A/N: Converges with canon here, but there are subtle differences, mostly in the dialogue.
Chapter Four
Late Summer 1991
Hogwarts loomed quickly with all of the reading and getting ready I had to do between our Diagon Alley trip and September 1. August, which was almost unbearably hot during that summer before my first year, rolled smoothly by without a hitch; I finished the books for first through third years one week before term started, and in the remaining time, I sorted through my possessions and built myself up for the long term separation from my parents. I had never been apart from both of them for more than a day or two before, and although I never hinted to them I was nervous about moving away for so much of the year, deep down I really was.
One point of confusion was the ticket I had received after responding that I was definitely attending Hogwarts. It said the Hogwarts Express left Platform Nine and Three Quarters at eleven o'clock on September 1, but as far as my parents knew there was no such place. They had been to King's Cross plenty of times, and they could not remember any extra spaces between platforms Nine and Ten.
I had no answer for them, but I reminded them of what had happened at the Leaky Cauldron. They had not been able to see the door to the pub until I had touched it, so maybe this Platform Nine and Three Quarters had something similar around it. In any case, the morning of September 1 dawned hot and humid, as it had been for weeks, so before I packed the last of my things into two very large suitcases, I slipped into a small pair of shorts and light tee. I pulled my uncontrollable hair back into a loose pony tail.
"Dad!" I called out. "Can you get these suitcases? They're too heavy for me." I heard a muffled shout, footsteps, and then he came into my room.
"Sure thing, Hermione-oof," he grunted, picking up both suitcases, one in each hand. He looked like he was straining a bit. "What do you have in here?" he asked, with raised eyebrows.
"Oh, you know…everything," I responded, and he just shook his head. He walked out of the room and I heard the luggage clunking on the stairs as he brought it down to the front door.
I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, drinking in the familiar atmosphere of my room for the last time until Christmas. When I opened my eyes, I didn't see a well-lived in room; instead, I saw bare walls and table tops. It was the room of someone leaving for a long time. I would miss it, and I would miss home, but I had to go to Hogwarts. I didn't belong with those kids at my other school, so maybe I would find out where I belonged at this new place. Maybe I would find some friends.
I took a last look around, making sure I didn't forget anything important, and then headed for the door. With a last searching gaze, I flicked off the light and closed the door behind me.
As I descended the stairs, mum and dad came into view. They were standing by the door, by my two suitcases, talking quietly. When I came into view, they looked up and smiled.
"Ready to go, Hermione?" mum asked.
I stopped on the bottom step and nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
"You don't sound too thrilled…" dad said.
"I'm alright," I affirmed. "It's just hard leaving, you know?"
"I think I might," mum said, and pulled me into a hug. When she stood back, I saw her eyes were shining with moisture. She picked up a suitcase, with both arms, and left the house to go to the auto.
"It's hard for us, too," dad said, quietly, and then followed mum out the door. I watched their backs turn the corner for a moment. I left the house, shutting the door without one look over my shoulder at the foyer. I'd be back, and it would still be there.
It wasn't very far to King's Cross, almost no further than the Leaky Cauldron, actually, so dad parked in the same car park as the day we went to Diagon Alley. After a short trip along the pavement and through several tall arches, we were in the station proper. More crowded than the street, by far, King's Cross was a confusing jumble for several minutes while we acquired our bearings. My parents were finally able to ascertain where platforms Nine and Ten were, and they took my hand and pushed through the throng in that direction.
We finally came into a slightly open space-looking around I saw a sign for platform Eight-and it was there that I saw the strangest thing: an older woman wearing a hat with what looked like a large vulture on top. I pointed to her.
"Mum. Dad. Look," I said, and their eyes followed my finger to the woman. "Think she would know where Nine and Three Quarters is?"
"Maybe, Hermione," mum answered. "Let's follow her and find out."
Slowly, casually, we fell in step about ten paces behind the woman. It was then I noticed a short, rather chubby boy, clutched rather painfully (or at least it looked so) by the hand, moving along next to the old woman. He had limp brown hair and a round head. I could not see his face, but from behind I could tell he was looking quickly in all directions.
