CHAPTER FOUR - Train to Hogwarts

Finally, it was September 1st. On that morning, Harry and Attuoria lugged their large, heavy trunks into the back of the Dursleys' car.

The Dursleys had agreed to give Attuoria a ride, and she went off with them after a quick thank you and goodbye to Mrs Figg. Mrs Figg seemed to think they were going to meet again, but Attuoria wasn't so sure.

Attuoria sat in the backseat of the car, squished against the window by Harry, who clearly didn't want to sit next to Dudley. Dudley, on the other hand, whimpered throughout the whole ride, taking sneaky glances every once in a while at Harry as if his cousin was going to attack him any time.

They arrived at King's Cross at half past ten, and while Vernon Dursley wheeled their trunks into the station for them, Petunia Dursley actually gave Attuoria a hug. An awkward one, but still a hug. Attuoria suspected it might have been because of her appearance, but nevertheless returned the hug politely.

In fact, after making eye contact with Petunia after the hug, she heard the woman think to herself: "Pretty little girl. Pity she's a freak. But I supposed I'd better be nice to her now that she's living in our neighborhood. Wouldn't want her to gang up against us with Harry or anything."

Attuoria refrained herself from confronting her and quickly walked away to Harry. His Uncle Vernon gave her a forced smile before driving away, laughing erupting in the car as they sped off.

"Platform nine and three quarters," Harry said helplessly, holding up his ticket. "Clearly, it doesn't even exist."

Attuoria squinted at her own shiny ticket. "No way. It's got to be hidden."

The two asked around for directions, but all the adults brushed them off as if they were just playing a prank. It was starting to get rather frustrating (another human emotion new to Attuoria).

Confused, annoyed, frustrated. The three emotions she had felt so far on her trip in the mortal realm, all occurring at the same time in this train station.

Just then, they heard a voice coming from a large group of people.

"- packed with Muggles of course -"

Immediately, Harry and Attuoria swerved their heads over towards the direction of the voice. It was a woman with curly red hair, speaking to a group of boys and a young girl who had the same fiery red hair color as their mother.

Harry and Attuoria moved in closer towards the group, craning their necks over to try and hear their conversation. They watched as each of the boys disappeared after passing the divider between platforms nine and ten. Three of them had already gone, and there was only one boy left standing next to the young girl and their mother.

"Excuse me," Harry piped up, moving closer to the group.

"Hullo dear, oh, and you there dear," the woman said warmly, noticing Attuoria standing behind Harry. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."

She pointed at the boy next to her, her youngest son. He was like his brothers: tall, thin, and with a lot of freckles. Attuoria eyed the boy curiously. Everything about this boy was red. She didn't know humans could vary so much in terms of their colour.

The nice lady told them that to get onto platform nine and three quarters, all they needed to do was to walk straight into the barrier that separated platform nine from platform ten.

Harry and Attuoria glanced at each other warily. Walking into a brick barrier was the most counter-intuitive thing that a person could ever do. She heard his thoughts, expressing the same confusion and disbelief as she was thinking.

"Well, you go first then." Attuoria said, beckoning Harry to go.

"Why, so you can watch me smash my trolley into the wall?" said Harry jokingly.

"Just hurry up." Attuoria said, nudging him forwards.

She and the red haired family watched as Harry advanced towards the solid brick wall. She could hear his thoughts going: "I'm going to smash right into that ticket box and I'm going to get in trouble the barrier is getting nearer I can't stop the trolley is getting out of control oh no I'm going to crash-"

And then he disappeared.

"Woah," Attuoria breathed. She made a quick look back at the lady, who gave her a reassuring smile, before walking towards the brick wall. Her walk turned into a run. Before she could even register what she was doing, she had already gone through the passage and her trolley barrelled straight into Harry.

Harry yelped, falling onto his own trolley and causing it to jut forward.

"Why didn't you move?" said Attuoria, and Harry glared back at her.

"I think you mean 'sorry I hit you, are you okay?'" He retorted back.

"Oh right, forgot. Sorry. Did that hurt?" Attuoria said in a high-pitched voice, causing Harry's angry face to falter and he broke out laughing.

"Yeah, I probably should have moved out the way. Come on, let's get on the train."

A scarlet steam engine train stretched along the platform, with the words "Hogwarts Express" printed on its front. The station was packed not only with people, but with animals of all sorts, weaving their way through the maze of trunks and legs. The cacophony of sound was quite interesting to say the least.

The two searched for an empty compartment and soon found one near the end of the train. They first put some of their lighter belongings inside before attempting to heave their trunks in.

