14 The Hogwarts Express
After playing around with his wand for a few days, Harry discovered that it was indeed better to use a wand instead of using wandless magic. Although Harry felt that given enough time he could achieve equal mastery in both, that would still take a few years.
It would be 1st September soon so he needs to start packing.
Harry took an inventory of all his books and appliances. He didn't want to forget something and embarrass himself on his very first day. He created a list of everything and started packing his enchanted trunk.
In time he thought that he might need more space for his future stuff. So, he bought a new one which had an even bigger space. It now looked more like a multi-storied apartment.
Other than a room dedicated to books, all the other rooms were almost empty.
So, he decided to keep his stuff in the most accessible location. He didn't want to waste time just searching for his clothes and missing his classes.
As he ticked off all the items on the list, he took a deep breath and smiled in relief.
He finally felt that he was ready to take the next step of his journey.
He arrived in this world eleven years ago and has been preparing for this day. It will not be easy and he will have to outwit and outsmart a lot of people but he felt excited about the prospects of butting heads with the sharpest minds alive.
The next morning, he was standing in front of 'The Wall'. It was the wall between platforms nine and ten. It was the wall he had to cross in order to get to platform nine and three quarters.
He always wondered why exactly 'three quarters'. There was never any explanation given by the author, only that she decided this on a whim. But this was a real world so things that important shouldn't happen on a whim. There should be a story behind it and he would find out about it in the future if he ever got a chance.
After taking a look at the iconic wall, he ran through it and arrived at the platform nine and three quarters. There was a scarlet steam engine billowing white smoke and covering the entire platform in a hazy white mist. There were people in wizard robes moving about talking to each other. Parents were giving instructions to the kids going to Hogwarts for the first time. Senior students were acting all rowdy after meeting their friends. There were cats running around people's legs and owls were flying overhead and dropping shit bombs on the unlucky ones.
As Harry saw everything, he felt like he has finally stepped into the world he belongs. He was a wizard now and he could never be truly comfortable with muggles. There would always be a yearning inside him to stay close to the magical world.
He walked across the platform looking at everything with wide eyes, just like the first time he visited Diagon Alley. It was an experience of a lifetime, especially for someone who grew up reading about this in his past life.
He saw a stall selling newspapers and bought the daily prophet. There was a big news about a break-in at Gringotts. He knew it was Quirrell who tried to steal the Philosopher's stone. But it had already been taken away by Hagrid on Dumbledore's orders.
He finally boarded the train and moved to an empty compartment at the back of the train. The seniors usually boarded the front carriages so it would be better to stay at the rear ones for now.
He only had a single trunk with him along with Hedwig's cage. Although he didn't need to keep it inside, he didn't want to search for it in case he got lost.
He had developed a very good relationship with his owl and even trained it using a bit of Legilimency. This made Hedwig a lot smarter than the other owls and he could more easily understand Harry's instructions since he usually conversed using his soul through legilimency.
He then closed his eyes and started meditating while he waited for the fated encounter. If his theory was correct then fate would definitely send Ron Weasley to this cabin and Hermione too.
He wanted to see if the events are still as they should be or they have changed.
A few minutes later, a freckled red-head almost stumbled into his cabin. He was wearing a simple red sweater with cream pants and had a timid expression on his face. All his stuff clearly depicted his family's economic condition.
"Umm, is it Ok if I share this cabin with you? The others are already filled" asked Ron.
"Sure, come on in, I was getting bored sitting alone anyways", replied Harry in an amiable voice.
Ron seemed relieved and pulled his trunk inside.
Watching him struggle with his luggage, Harry gently waved his wand and helped him move his stuff. Ron was surprised by this and couldn't help but ask, "I am sorry but are you a senior?"
Harry understood his thoughts as it was very rare to see a first-year use magic that effortlessly.
So he replied, "No, I am not. I am a first year. I have been practicing my magic for some time now so I am able to do some simple tricks."
Ron was still skeptical about it but accepted it as there was no reason to lie.
"Hi, my name is Ronald Weasley. You can call me Ron", he raised his hand towards Harry for a handshake. Harry returned the gesture, "Hi, I am Harry Potter. Nice to meet you, Ron."
