Chapter 44: Redheads

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affinity

"No one you'd like to mess with" Harry said, and turning on the spot, apparated away.

"Well, there you are, boy," Uncle Vernon said, a nasty grin on his face. "Platform nine and platform ten.

Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they? "

Figuring he was reasonably safe saying anything he wanted to him seeing as how he wouldn't see the man and his blob of a son ever again, Harry rolled his eyes.

"You, Uncle, elevate the meaning of the word moronic to a whole new level every single time you open your mouth, you know that?" Harry said, while flippantly looking around in search of any other Muggleborn or magical family taking a kid to the station.

McGonagall had told him to run straight at the divide between Platforms 9 and 10, but without any knowledge as to which side of the divide was he to run at, Harry wasn't about to risk looking like an idiot in the middle of one of the most crowded stations in the world.

Although he did rather like the clever sense of making sure that only a running person could enter the barrier which made sure no one leaning on it would fall into the station.

"Of course they don't have the platform be obvious," Harry added, "It's magic. You do remember the word don't you Uncle? That five lettered word.

Spelled M-A-G-I-C. Don't you?" Harry was having way too much fun riling Vernon up. He was turning purple and the passerby people were staring at him. For a moment, he amusedly wondered how much he should charge them for a session with an extremely rare purple whale.

Ping!

A new skill has been made through your act of taunting,

Taunt, Lv-1 (50%)

You can cause your opponent to lose their cool and do something stupid.

5% chance of working

"Then where is it, boy?" Vernon spat angrily.

"You just walk right through the portal."

"How?"

"Magic!" Harry replied with a grin as Vernon turned even purpler. This was way too much fun. "In fact, you can come with me, if you like, and see it for yourself.

All you have to do is sacrifice an appendage of your own," Harry suggested, smirking as Vernon turned purple to pale, thinking of the appendage dearest to him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry saw a couple with two teenagers go straight through the Platform 9 face of the wall. With a curt goodbye, he quickly left Vernon behind and headed towards the barrier.

"-packed with Muggles, of course-"

Harry looked up abruptly as he heard the wizarding term for non-magicals. Looking around, he caught sight of a family of redheads from where the voice had come and quickly hurried after them.

"Now, what's the platform number?" The old woman asked playfully.

"Nine and three-quarters!" the little girl piped up, "Mum, can't I go, Harry Potter will be there this year!"

Harry couldn't help but grin at that. He had a fan! Gingerly, he approached them.

"Excuse me," Harry said.

"Hello, dear," the woman said kindly, "First time at Hogwarts?

Harry nodded.

"Oh good. Ron's new, too," she exclaimed, reaching behind her to drag one of the smaller ones out of the pack of redheads, before patting him on the back, "Well? Aren't you going to say hello to your classmate, Ron?"

"I- er- yes mum," the freckled boy said before sticking his hand out at Harry with a nervous grin, "Hello. I'm Ron."

Harry smiled gingerly. There was going to be a reaction. Shaking Ron's hand, he said, "Hi Ron, my name is Harry Potter."

As he had anticipated, the reaction was immediate. Ron's eyes immediately flew to his forehead and the little girl let out an abrupt squeal and promptly hid behind her mother's skirt, peeking out shyly at Harry.

It was rather adorable, Harry decided, even if the whole getting recognized thing was a bit uncomfortable.

"Are you really?" Ron asked.

"Are you really Ron?" Harry replied amusedly.

"Of course I am," Ron said, looking confused. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I could say the same to you," Harry replied and turned to the woman. "So, I was wondering if you could help me get onto the platform ma'am?" he asked.

She nodded. "Of course, dear. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

Harry thanked her for her help and steeling himself, ran full tilt at the wall.

The imposingly solid brick drew closer… closer… closer… and then it felt like he was walking through a veil of mist, and then he was somewhere else.

Harry looked around, smiling a little at the sight of so many wizards that had dressed up, obviously in an attempt to fit in with the muggles in the station outside, but had failed spectacularly. A woman with a dead vulture arranged on her hat walked past him, and Harry almost broke out into a fit of giggles.

A dozen different things were assaulting his senses, and it felt amazing.

"Thank you for your help ma'am," Harry said to the redheaded woman and went down the station. He had most of his stuff in his inventory, but he'd stuffed a few of his school books and some odd knick-knacks into his trunk just to blend in a bit.

So he quickly found a compartment, and sliding the door close, picked a spot by the window to sit, listening to the chatter of the redhead family by the train for a few minutes before tuning them out and turning to his copy of The Two Towers.

Ever since Harry had learned that Tolkien was a wizard, he'd been reading his books whenever he had free time, which he had a lot of, since he basically absorbed all the information in the all the reference books he had, some of which taught up to and beyond third-year stuff.

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