He doesn't realise just how much time has passed since the girl entered the carriage until the train starts to get louder. He hears more people passing the carriage they are in, but no one tries to enter. Harry thinks it's going to be just those two for the full length of the journey until, just before the train pulls off, a young boy appears who, unlike the girl in the carriage, looks overwhelmed just like Harry. He's wearing a pure white shirt that looks like it had just come out of the packet, some black trousers that Harry only really sees businessmen wear, and what could be leather shoes, but unlike Uncle Vernon's, these shoes don't point at the toes; they are flat. He also seems to be wearing robes already. He doesn't think they are his school robes, as the badge doesn't match the ones on Harry's; this tells Harry this is a wizard-raised boy. He cannot see where the boy's trunk is, and he doesn't seem to be wearing his wand in his pocket like Harry is, but then again, neither does the young girl in the carriage; maybe it's in their trunks? It isn't until the boy sits down that Harry sees that he's holding what looks like a toad, and the boy seems to be trying to keep him in his hands. He doesn't know why he doesn't just put him in a box like Harry would. Like the girl, he asks whether he can sit in the carriage, and Harry is so glad they both used their manners because he really doesn't want to be making enemies already, and after spending his childhood with Dudley, not using manners is a quick way for Harry to get a bad feeling about someone. He hopes he can see the blonde boy again so that he can apologise to him, as he came across as really rude, and Harry hasn't stopped thinking about what he would have done differently if he wasn't so overwhelmed.
The train slowly pulls off from Kings Cross Station, and Harry thinks he cannot sit here for however long it takes to get to the school in silence. He doesn't want them to react the same way that the older people in the Leaky did, but he also knows he can't not say his name, and he'd prefer to get it over with as early as possible so that he can relax.
"Hi, I'm Harry Potter, and this beautiful girl next to me is Hedwig. I don't mean to sound rude, but who are you both?" Harry thinks they didn't hear him, but then he looks at the other boy in the carriage and sees his mouth wide open, and it takes both the other people in the carriage a couple seconds to remember to reply.
"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger; erm, I'm a first-generation witch; I'm from Oxfordshire; and both my parents are dentists. I'm very excited to be learning magic and a little sad that I didn't get a familiar yet; my mum and dad say I need to be a bit older before I can." She looks really downtrodden by this fact.
"Hi, I'm Heir Neville Francis Longbottom. I come from a long line of witches and wizards, which makes me a pureblood. My Uncle Algie was so shocked that I didn't turn out to be a squib that he got me this toad. His name is Trevor, and I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Granger and Heir Potter." He is definitely blushing as he says it, but he also says it like he has had it drilled into him to always make himself heard when introducing himself. Although Harry doesn't understand why he's being called Heir, surely, he's mistaken; he's just Harry. Hermione seems to have tried to hide a laugh in a cough, but it failed as her cough sounded like a bark. He doesn't realise it, but she's laughing at the look on Harry's face, which looks like he's on information overload.
"Er, again, I don't mean to sound rude, but why did you introduce yourself as Heir and then call me Heir? Also why did you call Hermione Miss Granger?" Although the Dursleys told him not to ask any questions, they aren't going to know if he does when he's away from them, so he doesn't think he'll get into trouble for it. He's supposed to be here to learn all about magic and the wizarding world, and without asking questions, he could miss something super important. People seem to know who he is, and he doesn't want to let anyone down, especially the memory of his mum and dad. Hagrid said his mum and dad had his name put down to attend Hogwarts since he was born, and he really wants for them to be looking down at him and be proud of him, and if that means he's got to ask questions, then he will do that; the Dursleys cannot hurt him when he's at Hogwarts, and it's not like they'll check his grades anyway.
"Erm, well, didn't your guardian tell you? You're the last Potter, which means you're the only person who could inherit your family's wealth and properties and vote on the Wizengamot. I have a book in my trunk if you want to look into it. It doesn't cover exactly how much you'll inherit, but that you come from an old family, or, as it's referred to, a Most Ancient and Most Noble House. You should have been given the heir ring when you went to Gringotts on your 11th birthday; they should have given you a statement of your vaults, although if they're anything like the Longbottom vaults, you'd only be able to access the trust vault, which prevents you from spending all your inheritance. You also should have been asked to assign a proxy who will vote on your behalf until you turn 17. It would have fallen to your guardian until you turned 11. Miss Granger should have been asked to do an inheritance test when she first went to Gringotts too, as it can show if she has any magical family that can act as her magical guardian while she's at school. I didn't address Miss Granger by her first name, as she didn't give me permission to. In the wizarding world, unless someone explicitly gives you consent, you always use their family name and title. There are some families that don't stick to this and will just call you by your first name, but that is very frowned upon; in fact, they can be labelled a blood traitor for turning their back on the customs. To give consent, you just say, "I give you permission to call me," and then what you want them to call you, for example, "I give you permission to call me Neville, and now you both can call me Neville."