Harry hit his toe with his trunk the moment he took it off of the trolley. Attuoria tried to help him lift it up the steps into the train, and it was working until Harry suddenly let go of the trunk and it slammed down onto Attuoria's foot.

"Oh no!" Harry yelled before Attuoria could even cry out in pain.

Attuoria gritted her teeth together and bent down, clutching her throbbing foot. Once the pain eased slightly, she stood up and glared at Harry.

"I think you meant to say 'sorry I dropped it, are you hurt?'"

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and Harry burst out laughing. Attuoria smiled slightly, not taking it too seriously. Just then, one of the red haired twins appeared at the platform.

"Want a hand?" he asked, noticing the struggle.

"Yes, please," Harry said with a small smile on his face. Attuoria resisted the urge to slap him, because she knew he was smiling at the fact that he had just dropped his trunk onto her foot.

But then she remembered that time at Madam Malkin's robe shop where he stood up for her against that pale, blonde boy. That was nice of him. Dropping the trunk, however, wasn't nice. Attuoria decided that it was now even. She no longer owed him anything.

The other twin appeared after his brother called for him, and the two of them helped Harry and Attuoria carry their trunks into their compartment. Just as they were about to leave, the twins noticed something on Harry's forehead.

It was a scar shaped like a lightning bolt.

"Blimey," one of the twins said. "Are you-?"

"He is," said the other twin. "Aren't you?"

"What?" Harry and Attuoria said simultaneously.

"Harry Potter," the twins said.

"Oh, him, I mean, yes, I am."

The mouth of the two boys' immediately dropped open, and Harry visibly turned red. But before they could say anything else, the twins were called out by their mother and hopped off the train.

"What, are you famous or something?" Attuoria asked him as she sat down across from him. "Oh wait, that's right. Your fetus self destroyed the most powerful wizard of all time."

"Oh shut up."

The two of them watched the same redhead family on the platform outside their window. Four boys and one girl were gathered around their mother.

Soon, the whistle sounded and the four red-haired boys quickly clambered onto the train. They shouted a few more things back at their sister and mother before the train moved out of the station.

Attuoria could sense Harry's excitement. She too, was eager to arrive at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If she was to uncover the identity of her mysterious messenger "T.M.R.", she would probably find the answer in an ancient magic school.

Just then, the compartment door slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.

"Oh," he said, noticing that there were two people in the compartment. "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

Harry and Attuoria nodded. She made eye contact with the boy as he entered, and immediately heard his inner conversations.

"Should I sit next to the girl, or sit next to Harry Potter? I mean, assuming he even is Harry Potter. I don't know either of them. They seem to know each other. I knew this was going to be awkward."

To make him feel better, Attuoria stood up. "If you want, you can sit here. I know some people prefer window seats." She went and sat down next to Harry instead.

"Oh, thanks." The boy gave her a small smile and settled down in front of the two.

The silence only lasted a few seconds, because the boy blurted out, "Are you really Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded. The boy, Ron, struck up a lively conversation about Harry's life and his own life. He talked about his family, his siblings, and his pet rat named Scabbers. Harry then told Ron about growing up in a Muggle family. Once they were done talking, the attention turned towards Attuoria.

"So what about you? Where's your family from? Sorry, I forgot to even ask your name." Ron asked.

Attuoria opened her mouth to speak but Harry beat her to it.

"Her name's Attuoria. Weird name, right? Ah-tor-ia. Attuoria. What a funny name. She's from some faraway cult in Romania where everyone speaks dead Latin languages." said Harry, flashing her a cheeky grin.

"Romania? My brother Charlie is there. He works with dragons. I heard you guys have a lot of dragons there." Ron immediately said.

"I don't remember much about Romania. Got a concussion at some point this year and found myself in London. You know, one of those random magic things that happened as a result of my inner magical ability." Attuoria said, making up things as she went along. However, she had read so much about the wizarding world over the past month that she didn't really have to make stuff up. She was just piecing information together.

"Did you know Harry was at the zoo with his cousin once and they were looking at snakes, and all of a sudden the glass case for the snake disappeared and this huge boa constrictor came sliding out and escaped!"

"No way!" Ron's eyes widened, looking over at Harry who was snickering at the memory. "That's so cool!"

Attuoria watched as Ron and Harry dove into another conversation. She successfully diverted the attention from her life story to Harry's personal life.

Around half an hour later, a witch came by with a trolley full of food. Harry bought everything there was to buy and completely covered the seats with a mountain of food. They stuffed their face, thankful that Harry was loaded and was able to afford all of it. There was more than enough for the three of them.

