Disclaim: Expect some absurdity and my attempts of humorous situations… and fluff consisting of animals and Harry.
Pairings are up for suggestion, don´t have to be limited by just Harry Potter fandom, as there might later be small crossovers with other fandoms.
Please read and review!
"Wenk!"
The odd sound caused Harry to jump slightly and look around until a tugging sensation on his pants caused him to look down. What he saw had him to blink in surprise – it was a penguin. Once it realized it had his attention, it released his pants from its beak and spoke again.
"Wenk wenk?"
"Um, yes, I am a bit lost," answered Harry honestly, silently wondering how did this animal get here. "I can´t find my station."
"Wenk wenk wenk?"
"I don´t want to bother…"
"Wenk."
"Okay. Then, do you know how could I get to station nine and three-quarters?"
"Wenk!"
"Really?"
"Wenk. Wenk wenk." replied the penguin before he turned and took a few steps forward, before looking back at the boy. "Wenk wenk?"
"Yes, yes," nodded the eleven-year-old kid, pushing the trolley with his trunk after the black-white bird. Together, the odd trio, consisting of a penguin and a boy with his owl, made their way through the crowd on the train station, the people here seemed to ignore the strange group, too busy with their own matters. Soon they reached a pair of signs announcing the stations nine and ten.
"Um, are you sure we are in the right place?" asked the raven boy, looking around.
"Wenk, wenk!" replied the penguin. Then it waved its wing towards a group of redheads that just arrived. "Wenk wenk wenk. Wenk wenk wenk wenk!"
"If you say so," Harry sighed, before focusing on the said group. He watched as the older plump woman, whom he guessed was the mother based on their identical red hair, talked to her children.
"Now, what´s the platform number?" asked the boys´ mother.
"Nine and three-quarters!" replied a girl, clearly the daughter. "Mom, can´t I go…"
The mother shook her head. "We talked about this, Ginny, you are not old enough. All right, Percy, you go first."
The oldest of the boys pushed his trolley and took a stand in front of the pillar between stations nine and ten. Then he started running and the small raven expected him to crash, but instead, the boy literally disappeared into the stone wall.
Magic, thought Harry in awe as he continued watching.
"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.
"I´m not Fred, I´m George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can´t you tell I´m George?"
"Sorry, George, dear."
"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy and off he went, his twin hurrying after him. Harry kept watching as the rest followed the boy´s example until the whole family disappeared. "Did you guys see that?"
"Wenk!"
"Preck!"
"Ok… Mr Penguin what are you doing?" asked Harry, when he saw said bird climbing up and sit down on his trunk.
The penguin looked at him. "Wenk wenk wenk!"
"Sorry, then what´s your name?" the little wizard inquired.
"Wenk."
"Nice to meet you, Colonel. I´m Harry and this Hedwig," the child introduced himself and his owl. "Now Colonel, could you tell me why are you on my trunk?"
"Wenk wenk."
The kid frowned at the answer. "I don´t think you can. The teachers at school might not allow you to come to my school."
"Preck preck."
"Hedwig?"
"Preck preck," said the owl. "Preck preck preck!"
"He can be your guest? Hmm, I guess there is nothing against you having guests," mussed the boy, before looking at the penguin. "Alright, you can come."
After receiving a happy cry in response, the boy took a stance in front of the pillar where the others disappeared. With a deep breath, he took off running, hoping like hell his expectations were correct and the wall wasn´t solid. The second he breached whatever barrier, he felt like entering some sort of a bubble. Then the sensation was gone and he found himself on a station filled with people, some dressed similarly to those in Diagon Alley. Harry couldn´t help but smile at the sight of the engine locomotive, with golden letters proclaiming ´Hogwarts Express´.
He quickly pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He helped Hedwig and Colonel inside first, before attempting to get his trunk onto the train. But because it was too big, he had little luck in lifting it up the steps.
"Want some help?" offered a voice behind him, just as he took a break in his effort. It turned out to be one of the red-haired twins, that entered before him.
"That would be great, thank you," Harry panted.
"Just a moment. Oy, Fred! Get here and help!"
Soon the other brother joined them and with the twins' help, Harry´s trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.
"Thanks, guys," said Harry, wiping away the sweat from his forehead.
"You are welcome…" the twins trailed off, their eyes on Harry´s lightning scar.
"Blimey. Are you really…" started one of the twins.
"…Harry Potter?" finished the other.
"Y-Yes, I am," replied Harry, a bit unsure, soon feeling a bit uneasily as the two older boys gawked at him. Thankfully, he was saved by a voice coming through the train´s open door.
"Fred? George? Where are you two?"
"Coming, mom!" called the two simultaneously. With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.
"Wenk," said Colonel from his sitting place next to the window.