They stopped in between platforms Nine and Ten, so we stopped a few yards away. Looking at them sideways, I thought I saw the woman inspecting one of the many pillars, but I could not fathom a reason for such an activity. The boy turned after several moments and I finally saw his face, which was a chubby as his body. It was strained slightly, and he looked nervous. He kept glancing up at the older woman. I looked to her and saw that she was looking all around.
"Come on, Neville," I heard her say, and she yanked on his arm. Then, they were gone.
I stared at the spot for several seconds, and then turned bewildered eyes upon my parents. They looked just as confused. I looked back toward the pillar and there was no one. It seemed as if the older woman and the boy she had called Neville had disappeared into thin air.
"Did you see that?" I asked.
"Yes," dad replied. "Where did they go?"
"They vanished," mum said. "I didn't see where they went…"
"Well, there must be something logical happening here," I said, and strode forward toward the pillar where they had been standing. My parents followed behind me. I walked completely around the large column, looking for something out of the ordinary, but I came back around to my parents without noticing anything. I looked at them and shrugged.
"So we're no closer to finding this mysterious plat-whoa!" dad said, leaning against the pillar, and then falling right through the solid white brick. I looked down with wide eyes and saw the lower half of his body flat on the ground. The other half had disappeared into the brick wall. He moved and then the rest of his body came into view-he had sat up. There was a smile on his face, one of wonder.
"Well, found it," he said, and reached back to touch the pillar. Instead of stopping, though, his hand went right through the stone. "It's through here," he said, standing up, and then beckoning us to follow strode directly into and through the pillar. I looked at my mom and shrugged again, and then followed him. My mind, expecting to run into solid stone, forced my eyes shut as I neared the barrier, but nothing happened. I opened them and there was platform Nine and Three Quarters. My dad was waiting for me, and when he saw me open my eyes he smiled again.
"Incredible," was all he said, and then pulled me out of the way. The trolley containing my luggage came through the wall beside me, followed by mum, who was pushing the cart. Above the solid wall was an archway with Platform Nine and Three Quarters emblazoned upon its crest.
"Would you look at that!" she exclaimed, and my eyes turned toward the giant, gleaming scarlet steam engine in the middle of the platform. Hogwarts Express stood out in gold letters upon the black facade. It was steaming a bit, preparing for the trip to begin in twenty minutes.
I had my first good look around the platform, and I was excited and nervous to see dozens or even hundreds of other kids, some about my age and some a few years older, moving to and fro, hugging their parents, donning their robes, talking to old friends…
It was a bustle of activity that reeked of years or centuries of tradition, even to my uneducated eyes, and I understood that the journey from King's Cross to Hogwarts was somehow going to be significant. This would be my first chance to meet other children, magical children, but also those who were in the same position as I-that is, adrift in a new and amazing world.
"Shall we help you get your things on to the train?" dad asked, and I nodded slowly. I followed them toward one of the passenger cars, still mesmerized by the sights and sounds around me-there were cats and owls everywhere!-and climbed into the narrow passageway between cabins behind them. We found an empty compartment in the middle of the car and stowed my suitcases under the seat, but not before I removed a pristine Hogwarts robe from one of them. I had seen other, older kids putting on their robes already, so I wanted to fit in as best as I could. I slid it down over my head and posed for my parents.
"Oh, Hermione," mum said, kneeling in front of me and embracing me. She sniffled into my hair once and leaned back. Her eyes were wet. "You look magnificent, dear. I am very proud of you, you know." I gazed at her with a question in my eyes.
"For pursuing this, of course," she said, and dad nodded behind her. "We didn't want to believe, but we're glad you made us," she said. "Just to see how happy you have been and are now is worth it."
"Mum," I said, quietly, willing myself to avoid tearing up. I hugged her tightly. "I'm going to miss you," I said, and pulled back. I jumped up and hugged dad just as tightly. "And you too," I said, my voice muffled by his stomach. He ran his fingers through my wild brown hair.