After a while, their feast (and Ron attempting magic but failing terribly) was interrupted by the opening of their compartment door.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," a girl said, standing at the door. She had bushy brown hair and was already wearing the Hogwarts robes. Her voice was bossy and demanding.

They all replied no. The girl stayed for a while to chat, introducing herself as Hermione Granger, but Attuoria could tell that the boys were getting annoyed at her know-it-all attitude.

Not long after she left, the door slid open once again. This time it was three boys, including the pale boy that Harry and Attuoria had met at Madam Malkins. The other two were both quite large and had mean looks on their faces.

"Is it true?" the boy said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"Oh, well this is Crabbe, and this is Goyle." The boy said carelessly, beckoning to the two boys behind him. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron snickered at the name, catching the boy's attention.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford."

Draco Malfoy finished his sentence and turned his gaze to the last person in the compartment that he hadn't yet talked to.

The moment Attuoria's eyes gazed into his, his thoughts came flooding in.

"What- She's so pretty, no way she'd be hanging out with Weasley, out of all people! Wait, she looks familiar..." Hearing his thoughts, she remembered their encounter at the robe shop. That was her first day in the mortal realm, and she had been completely disheveled. She wondered if he would recognise her now.

"And who are you?" He asked, his voice slightly shakier than before, but it was clear he was still trying to assert his dominance and pride.

"Attuoria."

"Attuoria what?"

"Ah-tor-ia. Attuoria."

"No, not the pronunciation. What's your last name?"

Attuoria and Harry immediately exchanged glances. They had tried to come up with a last name for her over the one month before school, but nothing seemed to work out. Now she's stuck.

Malfoy grew impatient, a suspicious look on his face. "Don't tell me you forgot your own last name."

"Knight. Attuoria Knight." Attuoria blurted out impulsively. Not bad for an improvisation, she thought to herself. Attuoria Knight didn't sound so bad.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her slightly before turning away to speak to Harry.

"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand for Harry to shake, but Harry ignored it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry replied coolly.

Draco Malfoy's cheeks went a light shade of pink. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter, unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."

Both Harry and Ron stood up immediately. The two looked down at Attuoria, who immediately stood up as well once she realised she was the odd one out.

"Say that again," Ron said, his face turning the same shade as his hair.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.

"Unless you get out now," said Harry with a brave voice.

Malfoy's eyes trailed over to Attuoria, who was standing in the back slightly unsure of why she was even standing up in the first place.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Attuoria watched as Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron, but before Ron could even react, his rat Scabbers already had its teeth deep inside Goyle's knuckle. Amidst the fiasco with Goyle swinging the rat around and around, Attuoria's gaze met back with Malfoy's again. He was right next to her, backed up against the door on her side of the compartment.

"There's something weird about this girl," she heard Malfoy think as he looked at her.

"I was about to say the same thing about you." She said quietly. She watched as his expression changed into something of horror or shock, and right at that moment Scabbers flew off Goyle's finger and hit the window. By the time Attuoria looked back at the door, the three of them were gone.

"That was intense! I think Scabber's been knocked out-" Ron said, picking up his rat by the tail. "Oh, I can't believe it. He's gone back to sleep."

Attuoria sat back down on her seat, deep in her thoughts. Malfoy's reaction reminded her of how she didn't belong in the mortal realm. The only reason she was here was because of "T.M.R.", a person that sent a message with no trace of themself except for a location: London. Now she was on a train to some magic school, she needed to figure out who "T.M.R." was as quickly as possible. She had already wasted eleven years. Perhaps "T.M.R." was no longer even alive.

And it didn't help that her human form was an eleven-year-old girl. Who would take a toddler seriously?

Soon, the train slowed to a stop at a tiny, dark platform. Everyone stepped out, wearing their long black Hogwarts robes, shivering under the cold night air.

A loud voice boomed over the eerie silence: "Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! All right there, Harry? Oh, and look who it is!" Hagrid smiled at the two kids, who smiled back at them. "Did yeh find a name fer yerself?" He asked Attuoria.

Attuoria nodded, smiling back at him. "Attuoria Knight."

Hagrid beamed at her sentence. "Attuoria Knight. Wonderful. Now c'mon, follow me - any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!"

They followed Hagrid through a narrow path down the woods until they reached a lake. Everyone clambered into small boats and marvelled at the Hogwarts castle ahead. When they finally reached the castle, Attuoria could literally hear Harry's heartbeat thumping in his chest. Maybe that was a part of his thoughts.

Everyone walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

After Hagrid checked to make sure everyone was here, he raised his gigantic fist and knocked on the castle door.