Chapter Seven
The time that was left for Harry's departure flew by. Harry increased the amount of time he spent studying, and Tom the barman noticed that Harry rarely left his room. He had stopped coming down for his dinner, so the only time Tom saw Harry was at breakfast, where he acted very withdrawn. The fact was, Harry was nervous about going to Hogwarts. One of the main reasons for his nerves was that he had never really interacted with other people his own age and he was apprehensive about meeting other people.
When Harry had been younger, everyone had ignored him or excluded him because of Dudley's gang. Once or twice people would talk to him, but when Harry went to talk to them the next day, they paid no attention to him afraid of what others would say. And so Harry gave up trying to make friends. He found it impossible to trust others. He was also quite nervous about the schoolwork. He had only entered the magical world a month while others had been surrounded my magic their whole lives. Harry knew Hagrid had intended to calm Harry's anxiety by telling him that everyone was nervous attending Hogwarts for the first time, but still Harry knew there was so much expected from him, because of his past.
The weather was slowly getting worse. When September the first dawned Harry woke up after only a few minutes sleep, he hadn't had a sufficient nights sleep in a few days, even Tom observed the fact that Harry had trouble sleeping. After checking the weather, he decided he would wear his hoody to King's Cross. It looked as if it would rain later on in the day. Harry ate his breakfast slowly, he had finished packing last night, and because of his nerves, he didn't really have an appetite.
As no one else was up at that time, Tom decided he would eat his breakfast with Harry. They talked for a while, Tom glad to see Harry talking again. When they had finished Harry brought his trunk down from his room trying to make the least noise on the stairs possible so as not to wake the other guests. Harry said farewell to Tom and thanked him for his unwavering hospitality. He got a taxi to King's Cross and arrived an hour early for the train.
He had the ticket, which Hagrid had given him the other day tucked away in his pocket. He made up his mind that he would get a trolley because he had a trunk and also Hedwig and her cage. Hagrid had told Harry how to get on to the platform; it was a simple case of running straight at the very solid wall in between platforms nine and ten.
He pushed his trolley around and faced the barrier. He started to walk towards it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that ticket box and then he'd be in real trouble-leaning forward on his trolley he broke into a run. He ran through the wall and appeared on Platform nine and three quarters. He turned to see a scarlet steam engine.
Harry realizing he was now forty five minutes early, he decided to wait on the platform, before getting on the train. He sat beside his trunk and watched as the platform filled up with students. Steam from the train was now billowing over the platform and students were filling up the compartments quickly. Harry was so tired; he was nearly drifting off to sleep. He stood up choosing to board the train now. On his way he took notice of all the students and their animals. A boy with dreadlocks was showing everybody what Harry believed to be a giant spider. Another round-faced boy was asking a very formidable looking woman where his toad, Trevor, was.
He walked until he neared the end of the train. There he spotted a girl who looked to be having trouble getting her trunk into the carriage. She had what Harry thought was slightly bushy hair which now looked wild as she was struggling with her trunk. He rushed over to assist her and just as she was about to drop her trunk he grabbed it and pushed it into the carriage. "Oh. Thank you." She said politely. She climbed into the carriage and dragged her trunk into a compartment. Harry managed to carry his luggage on to the train with ease and found an empty compartment. Harry sat down next to the window where, half-hidden he could watch people bustling around on the platform. A large group of red haired people walked by. Two were obviously twins, one was about Harry's age, and there was a small girl and a plump woman who was undoubtedly their mother. "Now listen here you two. I don't want another letter from your Headmaster saying you were up to anything dangerous this year. And do take care of \Ron." She said worriedly. "Look Ron, you've got something on your nose." The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose. "Mum- geroff,' He wriggled free.
"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins while the other roared out laughing. "Shut up" said Ron. "Guess what, mum. Lee Jordan said he saw Harry Potter earlier on, said he noticed him cause of his scar. He said it's like lightening,' said one of the twins with a look of amazement on his face. "Do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?" Harry swallowed. Was this the way everybody was going to treat him, asking him if he remembered anything about the night his parents died? The mother had started talking again; her tone was very stern and full of warning. "I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day of school." Harry felt a rush of gratitude to the mother. He pulled his hat lower, so it was just above his eyes, which were hidden by his glasses.
A whistle sounded and the boys clambered onto the train. The train began to move and Harry felt a leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to- but it had to be better than what he was leaving. Harry saw the youngest red haired boy walk past the compartment. He glimpsed Harry and then quickened his pace. Harry gazed out the window as buildings rushed by, with the occasional gap where he could view the whole city. He hoped that not everybody treated him like the boy did. Harry felt that he was just as ordinary as everybody else. That boy probably knew more magic than he did. After a while Harry decided he would rather be alone, maybe he'd try and get some sleep. He didn't know how far away Hogwarts was. He put his feet on the seat opposite him and turned so that he was facing the window with his back to the door of the compartment. He slept for a few minutes, during which time the girl who he had helped came to see him, but after seeing him sleeping she left, somewhat sadly.
