Chapter 71: Platform nine and three quarters

"Is everything ready?" lord Rosier looked at William beside him who only nodded "very well then, let's go to station nine and three quarters, the Hogwarts express awaits you for your second year."

In the middle of the foyer of Rosier Manor stood everyone involved. Lord Rosier who would be driving them all to the station, Lesley Rosier who was now in her sixth year, Jessica Rosier and Damian Rosier, both in their fourth year, and William in his second year.

Lesley saw William come down and turned slightly to avoid looking at him, but William didn't mind at all, both at Rosier Manor and Hogwarts Castle neither had any contact with the other and it was good this way.

Jessica and Damian were still childish, they believe everything they are told at school and take the whole house wars thing as if it was a real battle, even if it was explained to them that Slytherin and Gryffindor are not necessarily enemies, they wouldn't understand, they are not ready for that kind of conversations.

"You know the process, stay close and don't do anything stupid" the old man was speaking kindly but the moment he tapped the ground with his cane the mood changed "Understood?"

William understood what he was referring to, he was the head of the family and he was also the grandfather of those present, he knew how the young people acted and it is not necessary to mention what can go through the minds of young people with excess power, before they made a stupid decision to harm other family members the best thing to do was to warn them severely.

There were no words of reply then with another thump of the cane to the ground, they all disappeared from the hall and then they were all once again at the train station.

"I think that's all, take your belongings and get on the express as soon as possible" Grandfather's friendly voice had returned, but no one had any intention of challenging him, everyone knew about his true personality.

William did not take long to make his arrangements, the farewell with his grandfather was formal, there was nothing spectacular in the process, so once again he was on the Hogwarts express, this time as a second year student, although to be honest with him he already missed the tranquility of Castelobruxo.

He walked through the bums until he found an empty cubicle, they had arrived long before the departure of the express so it was not complicated to find a good place to settle in for the long journey, he put his brown suitcase in the overhead compartment and left an old book to read on his journey.

Then once again, just as he did every day, he disconnected from the real world and relocated to the world his mind generated by reading a book.

Students passed by outside his cubicle, not many noticed him immediately, others pointed at him and others just stared at him, then all of a sudden a young woman stood still looking inside as if she found something peculiar.

The sliding door opened slowly but with a sound that forced William out of his state of concentration, in front of him was a character he had seen several times on the big screen loved by many but hated by others, a young girl with a peculiar imagination that got her into a lot of trouble during her schooling.

"You seem to like reading very much do you wish to read the fussy one?"

The young girl who belonged to the first year students was of course Luna Lovegood, the eccentric young woman whom everyone in the future would call 'Lunatica' or 'mad Lovegood'. Truth be told William felt some bitterness in his heart every time he saw her in the cinema, she certainly wasn't normal but there was no real reason to pick on her.

"Sure" said William reaching out his hand to take one of the magazines she was carrying in her arms "I'll give it a try."

"perfect, I hope you like them" she just smiled and walked out of the cubicle as if nothing had happened.

<No doubt she is the true representation of a free soul> said William in his mind.

William took a look at the cover of the newspaper, it really was striking in its own way, maybe also a bit disgusting, the variety in the typography used just led everything to a chaos and the colors used did not help much, on the other hand each of the titles that should draw attention in this case just have a counterproductive effect.

<I think I should read it another time> William sighed and folded the newspaper placing it on his lap, he looked out the window at the students arriving on the platform and how it was getting more and more crowded.

<Now that I think about it this year Harry and Ron are having trouble getting onto the platform because of Dobby, they make the decision to use the flying car to get to Hogwarts, this will be quite good to see.

"There you are!" the shrill voice brought him out of his thoughts, then looking beside him he could see her, one of the few Gryffindor students who dared to speak to him.

"Hello Hermione" he greeted calmly "long time no see."

"I saw you at Flourish and Blotts, but you didn't stop, plus you didn't answer the letters I sent you"

William looked up slightly "the letter arrived at my house, while I was in Castelobruxo, I could not answer and I think that if you want to know more about the experience it would be better to do it in person. As for what happened at Flourish and Blotts, I don't think the atmosphere was right, it's like the one we have at the moment" William pointed with his book towards the people accompanying Hermione "the prefect of our house looks at me as if he was seeing the most terrifying dark wizard in the world, the twins look at me as if they were creating some kind of horror story to scare the first years and the youngest doesn't know what to do, the Weasleys are funny."

"You really didn't change at all," she said with a smile.