As soon as Ron heard his name, he practically jumped from his seat, "You are Harry Potter? THE Harry Potter?"
Harry expected his reaction so he raised his hair a bit and showed his scar to Ron.
"Oh my God. I can't believe this. I am sitting with the famous Harry Potter. I have heard so much about you. There were rumors that you would be attending Hogwarts this year but still...I can't believe it," Ron almost hugged him in his excitement.
Harry could only smile helplessly as he knew it was just the beginning. He would have to face similar situations many times in the future. So he didn't take it to heart and kept nodding to Ron's ranting about how he was considered as the next Dumbledore or that he was a hidden weapon that Voldemort left behind for his resurrection. It was all just theory that many people conjured out of their overactive imagination.
After going on for a few minutes, they were interrupted by the opening of the compartment door. There was a girl standing there looking a little frustrated.
"Has anyone seen a toad named Trevor? There's a poor guy looking for it," she asked in a forceful tone.
Harry looked at her and knew that she was going to be a beauty later in life. That along with her upright character, she was perfect for him.
He smiled at her and replied, "Relax, all such pets would be collected later by the prefects and professors as the train reaches Hogwarts. Your friend will have Trevor back eventually.
Also, you look a little tired. Why don't you come in and have some snacks that are about to arrive?"
Hearing him Hermione was a little stunned as she didn't expect anyone to actually give her a proper reply. All the other cabins she had asked in previously gave her curt replies.
She calmed herself and took a deep breath. She then entered the cabin and sat on the seat directly opposite Harry.
"Hi, my name is Hermione Granger, its great to finally meet someone nice like you," she introduced herself.
"Hey, I am Harry Potter and this is my friend Ronald Weasley. Its a pleasure to meet someone who actually cares about others" replied Harry in a similar flattering tone.
Hermione obviously liked it and you could feel her proverbial tail curling a bit.
Although she was very smart and would grow up into an amazing wizard, she was still a little kid. Thus, Harry could only wait for a few years to 'make his move' as he wasn't into kids.
Later, the snacks trolley came in and Harry bought a lot of stuff for the three of them.
Ron was excited about the Chocolate Frog Cards. He had almost five hundred of them and was waiting for 'Agrippa' and 'Ptolemy'.
Harry was also intrigued by the magical edition of Trading cards but not to the extent of becoming a collector.
He gave his card of Albus Dumbledore to Ron and so did Hermione. Ron was very happy with that.
Suddenly their door was opened again and in came Draco flanked by his minions Crabbe and Goyle.
But before he could say anything, Harry simply waved his wand and Draco along with his followers was pushed outside as the door slammed shut again.
"Colloportus," a click was heard as the door locked itself preventing Malfoy from being able to open it.
"Hey what the hell? Do you know who I am? I am Draco Malfoy. Open up I command you..."
"Silencio"
Suddenly his voice disappeared as Harry used the silencing charm on the door.
Hermione was shocked by Harry's display of magic. Different from Ron, she actually knew how difficult it was to do what Harry did and that too so easily.
"How did you do that" shrieked Hermione.
"It's impossible. To be able to cast spells that fluently and quickly, it's not possible for a first year. Even if you are from a pureblood family, there's no way you could cast spells that easily," Hermione continued as her pitch kept increasing.
"Its nothing much. You could say that I have always had a decent control over my magic and ever since I got a wand I have been practicing my spells as I knew that the moment I stepped into Hogwarts, I would get busy with school assignments and wouldn't get much time to practice," replied Harry trying to calm her down.
Seeing as she was about to say something else, Harry quickly interrupted her by asking her something he read in the History of Hogwarts. She took the bait and started raving about her extensive knowledge of Hogwarts. Ron looked completely bored but seeing as both Harry and Hermione were in a heated discussion, he tried to listen in.
Being in a family of wizards and having five elder brothers in Hogwarts, he knew a lot more about the Hogwarts history than any muggle. So he was able to chime in a few places which actually surprised Hermione but not Harry as if he always expected Ron to know about this subject.
A few hours later, it was time to get dressed as they were about to reach their destination.
The Hogwarts Express finally stopped when it reached the Hogsmeade station and as Harry got down he saw one of his favorite characters of all time, Hagrid.