When Harry awoke he was surprised to find that they had passed through London and that they were now speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. He got up and stretched his legs as he found his muscles had tightened up. He then realised he needed to use the toilet. On his way through the different carriages he spotted some first years, they were easy to recognize as they were the smallest ones on the train. He snatched some of their conversation; they were talking about the different houses. "I think it'd be really cool to be in Ravenclaw." "No way, Gryffindor."
Harry again saw the red-haired boy sitting in a compartment with two boys and one girl. The boy gave him a nervous glance and turned to look at another boy who was speaking animatedly in an Irish accent.
Harry sighed and continued his way through the train. He was already sick of being Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. Why wasn't anyone giving him a chance? They didn't know anything, none of them did, he thought angrily. When he got to the bathroom he slammed the door, locked it and put his back to it. He tried to calm down, taking deep breaths, but his hands were still balled into fists. When he had finished in the bathroom, he opened the door, to hear a commotion coming from the other end of the train. Wondering what was going on Harry set off in the direction of the disturbance.
As he neared the end of the train he heard voices growing louder. "Let go of me, right NOW." he heard a girl's voice shout. It didn't sound frightened, it was more bossy. When Harry finally came to the scene, he saw the girl he had helped earlier on. She was being held by the wrist by a thickset boy whose eyes were narrowed in dislike. Harry stepped forward. He didn't want to start a fight; he knew that because of the temper he was in, if he got going he'd probably never stop. "The lunch trolley's coming round soon, so give me your money,' he large boy demanded in a dull stupid voice. "I will not. Now let go of me," she commanded.
Harry made up his mind that now would be the right time to intervene. "Let her go and walk away from this unharmed," he ordered. The boy turned around and looked at Harry dumbly. Then a boy walked up from behind him, it was Draco Malfoy. "What does this have anything to do with you? Piss off."
Harry smiled knowingly. He wanted to rip Malfoy's head off but knew that it would do no good. "Just let her go." He said again. Malfoy laughed and the other idiot guffawed. Suddenly the boy threw a punch at Harry. Then, once again for Harry, time seemed to slow down. He ducked, and then blocked the boy's other fist as it made its slow progression towards his head. Then time returned to normal. Harry had a death grip on the boy's wrist. He kept the grip tight and ignoring the boy's moans, turned to face Malfoy, whose face both showed bewilderment and fury. "Now, leave." He let go of the boy who turned and ran, Malfoy remained. "Who are you?" Harry ignored him and walked back to his compartment.
Harry remained in his compartment for a while pondering what had happened. He knew he shouldn't have resorted to violence but he didn't want that girl to get hurt. The door slid open and Harry turned to see the girl again. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me back there." "No problem," Harry replied simply. The girl came in, closed the door and sat down opposite Harry. "Why did you do that? You could have been hurt or have gotten into trouble," she asked in a serious tone. "I don't like people being hurt." And the girl knew he was telling the truth. "My name is Hermione Granger." She said extending her hand. "Harry…..Harry Potter." He was waiting for her to gawp and then leave. But she didn't. A thoughtful expression appeared on her face and she looked as if she was trying to remember something.
"Oh, yes… I remember your story now." Her face then dropped as she realized what she just said. "I'm sorry. I…I didn't mean it that way. Its just I don't actually come from a magical background, my parents are dentists you see." Harry smiled slightly. He knew how sorry she was from her reaction. "It's alright. I honestly didn't know anything about myself up until last month." And he told her how he had found out about his parents and his past. He didn't mention the Dursley's or anything about his previous life, he never wanted to share that with anyone. Even still, Harry found it quite okay talking to Hermione. He usually stayed quiet around people and while staying at the Leaky Cauldron he hadn't talked to anybody his own age, but Hermione seemed to listen, and he found that they did have a lot to talk about, their studies and so on. After a while Hermione excused herself saying that she wanted to go and get changed and also read a bit and that she'd either come back later or she would see him when they got to Hogwarts.
Harry thought that he might get a few more minutes sleep before he got to Hogwarts. He was exhausted by the day's events, and he didn't think they were that close to Hogwarts. He resumed his position he had been sleeping in before he gone to the bathroom. He stayed like that a few minutes before he heard a knock on the compartment door and it slid open. Harry turned around to see the boy named Ron standing in the doorway. "Hey, my brother said he saw you on your own and told me I should come and see if you're okay. Sorry, he's a prefect and he believes in unification and all that." He added quickly. "I'm fine," Harry said. He was still a bit annoyed about the boy's behaviour earlier. "My name's Ron by the way. Ron Weasley." "I think you already know mine," Harry joked. He was surprised to see Ron laugh at this. He then became serious, "Do you have really have - you know…" he pointed at Harry's forehead. Harry decided showing Ron his scar wouldn't do any harm. He pulled off his hat and pulled back his fringe.
