The Train Ride

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Clair, Madison, And Jhon dropped off Liam at king's cross train station with each of them hugging him, Clair again asking him to stay safe and Madison telling him to let loose a little and have some fun and jhon reminding him to keep the letters coming if he didn't want Clair to waltz up there somehow to check on him, And with that, He made his way through the stations looking for the right platform when he noticed two very contrasting people walking together one very short and skinny and the second as large as two short adults piled up on top of each other and he stopped walking for a second and took a deep breath and said to himself

"Here goes nothing"

He approached the now standing on his own Harry, A cart with an owl in it In front of him while he was staring at his ticket, And just as he got close enough Harry looked up and said

"There's no such thing is there ?"

Only to find that Hagrid was no longer standing there and that there was another kid approaching him with a similar cart In front of him.

"Wow that's such a cool looking owl, It's so white is like snow mine is named Strix what's yours called"

"...."

Harry was looking very awkward and surprised that someone initiated a conversation with him and Liam thought to himself

'Man his confidence is in the ground but that's understandable knowing how he grew up until now, Ok I just need to force the issue and once we get started he'll open up, He is a pretty social kid when given the chance '

"Hello sorry I forgot to introduce myself, I am Liam what's your name ?"

"I... I am Harry "

"Nice to meet you Harry, Hay you wouldn't know where platform nine and three quarters is I have been going from nine to ten over and over for the last ten minutes and I can't find anything"

"No, I don't know"

"Well, We are going to miss the train at this rate want to look together ?"

"Sure"

So Liam started leading them to where he knew the platform should be while chatting with Harry

"So you never told me what your owl is called"

"Oh sorry, It... it called Hedwig "

"That's a cool name, Is it your first year at Hogwarts too?"

"Yes, But how did you know I was going to Hogwarts ?"

"Well the cart and the owl are a pretty big give away, Oh look there are some other kids with carts they must know the way lets go ask them"

And then Liam rushed towards the Weasley clan and approached their matron molly Weasley and said

"Excuse me ma'am you wouldn't happen to know where platform nine and three quarters is would you, My friend and me don't want to miss our train "

Harry looked gobsmacked about the fact that Liam just called him his friend and seemed to be short-circuiting as molly said

"Oh dear, Well we don't want that now do we follow me, Dears I am on my way there right now, You must be first years if you don't know where the platform is my little boy here Ronald is starting his first year too, Now make sure you be nice to him in school, Ok"

"MOM !! you are embarrassing me please just stop"

"I'll make sure I'll be nice to him maam"

"My, My so polite what's your name deary ?"

"Oh I am Liam and this is Harry maam"

"Harry, HARRY POTTER" exclaimed Ron

And then the twins followed with

"Oh the famous" "Harry Potter"

"The vanquisher of evil " "Savior of all that is good "

And Ginny just went quiet and red in the face.

Then Ron continued with

"So wait, It's all true, I mean do you really have the scar ?"

Harry seemed a little embarrassed by the sudden attention and he was still reeling from the last shock.

So while Liam was going to say something to try and calm everyone down, But molly beat him to it saying

"Ronald Weasley have I taught you no manners is this how you are going to act in Hogwarts"

The twins at this point sensing that a scolding was coming their way after Ron had his, Made their way through the platform walls.

"You hadn't even introduced yourself probably and you're already integrating the poor boy and asking him about his scars"

Liam nudged Harry in the shoulder with a pointed look at Ron and he just looked at him so he whispered

"Mate say something or the poor guy is going to die of impressment just say it was all fine or something"

And that seemed to snap him out of it as walked up with a look of determination on his face like he was on his way to slay a dragon.

"It's fine ma'am, He was just excited, It's no big deal really here you can see it if you want"

And he faced Ron and lifted his hair out of his face.

"Wicked"

"Harry dear how are you, My name is molly I was friends with your mother, We.. we kind of worked together for a while, Such a sweet woman she was, I would love to tell you a bit about her sometime, But if you take any longer you are going to miss the train, So run along now right through that wall over there and you'll be on the platform in no time and tell you what, Next time we will have a sit-down and talk about your parents how about that ?"

"That sounds great ma'am !"

Harry said with a look of genuine happiness on his face.

Liam led the way through the wall in was quite the strange sensation to suddenly be somewhere you weren't a second ago and then he started to think of when he felt a similar feeling, Back in the place in between and he buried that thought just as quick as it emerged he didn't want to think of that place or what he was like it, By then both Ron and Harry were through and staring at the train and he thought to himself

'This is it the Hogwarts express wow, The wait is that all of it ?? it looks shorter than how I remember it somehow, There are only six train cars, And one of them is only for prefects, How is this supposed to fit all the students, No wonder every year there is a line about how there were no other empty cabins left '

"He we should set together on the train I heard it's a long journey and we don't we be stuck with someone annoying all day right guys"

"Sounds good to me "

Responded Harry still high on the feeling of knowing more about his parents.