"Yes, but it was still nice for them to help," commented the little wizard as released Hedwig from her cage. She promptly took a seat next to the penguin, while the lone human sat on the opposite side, next to the window. Through the open window, all three could hear and watch the red-haired family on the platform.
"Finally there you are!" exclaimed the mother and then looked around again. "Where is Percy?"
"Here, mother," replied the oldest boy as he came into sight. He had his Hogwarts uniform on, the black robes billowing around him with a silver badge in the shape of P on his chest. "I´m sorry, but I can´t stay long. I have to meet with the rest of the prefects in our reserved compartments-"
"Oh my! Percy, you are a prefect?" gasped one of the twins in surprise. "Why didn´t you say something?"
"Wait, dear twin of mine, I can remember him saying something," the other twin reminded him.
"Oh right! He said it once…"
"…or twice…"
"…a minute…"
"…all summer…"
"Oh, will you two shut up!" growled Percy the Prefect.
"Boys, that´s enough!" their mother reprimed them before a fond smile appeared on her face. "All right, dears, have a good term. Please don´t forget to send me an owl whenever you can," she said, kissing her oldest on the cheek. Once he left, she turned to the rest of her children. "Now, you all please behave yourselves. Especially you two, Fred and George. If I get one more owl with a message about you doing something, like blowing up a toilet…"
One twin interrupted her with a gasp. "Blowing up a toilet? Why we´ve never blown up a toilet!"
The second twin piped in, "But thanks for the idea, mom! We would have never thought about that!"
"Don´t you dare! And look after Ron for me."
"Got it, mom! Your little Ronniekins is safe with us."
"Shut up!" groaned the one identified as Ron, a boy probably in Harry´s age, but almost as tall as his older brothers.
"By the way, mom, you wouldn´t believe whom we just met on the train!"
"Whom?"
"Harry Potter!"
Blushing at hearing his name, the black-haired boy looked away, only to hear the little girl, Ginny, gasp. "No way! Oh, mom, can I go and see him? Please!"
"No, Ginny! He is a little boy, not some sort of attraction you can just go and goggle at it, like in some sort of a zoo. And Fred, are you and your brother sure you saw him?
"Positive, mom. He had that famous scar and it is really shaped like a lightning."
"The poor boy. You don´t even try to ask him anything about You-Know-Who, understood? The last thing the boy needs is a reminder like that!"
"Got it, mom!" the twins replied in hurry.
Any further talk was interrupted by the sound of the whistle.
"Hurry up, boys! Or the train will leave you here!"
"Okay! And don´t be sad, Ginny. We will write to you as much as we can!"
"We will even post you a toilet seat, Hogwarts edition!"
"George!"
"Kidding, mom!"
The boys got on the train and it soon began to move. As Harry looked back, he saw the mother and sister waving as the train picked up speed and left the station. Seeing them, as they disappeared in the distance, he couldn´t help but wonder what it would have felt like if his parents were still alive. They probably would have taken him to the station and sent him off, with love and caring, as the red-head mother did with her boys. Maybe with a little sibling or two with them, waving after him…
"Wenk?" he heard Colonel ask softly, as he moved from his seat onto his lap. Hedwig joined them on the seat next to the boy, and it was then that the little wizard realized that he was crying. Both birds tried their best to comfort him, one nuzzling against his chest and the other gently caressed his hand with her feathers.
"It is alright, just a sad thought," Harry answered and wiped his cheeks. He then gave them a small smile. "Thank you, guys."
"Wenk!" said Colonel happily, as he nestled himself in Harry´s lap.
"Preck!" the owl agreed as she moved to rest on the luggage compartment above his head.
With a soft sigh, the boy took the book he prepared for himself for the trip. At Colonel´s soft prompting, he angled it so both of them could see it clearly and they started to read together. It was called ´Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them´ and Harry had to admit he loved the way its author described the different magical animals one could find in the world.
So engrossed in their book, he didn´t notice when the compartment´s door slid open until a voice spoke: "Um, are there any free seats? Everywhere else is full."
Finally looking up, the black-haired boy saw the youngest red-head boy from the station. Ron, if he remembered right.
"Sure, come in," replied Harry nodding towards the empty seats across him.
The boy sat down and introduced himself. "Thanks. I´m Ron, Ron Weasely."
"Nice to meet you. I´m Harry Potter and these are Colonel and Hedwig," said Harry, gesturing at himself and at each of his animal companions.
"Are you really? And do you have the… um…" Ron paused, unsure about how to proceed.
The trio tilted their head to the side in confusion. "The what?"
"Scar," the other boy finally got out.
"Ah. Of course, I do," said Harry, pulling away his bangs to show the distinctive mark on his forehead.
"Oh. Does it hurt?" Ron asked carefully.
"Sometimes."
