four began sharing bits about themselves until a trolley filled with sweets rolled up. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" the woman asked. "No thanks, I'm all set," Ron said as he brought up a mushed-up sandwich from his jacket. Both Naruto and Harry deadpanned a bit before the three took out several coins from their pockets. "We'll take the lot," Harry said. "Whoa!" Ron said looking at the number of sweets they brought into the compartment.
Time passed as the three talked about things they would expect for their first year at Hogwarts; Given that Ron was a food expert, he gave info on the sweets they were eating. Also, Ron decided to show off his rat, Scabbers, to the three. The rat seemed a bit odd to Joshua, but he ignored that train of thought. The blonde grabs a box full of multi-colored jellybeans, and Ron explains how those jelly beans have every flavor ranging from good and bad, along with how Ron mentions that George, one of his twin brothers, swore that he got a booger-flavored bean, which grossed Naruto out as he spits out the bean.
Harry picks up a blue and gold colored package, "These aren't real chocolate frogs, aren't they?" asked Harry. "It's just a spell, it's the cards you want, each pack's got a famous wizard or witch, I got about five hundred myself" Ron states. Harry opens his pack, but his frog leaped out and escaped from the window. "That's rotten luck, they only got one jump in to begin with" Ron stated. Naruto opened his pack and luckily got his frog and ate it. 'Hmmm… it tastes like chocolate and peanut butter' Naruto thought as he ate it. Harry looked at his card and said he got Dumbledore, while he looked at the holographic image. Naruto looked at his card and it was a middle-aged man with light blonde hair, blue eyes, and a thin white mustache, and appeared to be dressed in a black suit with some blues mixed in. "Who is this guy?" Naruto asked, showing his card. Ron looks at his card and widens his eyes, "That's Gellert Grindelwald, the most infamous dark wizard of all time besides you-know-who, he's pretty rare" Ron explains. Joshua looked at his card which read 'Nicholas Flamel', all the card said was that he was a famous alchemist, which intrigued Joshua and the others. Harry looks at their cards before going back to his, "Hey he's gone" he said as Dumbledore's image just disappeared. "Well, you can't expect him to be there all day, can you?" Ron stated. The two put their cards away.
As they continued talking and eating, Ron mentioned how his brother told him a spell that could turn his rat yellow. The others, wanting to see some magic, excitedly agreed. Ron pulls out his wand and as he is about to enchant the spell, the door compartment opens showing a girl. "Hey, has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost one," the girl asked. Joshua spoke up and said, "No, I don't think we have," Naruto looks at the girl and thinks 'Wow she's pretty cute, way more so than Sakura' but this only saddens Naruto as he remembers his current situation. Joshua, noticing this, snaps Naruto out of his funk and repeats her question to which he says no.
The girl noticed Ron holding his wand and asked, "Oh, you're doing magic? Let's see then," the girl motioned for Ron to start. Ron starts, "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!" he said zapping Scabbers. Nothing happened as everyone stared blankly. "Was that supposed to be the spell?" Naruto deadpanned. "Are you sure that's a real spell? It's not very good, is it? Of course, I've only tried a few simple spells and they all worked out for me, for example-" the girl said as she sat down next to Naruto across from Harry and pointed her wand at him. "Oculus Reparo," she said as she fixed up Harry's glasses with the spell. Harry takes off his glasses and examines them. "That's better, isn't it? Holy cricket, you're Harry Potter, I'm Hermione Granger… and you are?" she asks, "Ron Weasley" he replies with his mouth full of food. "Charmed" she replied, a little bit disgusted. She turned to Joshua, who was leaning against the window. "Joshua Forest, but you guys can start calling me Josh if you want." "Pleasure" Hermione replied. And lastly, "Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet ya" Naruto introduces himself, holding out his hand. Hermione smiles and shakes his hand. "Well, you four better change into your robes, I expect we'll arrive soon," she said as she left the compartment, "Oh, and Naruto you've got some chocolate on your lips," she said as she licked her thumb and wiped it off before leaving. Naruto blushed crazily and looked at the other three as they smirked at him, "Don't laugh," Naruto said to them.
The train arrived at Hogsmeade station, and minutes later every student got out of the train. The four, now dressed in their school uniforms, get out of the train and they notice Hagrid guiding the first years. The four walk up to him, Hagrid greets them, and Harry, Naruto, and Josh do the same. Ron stared in awe at the half-giant, "Whoa," he said. They follow the half-giant to the boats after learning that their luggage will be sent to their rooms. Soon the boats are on the lake being rowed to the castle, Harry and Ron are in a boat, while Naruto and Hermione are paired together. Josh was paired with a boy named Dean Thomas. Soon they look at the huge castle in the distance in amazement. They made it.