"I'm going to miss you too, baby," he said, and leaned down to plant a kiss in my hair. "But I know you will do well at this new school and make lots of new friends."
I stood back. "I hope so," I responded.
"Is there anything else you need us to do?" mum asked. She smoothed the pleated front of my robes a bit.
"I…I don't think so," I answered, looking up at both of them.
"Then I guess we'll say good-bye, and let you get on with things," dad said.
"Ok."
"Stay safe, Hermione. Write to us as much as you can; tell us what this new world of yours is like, alright?" mum queried.
I nodded. "Of course I will."
"We'll let you know if anything exciting happens at boring old home," dad said, smiling a little. "We will be here to pick you up when the train drops you off for hols."
"Sounds good."
"Good bye, Hermione. Good luck," mum said, hugging me again, and this time not bothering to hide her tears. They fell quickly and copiously from her eyes, but she just smiled and wiped them away as best as she could. I helped her once or twice.
Dad was less emotional, but I could tell he was holding it all back. His eyes were bright after he hugged me, and he had to clear his throat when he said good bye.
"Bye," I said, following them out of the cabin to the door of the car. Dad leapt down on to the platform; mum turned to hug me one last time.
"I love you, Hermione," she whispered in my ear, and I almost lost control. I clenched my jaw and whispered the words back to her. I watched them head slowly back across the platform. They both turned for one last look under the archway-I waved and they waved back-and then they walked through the wall. I stared at the blank spot, through which more people were arriving, for several long seconds, letting the lump in my throat slowly settle to a manageable level.
The platform was very crowded now and, as eleven o'clock drew near, more and more students were boarding the train. I turned and, with a deep breath, headed back toward my compartment. I didn't know anyone yet so I didn't know if I would be sitting alone the entire trip, so I just stared out the open window at the platform as the hour approached.
I saw the same old woman and chubby boy-near them was a pack of red-headed children, with a middle-aged red-headed woman and a black-haired, bespectacled boy-and he was tugging on her arm insistently.
"What is it?" I heard her ask him. He flinched back from her tone of voice.
"Gran, I've lost my toad again," the boy said.
"Oh, Neville," the old woman sighed. He looked truly pathetic just then, and when he turned toward the train, I took the bull by the horns and left my compartment to meet him at the door of the car.
He was just coming into the train when I reached the door, and I stopped him by holding out my hand. He looked up at me, surprised and wary.
"Hullo," I said, "I'm Hermione Granger. This is my first year. What's your name?"
"Uh…er…hi," he said, and slowly shook my hand. His palm was sweaty. "I'm Neville Longbottom," he added. He would only meet my eyes for a few seconds, and then look away.
"I heard you say you lost your toad?" I asked, eyeing the wriggling something in the outer pocket of the cloak he was wearing.
"Yeah," he said, miserably. "His name's Trevor, and I'm always losing him-"
"Check your pocket," I said, pointing to his cloak. He looked down and astonishment flooded his face.
"But I thought I checked there!" he said, and reached into the pocket. The toad he pulled out was positively repulsive, and was struggling with all its might to get free, but the rapturous look on Neville's face made it worth the effort.
"Come on, Neville," I said, smiling a little. "I have a compartment we can share for the ride to school."
He cocked his head to the side a little, looking wary once again, and then nodded and followed. As we settled ourselves onto opposing benches, the final warning whistle for departure sounded, and in a very short time the train was flooded with students. I looked around curiously.
"Where's your luggage?" I asked.
"Oh, Gran sent my trunk ahead to Hogwarts," he said, fumbling with Trevor some more. The toad croaked in consternation at him. "She was sure I'd lose it on the train somehow."
"Oh," I answered, not wanting to tell him it was plausible with his blatant absent-mindedness. "So you're a new student, too?" I asked.
He nodded, putting Trevor down on the seat. I watched the slimy thing for a few seconds before it hopped off the seat, and then forgot about it. "Yeah, I'm a first year," he answered, looking slightly wistful about something.