There was a moment of silence until the redhead looked at Colonel, who returned to reading. "I thought you could bring only one pet. What kind of owl is this?"
"He is a penguin, not an owl," Harry corrected him. "And I technically didn´t bring him. He found me at the train station and followed me onto the train, insisting on coming with me."
"Isn´t that against the rules?"
"No idea. But if it comes crashing down, I will say he came to visit Hedwig and decided to stay close."
"Wenk," agreed on Colonel absently.
"Guess it is fine then. And what are you reading?"
Harry tilted said literature so the other could see the cover.
"Oh! I heard about the author!"
That picked the raven´s interest. "Really?"
Ron nodded. "That wizard is totally crazy about all types of magical animal, with a penchant for the dangerous and hard-as-hell-to-handle ones! Supposedly, he is also the one responsible for each wizarding country having a strict watch over their borders. But I can´t remember why."
"Sounds like an interesting wizard," mussed Harry.
"If you say so. Why are you even interested in that book?"
"I like animals. They generally treat me better than humans do and I wanted to know what kind of animals are out there."
"Bet you will be in Ravenclaw with such a curiosity," muttered Ron.
"That wouldn´t be so bad, right?" inquired Harry unsurely.
"I suppose. I don´t like to study and learn that much, so there is no chance for me. If anything, I hope to go to Gryffindor, that´s where every member of my family went," Ron said, before he grimaced. "I hope it won´t be Hufflepuff. Hardworking and loyal they may be, people think about it as the house of left-overs. But I guess it is still better than Slytherin."
"Preck preck preck?" asked Hedwig.
"Huh?"
"She asked what is wrong with it," translated Harry for the other´s benefit.
"Oh-um, well that house has a really bad reputation. Supposedly the worst dark wizards came from that house. And that place is full of prejudice and back-stabbing people. Cunning and ambitious people, willing to do anything to reach their goals. Hell, You-Know-Who was from that house too," explained Ron.
"I see."
They continued talking and asking questions about the other until their door was slid back by a smiling woman. "Anything off the cart, dears?"
Since he didn´t have anything to eat, Harry put down his book and walked over with Colonel nestled in his arms. Since he didn´t recognize anything, he turned back to his human companion. "Do you recommend anything? And don´t hold back, it´s my treat!" The last part he added when he noticed the redhead hesitate.
It turned out to be the right thing to say, as they ended up with a bunch of different pastries, cakes and candies. They laid it out on the free seats and continued their talk while eating their way through the sweet treats. Even Harry´s animal companions joined in – Hedwig seemed to like the chocolate frogs and Colonel was fascinated by the box of Every Flavour Beans, making funny faces at every really non-traditional one, much to the amusement of the boys.
They looked up when the doors slid open for the third time the day. Three boys their age came in, Harry recognizing the middle one from his first visit to Diagon Alley.
"I heard that Harry Potter is supposed to be on the train," said the blonde boy, he then looked at Harry. "So it is you?"
"Yes," replied the raven, eyeing the pair of brutes that came with the other boy. Somehow, they reminded Harry of a pair of bodyguards.
"This is Crabbe and Goyle," the pale boy gestured towards his companions, before introducing himself. "And my name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." His eyes then landed on Ron and he snorted. "And I don´t need to ask who you are. Redhead with freckles and hand-me-down clothes could be only a Weasley. My father told me all about you." His attention turned back to Harry. "Advice, Potter. Certain wizarding families are better to be avoided if you wish to become better than others. If you wish, I can help you with that." With those words, he held out his hand for Harry.
The said wizard boy looked at it then back at the boy. "Thanks, but I believe I can decide for myself whom I should avoid."
Draco Malfoy narrowed his eyes and went to say something…
Phht!
Five pairs of eyes blinked in surprise at the odd sound. Everyone turned to look at Colonel the penguin, who had a small… blowpipe pressed against his beak? Then Malfoy´s eyes rolled back and he fell face-first on the floor. Seeing this, Harry turned to the penguin.
"Where did you get that?"
"Wenk wenk."
"Hm. May I ask why?"
"Wenk wenk wenk."
"I know he was annoying, but that doesn´t give you the right to use darts on him." A small pause. "You didn´t use poison darts, right?"
"Wenk. Wenk wenk wenk."
"Only a sleeping drug?"
"Wenk."
"Alright then," the raven sighed before he looked at the shell-shocked duo of bodyguards. "Guess I would recommend you to take your friend on the floor and leave unless you wish to join him. Fair warning – I have no idea if he has any darts with actual poison."
That seemed to be all it took for the duo to grab their fallen friend and high-tail from the compartment as fast as their legs would carry them.
Silence fell on the compartment, then Ron looked at Colonel and spoke:
"If the teacher´s object, I will help you hide him in the castle."