"Sure sounds fun"

Said Ron next and then he looked at Liam a bit embarrassed and said

"Sorry mate what did u say your name was I kind of forgot"

"Oh no problem I am Liam, And you are Ron, Right ? a pleasure to meet you, This is Harry but I have a feeling you didn't forget his name "

They started carrying their luggage on the train together and Liam said

"What was that about, By the way, The whole thing with the scar"

"Oh you don't know about Harry potter and YOU-KNOW-WHO"

"Ron you are getting excited again" Liam reminded him

He looked even more embarrassed as he said sorry and then when they were finally in an empty cabin together he said

"There was a very bad man trying to take over the wizarding world 10 years ago and we are not supposed to say his name, And he was almost going to do it too but then Harry here stopped him, Right Harry?"

Now it was Harry's turn to look embarrassed.

"I don't know Ron I was one-year-old I don't remember anything but that is what I have been told too"

"So you don't know how you defeated him, Oh that's a shame I really wanted to know," Ron said

"Wait my mother told me something like this, That was you Harry, Wow that must be not have been easy"

At that point, The lady with the trolly came in and asked if anyone wanted to buy anything and again this time Harry bought the lot of it, And the three boys enjoyed the feast it was quite the spread of different tastes, From salty to surgery and from sweet to sour then they had the transcendent only to be followed by the absolutely disgusting and as they were laughing and comparing Liam said

"I was kind of worried that I wouldn't have fun here or make any friends but I am glad I ran into you guys, I hope we get sorted in the same house, But even if we don't let's stay friends ok"

Harry answered

"Sure but what do you mean sorted into houses"

"Don't you know Harry, I am definitely going to be in Gryffindor, My whole family have been sorted into it forever"

Harry just looked puzzled as he looked at Ron.

"Hogwarts separates it, Students, Into four groups Harry, Each group is called a house there is Gryffindor that Ron mentioned they mostly get people with courage and bravery"

"That's right" Ron added

"There is Hufflepuff they are mostly known for their loyalty and hard work"

"I hear the puffs are nice guys" Ron chimed in again

"And there is Ravenclaw who are known for their intelligence and wisdom"

"He means book worms Harry " Ron snickered while providing his valuable opinion

"And finally there is Slytherin who are known for the cunning and ambition "

"A bunch of snakes," Ron said with a hint of hate

Liam looked at Ron and said

"It is never a good idea to generalize about a group of people Ron any one of the traits I mentioned can be very good in moderation but too much and you end up with a bunch of hotheaded, Servile, Snobbish, Traitorous people in that order, The houses are made after the traits of the four founders of Hogwarts, None of them is bad by default, And they both had many great wizards graduate from them, You know merlin came from Slytherin tight Ron"

"WHAT" Ron shouted as his jaw opened wide releasing a toffee he had in his mouth.

And Harry said, "How do you know all of that Liam ?"

Liam had a smile on his face as he heard the carriage door open and said

"Well I read it, Of course, there is this great book called Hogwarts a history and it has all sort of entertaining stories in there, I can lend it to you Harry if you want, I already read all of it "

"Oh you read Hogwarts a history too "

And almost like on cue Liam heard a voice coming from the now open carriage door.

"Yes it was a very fun and informative book"

"Pleasure to meet you I am Hermione granger "

"Likewise I am Liam murphy and these two are Ron Weasley and Harry potter"

"Holy cricket you're Harry potter "

"Yes, I.. am nice to meet you"

"Oh right have any of you seen a toad, A boy named Neville lost one "

"No Hermione sorry, No toads here just Harry frog, Are you helping him look for it, That's very nice of you, We'll help too won't we guys"

"What look for a toad !!" Ron said putting another piece of chocolate in his mouth

"Come on Ron it'll be fun it will be like searching for treasure, Plus we'll find it faster if all four of us look for it, What do you say Harry"

"Yeah sure," Said Harry

"Fine... a toad is a lousy treasure by the way"

"Great will check the rest of the train and meet back here when we are done"

'Good now those are some better first impressions Hermione didn't come off as condescending and more like a helpful friend and while Harry is still a bit embarrassed he is making friends still, Ron still came off as a glutton but I can't really do anything about that if he won't stop eating but at least he didn't have unexplained dirt on his nose, I wonder how that happened before anyways'

'A couple of nudges in the right places and they will be fast friends and they won't need to fight a fucking troll as a bonding experience and we can avoid that whole plotline and have a peaceful Halloween for once and after that, I can take a bit of a back seat, For what I need to do I need some private time and I can't have that with those three hanging around me all the time '

Ten minutes later they were all back in the cabin and funny enough it was Ron that found the toad in the end.

"Alright I'll take it back to Neville, And I'll tell him you found him it Ron, Thanks for the help, Oh and you should probably change into your robes now we are almost there "

Hermione said before bolting out of the cabin.

They spend the next couple of minutes changing and five minutes after that the train came to a halt and everyone started stepping out of their cabins and heading for the doors leading to the platform and that's when they heard hagrid's booming voice saying

"FIRST YEARS THIS WAY PLEASE, COME ON NOW THIS WAY FIRST YEARS FOLLOW ME"