"Are you…magical?" I asked. "Or Muggleborn?" I quickly clarified, at his apparent confusion.
"Oh, you mean did I grow up with magic?" I nodded. "Yes, I did…" he trailed off, clearly uncomfortable about continuing down that train of thought. "Then you're Muggleborn, I suppose?" he asked.
"I am," I affirmed. If my first contact with a student had been someone other than Neville, perhaps one Draco Malfoy, I would have learned quickly to expect prejudice and disdain based upon my Muggle parentage. But Neville did not bat an eye at my revelation; instead, he had many questions about what Muggle life was like, and I was happy enough to oblige. It was conversation, and it was interesting to him at least, and soon enough we were speeding along through the sunny countryside, having long left London behind.
Eventually the conversation dwindled, and a different question occurred to me. "Do you know how the…dormitories are set up at Hogwarts?" I asked Neville. I had been wondering for quite some time if I would be sharing a room with anyone.
"Sure," he said. "There are four houses students are sorted into-"
"Houses?"
"Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin," he continued. "Tonight, all of us first years will be sorted according to which house we're best suited to…" he trailed off.
"Oh, I think I remember this now, from Hogwarts, A History," I said, recalling the book I had read about three weeks before. "Gryffindors are known for their courage, Ravenclaws for their intellect, Hufflepuffs for their loyalty, and Slytherin for their cunning." I guess I hadn't realized while reading the book it was talking about how we would be sorted once at the school.
"Yeah…" Neville said, trailing off again and looking pink in the face. "I'll probably get Hufflepuff, though I want Gryffindor," he said, quietly.
"Is Hufflepuff bad or something?"
"Not exactly…Slytherin is the only bad house-"
"Why?"
"Because plenty of bad people have come from there," he told me. "Including You-Know-Who," he whispered, glancing around as if someone would hear him talking about the dark wizard I had read just a small bit about in one of my history books. It had only said he was some kind of terrorist, and a small child named Harry Potter had put an end to his reign of terror. Other books had said more about Harry Potter, but only that one had information about this You-Know-Who character. I remember being annoyed at the time that the book hadn't printed the man's real name.
"But Hufflepuff isn't bad-it's just a bit soft, is all," he answered my first question, looking quite miserable for a moment. "I'd rather be known for courage and bravery than just loyalty."
"Loyalty is important too, Neville."
He shrugged. "I suppose."
Silence settled then for some time; the view from the window changed from one of open fields filled with cows to wilder things-lakes and forests and small mountains. Eventually, a moan drew my attention back to Neville.
"Oh no…"
"What?" I asked, looking at him. He was searching for something frantically with his eyes.
"Trevor's gone again!" he exclaimed, and jumped up. I sighed. This was going to be a long train ride, at this rate.
"Why don't you go ask around?" I suggested. "I'll keep looking in here." He looked unsure for a moment, and then nodded and left the compartment. As the door slid closed, I heard him slide open the door to a nearby compartment and ask if anyone had seen a toad.
I got down on my hands and knees and searched under the seats, but the only thing under them was my luggage. I removed the cushions from the benches and found only some lint. The small overhead compartments were empty, as well. About then, Neville came stumbling back into the compartment, looking rather teary.
"I've lost him!" he moaned. "Truly, this time!" And he sat down and buried his head in his hands.
I knew the toad most likely was still on the train, so I said, "I'll help you search other compartments." If anything, it would give me an excuse to meet other new students. So, with watery eyes, he followed me from compartment to compartment as I asked if anyone had seen the toad. No one was very helpful, and in retrospect, it might not have been the best idea to meet people looking for a silly toad.
"Only a few more compartments," Neville said, sadly, from behind me. I tried to give him an encouraging smile, but I was wearying of this search.
I slid the door of the next compartment open, and was greeted with an interesting sight: two young boys, one with black hair and one redhead, surrounded by candy, with a rat and a wand in the redhead's hands. The dark-haired one was shorter and wore glasses, and the redhead was lanky and had freckles. They looked up in some surprise at our entrance.