"So that's where You-Know-Who-?" he began. "Yes" said Harry, "but I can't remember it."
Ron looked uncomfortable. "You're different than I thought you'd be," he blurted out. He turned to leave but Harry called him back. "Are all your family wizards?" he asked. Ron smiled and walked back into the compartment and sat down on the opposite seat. "Yes, I think so. I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him. I heard you went to live with Muggles, what were they like?" Harry really didn't want to talk about this so he tried to reverse the question. "They're not great. How about you, I saw your brothers earlier on. It must be cool having three brothers and a sister."
"Five" said Ron with a gloomy expression on his face. "My other two brothers have finished Hogwarts. Charlie works with dragons in Romania and Bill works for Gringotts in Egypt. I'm the sixth son to go to Hogwarts. And I've got a lot to live up to. Charlie was captain of the Quidditch team and Bill was Head Boy. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George, the twins, they mess around a lot, but they still get good grades and everyone thinks they're really funny. Also you never get anything new living with a large family. I've got Charlie's old wand, Bill's old robes and Percy's old rat."
They spent the next few minutes talking about Scabbers, Ron's rat, who stayed asleep the whole time.
Harry thought Ron was very genuine and honest. He did spend a lot of time complaining about his family, which slightly irked Harry considering he had no family, but he listened nonetheless. Harry had to admit that being with Ron was good fun. When the lunch trolley rolled around Harry bought some of everything. There were all different kinds of sweets Harry had never heard of. Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life.
"Here, have a pasty. And please tell me what these are," said Harry holding up the box of Every-Flavour Beans. "You want to be careful with those. When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour. They have all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint but then there's spinach, liver and tripe." They had a great time eating the Every-Flavour Beans, each daring the other to eat strange coloured ones. Harry was amazed by the Chocolate Frogs which were able to move because of a spell put on them.
The compartment door slid open. Harry turned to see Malfoy framed in the doorway. He was now flanked by two thickset boys. Malfoy wasn't looking at Harry, he was glaring at Ron. "Is it true what they're saying on the train? That Harry Potter's in this compartment." He turned his head and looked at Harry. His face contorted in fury. "You!" Harry didn't move. "Yep, me," he replied. Harry then knew that Malfoy wasn't expecting the great Harry Potter to be quite ordinary or to stand up for people who were being pushed around. He watched as Malfoy was thinking, he could almost see Malfoy take in the situation. He could see in Malfoy's features that he had come to a conclusion of what to do. Harry had a feeling of what he was going to do.
Malfoy visibly calmed down. A grin returned to his features. "Well, let's start over." Harry knew that Malfoy merely wanted Harry as a friend because he was The Boy Who Lived. When he didn't answer Malfoy turned to Ron. "No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford."
"You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." Malfoy said this with his chin in the air in what he thought was a superior manner. Ron stood up. His face was red with embarrassment. He took a step toward Malfoy while Malfoy's cronies stepped into the compartment. One of them raised his fists and aimed a punch at Ron's head. Harry, having no time, pushed Ron out of the way taking Ron's place in the target range. He felt a fist connect with the side of his head, and then he blacked out.
When he came to, it was getting dark. He was lying on one of the seats; obviously someone pushed him onto it. He turned on his side and sat up. His head was pounding. He recognised Ron's gangly frame standing over him. "You okay? That was some hit. I can't believe you did that for me." The smile was obvious in his voice. "Thanks."
"No problem" Harry said, his head in his hands. His glasses were broke from the impact so his vision was blurred. "I can't believe you were in two fights today, already," came a scolding voice from the door. "You could get in serious trouble." Harry was holding his glasses in his hands. He felt them being grabbed away from him. "Oculus Reparo" he heard Hermione's voice from the corner. She pushed the glasses back into his hands. As she walked back out the door Harry said "Thanks."
She stopped. "You'd better hurry up and change into your robes, I've just been up with the driver and he says that were nearly there." Ron obviously didn't like Hermione's view of the situation. "Would you mind leaving while we change?" Ron scowled.
"Alright, - I only came in her because people were behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Ron glared at her as she left. "God, she's so bossy." Harry thought for a few minutes. "She just cares," he whispered finally. "Where's my other shoe? I better go back to my compartment and get my stuff. Oh sorry Harry. What did you say?" Ron asked.
"Nothing," he replied.
End Chapter
Well, there's another chapter gone. I have to go back to school tomorrow so I don't know when the next update will be. Anyway hope you all enjoyed this chapter and also there is no way in Middle-Earth that Harry is going to Slytherin. Then I might as well put Malfoy in Hufflepuff. Which I refuse to do! I'm thinking of making the friendship thing less immediate than in the book. Making Harry a tad bit more withdrawn from the other students, only for a few days or so. I don't know. What do you think?
Take care,
Radagast
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