Chapter 13 9 and 3/4 stations

September 1st was a special day and Luke packed his bags early in the morning and then made his way to Diagon Alley via the reconnected flyway network.

　　This was followed by a taxi from the Broken Cauldron pub to Kings Cross station.

　　He was dressed rather vintage when he took the taxi, but that aristocratic look and the fact that it was an expensive fabric at first glance still kept the driver from offering a conversation.

　　The journey to King's Cross went smoothly, but the tedium of the journey was still a bit distressing for Luke.

　　Perhaps he should have hired an elf to help him with some basic chores too. Like catching up with the road or something.

　　Pushing his bags, Luke walked into King's Cross station. This feeling of travelling alone far away to study reminded him of his former college days.

　　"Meow!"

　　Booker plopped down in Luke's backpack and reached out his paws to scratch the back of Luke's neck, as if to remind him of his presence.

　　Luke smiled softly; no, he had a cat.

　　Humming, Luke moved lightly and comfortably through the crowds of people at the station.

　　He knew where the nine and three-quarters platform was, just like any other child of a wizarding family. Of course, he knew it from the movies. The upside was that he didn't have to struggle as much as Harry did to find this odd station with the score.

　　Along the way, Luke also saw a few families asking about the nine-and-a-quarter platform. He wasn't worried about it, there were definitely wizards behind the station staff who had been asked.

　　Just thinking about it made Luke twitch his lips. Thinking about it this way Hogwarts behaviour wasn't sure if it was traditionally so or just plain bad taste. It wasn't hard to write detailed directions on the back of a ticket.

　　Perhaps after he became a governor, he should push forward with a proposal to do so?

　　After all, Dumbledore was, for the most part, respectful of the rules. So it wasn't right to say that Professor McGonagall's earlier statement that the school governor was just a name. After all, there were still more or less rights at stake.

　　"Hello, if I may ask, do you know where to go on the nine and three-quarters station?"

　　Luke was suddenly called out to, and then he looked over at the voice.

　　What caught his eye was a girl with brown and tousled hair, gleaming brown eyes, and a pair of striking incisors. Ergo, these features blended together and Luke thought he guessed who the girl in front of him was.

　　"Oh Hermione, you're giving him a hard time, look at the bewildered look on his face. It's the same as the staff member we asked earlier." Behind the girl, a formally dressed, elite-looking man was speaking in a very distressed manner.

　　Although someone had given Hermione the so-called orientation, they hadn't expected that person to forget to tell them how to enter this odd station after all.

　　The train was due to depart at eleven o'clock and time was now running out.

　　Hermione didn't panic, she stared at Luke calmly like a detective.

　　"Come along, it does look like the Hogwarts entrance guidance is still a bit lacking."

　　Luke shook his head, Mr. Granger's words clearly proving his suspicions. The girl wasn't as pretty as Luke had thought she would be. There was only a half dozen resemblance to Hermione in the movies as well.

　　Surely Hermione was still a beautiful girl who needed to be developed. After all, the Hermione in the original Goblet of Fire was a stunning presence.

　　With that said, Luke continued to walk on ahead. In the backpack behind him, Booker poked his head out to take a look at the father and daughter pair in front of him, before returning to his backpack with a lack of interest.

　　Mr. Granger looked at his daughter with some surprise.

　　Hermione, on the other hand, hurriedly pushed her bags after Luke while explaining to her father, "He's dressed a bit too retro, a bit similar to the so-called schoolmaster who guided me.

And at eleven, alone, with a whole lot of luggage, it's obvious he's here for school."

　　Mr. Granger, after this reminder, also responded quickly, "We shouldn't have asked the staff in the first place, but rather the strangely dressed men who passed us. They might have been witches too."

　　Luke couldn't help but listen to the father and daughter conversation and couldn't help but sigh, Hermione was indeed strong for having such a calm mind at her age.

　　Already close to his destination, Luke soon stopped in front of the third pillar between platforms nine and ten.

　　He looked back at Hermione and smiled, "Stay close to me, use all your strength and don't hesitate."

　　Then without waiting for Hermione to ask her question, he pushed his luggage trolley towards the pillar and crashed into it.

　　Taken aback, Mr. Granger took a step forward to rescue Luke, only to find that Luke had disappeared into the pillar.

　　Again, something happened that he could hardly understand. Mr. Granger held his forehead in some pain, the world of wizards, it was so hard to understand.

　　Just as he was lamenting, Hermione beside him also took a deep breath, then suppressed the tension in her heart and rushed towards the pillar with a rush.

　　Then she too disappeared among the pillars.

　　But when Mr Granger also slammed into the pillar, he only felt like he had hit a real wall.

　　Once again he covered his forehead in pain. But this time, it really hurt.

　　----------

　　Hermione saw a bustling crowd of people right after she rushed into the pillar. Students, parents, and even vendors, odd and bustling. She glanced around and found the handsome boy who had led her in waiting for her not far away. So rushing over to him.

　　When she reached Luke's side, she looked back as if she had suddenly remembered something, after which she just spoke in surprise and panic: "Where's my dad!"

　　Her voice was a little loud and drew the attention of the other students and parents. Keenly Hermione sensed that someone was pointing at her, so she inexplicably felt a little angry.

　　"Calm down, this station is not accessible to muggles, aka people without magical powers. That's why your father can't get in."

　　Luke looked at Hermione's flustered look and stepped forward to explain to her.

　　Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Luke and said seriously, "Thank you."

　　"You're welcome, if you haven't said goodbye to your father you can go back now, that wall is passable until eleven o'clock."

　　Luke hadn't seen any of this in the film, of course, but he'd asked all these questions he'd had back then when he'd talked to Professor McGonagall earlier. So he knew a fair bit about them now.

　　"Yes! I'll go and say goodbye now. Please watch my bags for me!"

　　With that, Hermione ran in the direction she had come without looking back.

　　Luke felt a constant stream of eyes looking at him, some of them even with a provocative tone.

　　They were clearly moving from Hermione's body to his own. And when Luke followed those glances, he often noticed that the owners of the glances were dressed like wealthy wizards, all with a bit of nobility as well, and there were even some wizards with family crests embroidered on the edges of their robes.

　　Luke raised an eyebrow, then pulled out his family crest from his own pocket.

　　At the bottom was a black diamond, the top layer was a brown wand, and the top layer was a green coiled snake.

　　The provocative and disdainful looks he had received before turned back to surprise and goodwill as he took in the design of the crest.

　　Luke could not help but feel a sense of relief.

　　"How can you revitalise pure blood when you're with such a bunch of bugbears!"