"Have either of you seen a toad?" I asked. "Neville's lost one." I looked at the wand again and realized that the redhead was pointing it at the rat. And the dark-haired boy seemed strangely familiar…
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," the redhead responded.
I didn't care about the toad anymore. "Are you doing magic?" I wondered, coming into the compartment and sitting down on the bench next to the other boy. "Let's see it, then."
"Er-all right." The redhead cleared his throat and then said, "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He kind of flourished his wand and pointed it at the rat, but nothing happened. The rat remained asleep, and it certainly didn't turn yellow. I was disappointed.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" I asked, trying to recall if I'd read about that particular spell in any of the books I'd studied over the summer. "It's not very good, is it? Nobody in my family's magic at all, and it was a huge surprise when I got my letter, but it turned out well." The two boys were staring at me now, so I wanted to impress them. "I've read through all of our course books, I just hope it will be enough to catch up-"
I realized I hadn't told them my name, and I felt my cheeks heating up a bit. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, what are your names?" The boys looked stunned, and the dark-haired one glanced at the redhead.
"I'm Ron Weasley," the redhead muttered.
"Harry Potter," the other said.
There was a name I recognized. "Are you really?" I asked. He didn't seem imposing enough to have vanquished a terrorist. "I've read about you, you know. You're in a few of the history books I read over the summer."
"Am I? I've only looked at this year's History of Magic book." Harry looked bewildered.
"You didn't know? I would have found out everything…" I trailed off, wondering how he could be so oblivious to his own fame. I shrugged it off. "Anyways, do either of you know what house you'll be in? Neville says Gryffindor is considered by some to be the best, though I'm not actually sure about that; I read Dumbledore himself was in it, but I guess Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…" I said, thinking out loud more than anything. It didn't truly matter to me what house I was sorted into.
"Well, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two might want to change, as I think we'll be arriving shortly." As I left the compartment with Neville, the two boys said nothing else. I noticed a dark smudge of dirt on Ron's nose, but I didn't say anything and the door slid closed behind me.
We searched for awhile longer, but as the light grew softer outside and the forests grew thicker and closer to the tracks, we had no luck. It was a morose Neville that returned with me to the compartment. Instead of sitting down, though, I stood in the doorway and looked down at him.
"I'm going to ask the conductor how long until we reach Hogwarts," I told him. "I'll be right back." He barely acknowledged me, so I left and headed for the front of the train. I passed through two cars before I saw the uniformed man leaning against a wall in the passageway.
"Sir," I addressed him, "about how long until we arrive at Hogwarts?"
"Why, young lady, I'd say about twenty minutes," he said, looking at his watch. "And thank you for reminding me; I shall let everyone on the train know." I thanked him and started back toward my compartment. On the way there, a voice that carried through the entire train informed everyone Hogwarts was twenty minutes away.
Almost immediately, the aisle was crowded with students rushing to and fro, and I had to battle the rest of the way back to my compartment. I was quite annoyed with all their running around by the time I sat down with Neville. He still looked very sour.
"Cheer up, Neville. I'm sure he'll turn up."
"Squashed, probably," he replied. I became restless during the following silence. Neville wasn't very good company.
"Want to go see if Ron and Harry are ready yet?"
He shook his head. "You go on."
"Ok…" I stepped back into the passageway, avoiding students as best as I could on the way back to the other compartment. When it came into view, two large boys and one smaller, blond-haired boy were leaving. They looked upset about something.
I reached their compartment and looked in, and was surprised to see a great mess. There was candy everywhere, as if someone had flung it at a wall just to see where it would bounce, and Ron was picking up his rat by the tail, very gingerly. Harry looked slightly red in the face. I slid open the door.
"What has been going on?" I wanted to know.
"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said, to Harry, looking down at the rat. "No-I don't believe it-he's gone back to sleep."