"Ok, Neville, I give you permission to call me Hermione. Thank you for telling us this; I don't want to start on the wrong foot. I will ask my mum and dad to take me to Gringotts during the Christmas break to have the test done. It would be very exciting if I did have a magical family." Harry was still processing but was followed shortly by giving both passengers permission to call him Harry. There's something he said about a book, which he also asked to see. Putting his own book away, he looks up as Neville hands him the book, and he's sure he went to buy this book, but Hagrid said no. Maybe he doesn't understand that Harry can afford it, according to Neville. He's really confused as to where Neville's trunk was when he joined the carriage, but it's now by his feet.
The book is so fascinating, and eventually there's a knock at the door from a woman asking if they wanted anything from the trolley, and while Harry was tempted to buy all the sweets he could see, he asks for the sandwiches, which are absolutely delicious, and one version of each sweet just to try them. As fun as it would be to buy just sweets, his stomach wouldn't be able to manage it, and he doesn't want to get sick. Harry chats with the other two while on his lunch break and learns that Neville was raised by his grandmother and that those raised in the wizarding world don't go to primary school; they either are taught by their parents, or they have tutors. Neville had a tutor, as his grandmother is very active in the wizengamot, and his favourite subject was something called herbology. Harry thinks that just sounds like gardening after Neville describes it to him. He learns that Hermione's parents are both dentists, and she actually was down to attend a grammar school with how high her grades are. Harry doesn't tell them about the Dursley's, but he does mention that he was down to attend the local public school. He wonders if he could have gotten into a grammar school if he didn't have to hide how well he could actually do in primary school.
By the time Harry goes to pick up the book again, he's just come across his family tree; this is his first time seeing it. He's a little confused as this book says his name is Hadrian James Potter, not Harry Potter like his letter from Hogwarts did, but maybe his parents used to call him Harry as a nickname, and how cool is it that he has his dad's name for his middle name? He sees that his father is what Neville calls a pureblood, as up until his mum was introduced, his family tree consisted of only witches and wizards; this makes Harry a half-blood. Tracking his family tree back to the beginning, he sees that it wasn't always Potter; it actually used to be Peverell, but a female Peverell married a male Potter, and now they are called Potter. It has been Potter for the last 300 years, according to this book. He finds out his mum's name was Lily Joy Evans before she married, and his dad's name was James Fleamont Potter. He wonders what Aunt Petunia's middle name is, or even his grandparents' names on his mom's side, as this book doesn't tell him. He guesses it's a family tradition to have the firstborn take the parents' first name as their middle name; in fact, his father was an only child like him. They were born on January 30th, 1960, and March 27th, 1960, respectively, and they died on October 31st, 1981, which made Harry exactly 15 months old on the day that his parents died. It's strange for him to be looking at his family tree because he's the only one that doesn't have a red border; his is gold in his direct line. Neville explains that he is gold as long as he is alive. Although not directly related to Harry, he does see that there are some other gold boarders, which Harry can see belong to:
- Andromeda Tonks, nee Black, – who is connected to Theodore Tonks, and they have one child, Nymphadora Tonks, who just left Hogwarts and also has a gold boarder.
- Bellatrix Lestrange, nee Black, – who is connected to Rodolphus Lestrange, they don't have any children.
- Narcissa Malfoy, nee Black, – who is connected to Lucius Malfoy, and they have one child named Draco Malfoy, who is a month older than Harry and looks just like the boy from the clothes store.
- Sirius Black the 3rd, – who has no connections, but damn, he looks so familiar that it gives Harry a headache.
He can also see that the women are related, and next to Sirius Black, he can see a red border around Regulus Black. Harry feels really sorry for Sirius, as Regulus was only 19 when he died. He guesses that the red boarder means that the person has passed away due to the fact that his parents and grandparents have a red boarder around their picture. Harry is hopeful that at least one of these people would be willing to receive a letter from him; maybe they knew his parents and could tell him about them. Turning the page, he gets onto his parents' wedding, and he knew it! There he is! Sirius Black is standing right next to his dad in the pictures, but then why was he left with his aunt and uncle instead of him? He knew his dad enough to be at his wedding, but in the nearly 10 years he'd been with the Dursleys, no one had come to visit him or even bothered to write him a letter. His dad has three young men standing next to him, and this book says it's Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. His mum has three lovely ladies standing next to her, and the book says they are Marlene McKinnon, Alice Longbottom, and Mary Macdonald. That's six people outside his parents who could have at least written to him. Wait a second. Longbottom - didn't Neville say that's his last name? Looking up, he notices Neville staring at the picture with tears in his eyes, which confirms that yes, it is his mum and no, you shouldn't ask unless you want to appear really insensitive. Harry thinks it's a good time to give the book back, to which Neville tells him to keep it as he has another copy at home. As soon as he gets to his dorm room, he is going to write Sirius a letter, and maybe the other two boys. Well, he guesses they would be men now. He's worried that the book isn't the latest edition and that someone could have passed away in the time since it was released. The owl surely wouldn't fly off if the person had passed away, right?