Departure

We spent the rest of our time before school studying up on wizards and their side of the world. And honestly, it's kind of a mess.

There's not all that much information on wizards outside of Europe, first of all. Really, the only things it mentions are the names of a couple of the other wizarding schools. Durmstrang, Beauxabaton, and a recently established one in America called Fryemup?

Ignoring that, so much stuff is restricted! For example,the magical government, the Ministry of Magic, heavily restricts the extension charm Harry and I have on our coin pouches. The restriction on that one at least makes sense, but then I find out you can just go up to some random potioneer and buy a love potion? Where's the sense in that!?

Anyways, ignoring the mess of magical restrictions, the three of us studied the first year materials and learned some spells! Well, Harry and Clarity did. I figured that I could just fake the spells and use my natural aptitude for magic to cause them to happen. But according to Clarity, "One should try to do things properly." So I decided to try one.

And I have to say, it was pretty funny. I used a locking spell on the front door of Clarity's house, where we were practicing, and it worked better than expected! It worked so well that nobody could get it unlocked! They tried the key, getting a locksmith, and eventually even tried to break it down. But the door seemed to be completely locked in place. After that Clarity stopped trying to get me to do things "properly". Still tested out some of what I saw though. The Accio spell.

From what I read, it's supposed to cause an item to fly to you, though you need to know where it is. But when I channeled it through my wand, I was able to summon the item directly even though I had no idea where it was! Sure, we had to hide it and place an anonymous tip with the police, but how was I supposed to know I would be able to summon the Mona Lisa?

But that's all in the past now. It's September first, and Clarity's family is driving us all to the train station where we'll be boarding the Hogwarts Express. Harry and I didn't spend much time at the Dursleys house this past month. Really, the only time we went back there was to grab a change of clothes and our dictionary before heading over to Clarity's house. Of course I'd already made a hidey hole for Arianna there beforehand.

Other than that though, we hadn't really seen them. And I'm happy knowing that this trend will continue. Even after the school year is over.

"Misha, your evil is showing again." Clarity warns me.

"Whoops." I rub at my lips to erase my evil smile before shooting her a grin. "Better?"

"Better." She nods.

One might ask why I have an evil smile, to which I would ask: Why don't you have an evil smile?

Putting my evil plans aside, we're here! The five of us exit the car, Mr. Insania flagging down someone to help us load our supplies onto some trollies. We enter the station and look over Kings Cross, taking in the sight of the crowds rushing to their trains. For me and Harry, who've never seen trains in person, it's a sight to behold.

Mr. Insania though, seems to be irritated, if his twitching eyebrow is anything to go by. "Let's get going, no idea where we'll find platform nine and three quarters, but that Hagrid fellow told us that we would know when we got here."

I can't help but sigh. Really, why couldn't he have given us better instructions?

And so we wander. We pass by platforms as we search, quickly passing eight, nine, and ten. Soon enough we reach the end and still haven't seen any hints of nine and three quarters. As Mr. Insania lets out his own sigh of frustration, Clarity speaks up.

"Maybe we should search around platform nine? Since it's connected to the magical world and they don't want non-magical people finding it, it's probably hidden somewhere nearby."

We all nod in agreement and start walking. I speak up as we do. "Good point Clarity. Wizards seem to be the types to want to be smug about their obvious but not really entrance to one of the most famous wizarding schools." I ignore the looks I get from passersby that overhear me. Afterall, I'm just some kid playing pretend with her friend. Because of course magic isn't real.

Once there, we kind of just stand there awkwardly looking around, unsure of what exactly we're looking for. Of course I sense the magic coming from the end of the archway in the center of the platform, but I ignore it. That could be literally anything! For all I know it's a trap to lure in magic sensitive muggles so the Ministry of Magic can ensure they won't be exposed.

After another few minutes of fruitless searching, we overhear some woman yelling.

"It's the same every year, packed with muggles of course. Come on now, platform nine and three quarters this way!" Hearing her, we all exchange glances.

As she and her five kids come into view, immediately identifiable as such by their identical ginger hair, Clarity speaks. "Should she really be shouting about muggles when the wizarding world is meant to be a secret?" We all nod, including me. I ignore their exasperated looks at my hypocrisy with grace and aplomb.

We watch as the woman gestures one of her sons forward, the oldest it looks like. Now speaking quieter, we don't hear what she says to him, but then he runs towards the wall! Mr. and Mrs. Insania's jaws drop when they see the boy vanish instead of crashing. Though the three of us aren't as surprised, we're still impressed by the sight. Another two kids vanish, and it's then that Harry approaches them.

"Excuse me," he asks. "How do you get onto the platform?"

The woman looks mildly surprised, but I notice her eyes flick towards his forehead for the briefest moment. She speaks while my eyes narrow.

"Not to worry dearie, it's Ron's first time as well." She gestures to the last boy with her who nods his head at him. "Now," she continues. "What you'll want to do is just run straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten. Make sure you get a bit of speed so the charm doesn't reject you."

Harry nods and thanks her before returning to us. The woman looks surprised at that before shrugging and gesturing for the boy, Ron, to go ahead. He does so and the woman turns to leave with her daughter. As they do, the girl's eyes meet mine. Nothing comes from it of course and they leave.

Exchanging glances, I shrug and decide to go first. I charge the wall with a battle cry on my lips. "For the Queen!!"

I go through the wall as every person left behind shouts: "Long may she reign!"

There's a brief moment of darkness before I come out on the other side, narrowly avoiding a crash with someone who failed to achieve the same effect.

On the floor just inside the entrance, the ginger boy is on his knees gathering up his spilled supplies. Next to him someone in conductor uniform picks up some square containers scattered around them.

'They should probably make sure people know when to go through the wall so things like this don't happen.' Just as the conductor guy picks up his stuff and leaves, Harry comes through the wall. Just like me he narrowly avoids the accident. Unlike me, he doesn't just watch. He goes to help him gather his stuff and the boy thanks him. They seem to hit it off and Harry boards the train with him before Clarity and her parents come through the wall, depositing his trolley with someone along the way.

Seeing Clarity's confusion about where Harry went, I shrug. "He made a new friend. We should see who we can meet on the train as well. Meet up at Hogwarts?"

"Of course," she smiles back, just like the snack.

We say goodbye to her parents and board the train, heading our separate ways for now.

Little did we know that we would be separated at Hogwarts as well.