They were apparently ignoring me, because Ron's next question was addressed to Harry: "You've met Malfoy before?"
"Yeah, in the clothing shop in Diagon Alley," Harry responded.
"I've heard of his family before," Ron almost growled. Who was this Malfoy they were talking about? "They were the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been cursed. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark side." Ron paused, and then slowly turned toward me. He raised his eyebrows. "Can we help you with something?"
I didn't like his condescending tone, but I repressed my anger. "You'd better hurry up and put your robes on," I suggested. "I just asked the conductor and he said we're almost there-"
"Yeah, thanks, we heard the announcement," Ron said. Harry glanced briefly at him.
I looked around at the mess in the compartment. "You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there…"
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Ron sneered at me, pointing at the rat. "Would you mind leaving while we change?" He seemed to be an unpleasant fellow-I wasn't sure what I had done to offend him.
"Well, I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridor." I looked at his nose again, and I could not resist one parting shot. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"
I left without another look back. The same voice from before told everyone Hogwarts was five minutes away, so I hurried back to my compartment to gather my things; Neville was staring out of the window at the darkening sky.
"Trevor turn up?" I asked.
"No."
"Sorry, Neville," I said, and set about to gather my things. As I was pulling my luggage out from under the seat, and straining under the weight, Neville turned to me.
"You can leave those on the train," he said. "They'll be brought up to the castle, or so my Gran told me."
I shrugged. That would certainly make things easier. "Ok."
The train soon slowed and stopped, and Neville and I joined the mad rush out onto the dark platform. Twilight had settled fast, and it occurred to me just how far north Hogwarts must have been. The air was even slightly chilly.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" I heard a voice boom out. "All right there, Harry?" it added, and a behemoth of man came striding into the light. He was probably ten feet tall and four feet wide, but he was smiling hugely through his shaggy beard at the students.
"C'mon, follow me-any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" He turned and left the platform, and I followed the rest of the first years as we warily fell in step behind the giant man. We descended a rather steep slope-one or two students fell and had to be helped up-for a minute.
"Yeh'll get her firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the giant called out, "jus' round this bend here."
And what a magnificent sight it was. We emerged from the steep, forested path on the shore of great black lake, upon which the stars, the moon, and the lights of the enormous castle twinkled. I stared in awe at the huge structure, which sat upon the ridge on the far side of the dark water. Its turrets and towers sparkled with the lights blazing in them.
"No more'n four to a boat!" the man yelled, and I then noticed small boats waiting in the water for us, just off the sand of the beach. I ended up sitting with Neville, Harry, and Ron.
After several moments, the giant shouted, "Everyone in?" He had an entire boat to himself, as best as I could tell. "Right then-FORWARD!" he called, and the boats began to move across the lake of their own accord.
The journey was mostly a silent one, as we were all staring up at the castle as it grew taller and taller overhead the closer we came to the ridge. The dark water of the lake barely rippled with our passage, and I looked down into those cold depths for several moments. What secrets did they hold? What terrors?
I shook myself and looked at the castle again. I had to crane my neck back to see the top now. "Heads down!" the man yelled, and we all ducked a bit as we came to the sheer wall of rock. At first I thought we were going to hit the cliff, but then we passed through some hanging ivy. A tunnel carried us right under the castle, it seemed, and we eventually stopped at some kind of subterranean dock. The beach there was mostly pebbles.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" the man asked, having searched the boats. We stood waiting for him on the pebble beach.
"Trevor!" Neville called, from next to me, and moved forward to receive his toad from the tall man. He looked extremely happy as he came back to stand by my side.
"This way," the man said, and we followed him up a set of rough-hewn stone steps. After two minutes of climbing, we came out into the night air, on the sloping lawns in the shadow of the face of Hogwarts. It was truly massive.
We walked up the steps to the huge front door, and the man turned to us. "Everyone here?" he asked, and waited for a moment. Satisfied, he nodded and turned back to the door. He raised one fist the size of a beach ball and pounded three times on the solid oak door. I had arrived at Hogwarts.
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