"The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters," Cedric said, then slapped his head.
"What?" Hermione and Harry asked, confused by his action.
"He forgot to tell you how to get onto the platform," Cedric said. "That's what was giving me the feeling."
"What platform?" Hermione asked.
"The platform where the train that takes up to school is," Cedric said, "It's called nine and three-quarters, and it is literally right there between nine and ten, though invisible so Muggles can't get onto it. The platform will be on your ticket, but because he didn't tell you how to get onto it…"
"I'm not going to know, and end up giving the Dursleys something to laugh at because of it," Harry finished. Cedric nodded.
Hermione sighed, but then smiled.
"Well, look on the bright side – you're leaving the Dursleys soon," she said. Harry smiled as he nodded – that was a better way of looking at it.
"And I'm sure you're find a way onto the train," Luna said. "I mean, I'm sure that another witch or wizard, who has been told, will recognize you as another wizard and help. After all, you will have your owl with you."
Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun.
When is it ever thought Harry.
"Why did you even have to go back," Hermione sighed.
True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room,
"That's probably going to be a strange site to see," Harry said, having the feeling that any time Harry entered a room, he'd probably scream and run out.
while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him – in fact, they didn't speak to him at all.
"They're probably very unhappy that you now know who you are what what really happened to your parents," Hermione said, looking happy at the idea that they were unhappy.
Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.
"Sounds like it," Hermione said.
"I have to admit that it surprises me that it would affect me, considering how they've treated me," Harry said.
"Well, before, they did acknowledge you, even if they did so negatively," Hermione said. "Now, however, they're not doing that in any way. So, after a while, the non-interaction leaves you feeling lonely."
Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in A History of Magic.
"What is Hedwig known for?" Harry asked.
"Not sure. I can't really remember," Cedric said.
His school books were very interesting.
"That may be true, but the classes sometimes aren't," said Cedric, thinking about Professor Binns class. He had a feeling the class might be more interesting if it wasn't taught by a ghost.
He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased.
"That's going to make my Aunt Petunia very happy to see," Harry said, a sarcastic tone in his voice. The others didn't hear him, as he spoke rather quietly.
It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice.
"That's a sign that she likes you, Harry," Cedric said.
"I want to know how I was able to even keep Hedwig," Harry said. "My aunt hates animals – the tortoise that Dudley had gotten was the only animal she allowed in the house, and she made him keep it as far away from the main house as possible; he had to keep it in the greenhouse that he's going to throw it threw the roof of in a few days." Harry had done the math in his head, knowing when his birthday was, and going backwards to what day it was now, and had calculated that the first letter would be coming in next Tuesday – aka, in four days.
Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.
On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day,
"Oh, that's easy for you. Just use the Knight Bus. You'll have to be up much earlier, of course, but that just means that you'll be there earlier as well, since the bus can go pretty fast," Cedric said.
"I wouldn't know this, yet," Harry said.
so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.
There was a lot of laughter at that.
"Er – Uncle Vernon?"
Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.
"Er – I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to – to go to Hogwarts."
Uncle Vernon grunted again.
"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"
Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.
"You really should wait until they say it. Though, of course, considering how rude your uncle is, I doubt he would ever say anything. He's is the worst example of a human being," Hermione said.
Cedric didn't mention that Harry's uncle made him think of a Muggle version of the Death Eaters.
"Thank you."
"Harry, while I'm glad you have manners – especially considering who you live with – I think you could get away with not using them on him. He's not worth using them," Hermione said, changing her mind for saying that he's below Harry, as true as it was.
He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.
"You mean he can speak," Hermione gasped.
"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"
"I don't think he likes the idea that we take a train to school instead of something magical. Not that the train isn't magical in a way – it is enchanted not to break down," Cedric said.
"Do magic carpets really exist?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, but they're illegal in Great Britain," he answered.
Harry didn't say anything.
"Where is this school, anyway?"
"Scotland," Cedric immediately said.
"I don't know," said Harry, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.
"That won't help," Cedric said. "Where the school is, isn't on it."
"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he said.
His aunt and uncle stared.
"Platform what?"
"Nine and three-quarters."
"Your aunt will know about it," Cedric said. "Her sister did go there, after all."
"Yeah, but his aunt's a bitch," Hermione said, then looked shocked at her language, as did Harry and Cedric. She never cursed – she always scolded those who did it around her. Plus, she really didn't consider herself to be old enough to curse anyways.
"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."
"It's on my ticket."
"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them."
"Just because we have protective measures to keep Muggles like yourself from coming onto the platform doesn't mean were mad. Our security measures are just that much better than your own," Cedric said.
"You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."
"Why are you gong to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.
"Why? I mean, I know you have manners, but you aunt and uncle aren't worth it," said Hermione.
"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."
"No, you should leave it. It might teach him some humility," Cedric said, a smile on his face as the image of Dudley with a pig's tail flashed through his mind.
Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep.
"Well, if you were going to take the Knight Bus, that was be a perfect time to wake up," Cedric said.
He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes – he'd change on the train.
"Smart. Those who come to the platform from King's Cross should always wear Muggle clothing, to avoid attracting attention," Cedric said.
"There are other ways onto the platform?" Hermione said.
"Yes, of course. You can floo there, or apparated – side apparate for those too young to do it. That's what most wizarding families do, especially those who are all about blood purity. Flooing and Apparation are wizarding travel modes, and so are what they should use," Cedric said.
He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry, and they had set off.
"I doubt she talked him into it. My guess is that she paid him," Hermione said.
"I'm actually surprised that they didn't just leave me," Harry said.
"Something tells me that they didn't do so for a reason," Cedric answered grimly.
They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him.
"He's up to something," Harry said.
Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.
"Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine – platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"
He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.
"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.
Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone.
"Will that work?" Hermione asked.
"I'm not sure," Cedric said, frowning as he tried to think if he'd ever heard of someone being there to help those students who didn't know how to get on there. He hadn't.
He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts, and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one.
"That's weird. There's supposed to be a train leaving every hour," said Hermione.
"I think they make sure that there isn't one at eleven so that Muggleborns don't accidentally get onto the wrong train," said Cedric.
"Is that your way of also saying that there isn't someone there to help them get onto to the platform?" Hermione asked. He shrugged, then nodded, as that was what he was saying amounted to.
"That doesn't make it seem very welcoming to children from Muggle families. I mean, if you don't have someone tell you how to get onto it beforehand, then the chances of them missing the train increases," Hermione said. When Cedric thought about it, he could see her point – he also wondered why no one had mentioned this before…unless it had been mentioned, and the pure blood fanatics shot it down, hoping that less Muggleborns would come…
As much as he didn't want to think about it, it was very possible that that was what had happened. Just making sure that there wasn't another train was probably an attempt to help Muggleborns out because of the refusal to have someone there.
Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl.
Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.
"No," Cedric said quickly.
At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.
" – packed with Muggles, of course – "
Cedric narrowed his eyes as he read that; it seemed just a little to convenient that they mentioned Muggles just as they were passing behind Harry.
Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair.
Sounds like the Weasleys Cedric thought, his eyes still narrowed.
Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him – and they had an owl.
Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.
"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.
"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go…"
"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."
"It's a set up!" Cedric said. The other looked at him. "I mean the convenient way they mentioned Muggles and how she had to ask what the platform was. There's no way to get it wrong – the platform has always been nine and three-quarters. And the family is the Weasleys. Remember the jokesters I told you about? That's there family. And not only has Mrs. Weasley gone to Hogwarts herself for all seven years, but she's already been sending off children for about nine years. She's has seven children, two of which have already graduated. Theirs no way she needed a reminder about it."
"When did you figure that out?" Hermione asked.
"I was suspicious when they mentioned Muggles, and then when she asked about the platform number, but I wanted to know who the family was before accusing anyone, though I did have a feeling that it was the Weasleys because of the hair," he explained. "And not every witch or wizard goes to Hogwarts, so…"
"So it could have been another red hair family that transferred to Hogwarts for all you knew," Hermione finished.
"Exactly. My guess is that Dumbledore realized, after talking to Hagrid, that you didn't know how to get onto the platform, and asked Mrs. Weasley to keep an eye out for a young, dark-haired, green eyed boy who would have a snowy owl on his cart," Cedric said.
"So, do you think they know who he is, or…" Hermione asked.
"Probably not. They wouldn't act the way they are if it was him; I know for a fact that neither Ronald or Ginny would be about to keep from bugging him if they did," Cedric said. "And I don't think Mrs. Weasley would keep it from them if she knew."
What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it – but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.
"Poor you," Luna said.
"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.
"There's one of the jokesters I mentioned before," Cedric said.
"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"
"And George is his twin brother," Cedric said, while the others laughed at that.
"Are you sure he's not George?" Hermione asked. Cedric nodded.
"They don't play that trick that often, but when they do, they usually are the opposite person," Cedric said. "Of course, they do sometimes tell the truth, which can end up being pretty funny when people don't believe them."
"Sorry, George, dear."
"Only joking. I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went.
"Does she really fall for that?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, because, like I said, they don't play that trick often. Plus, they are literally identical, down to the last freckle, so, usually, the only way to tell them apart is their personalities, but their personalities are so alike that its even harder then. There are just some subtle differences between them," Cedric said.
"Like what?" Harry asked, interested.
"George can quieter than Fred at times, and he's definitely more gentle compared to Fred. Fred has more of the ringleader roll, and can be pretty vindictive and cruel when he wants to. George's humor isn't as harsh as Fred's, and he could easily be considered to be the more moral of the two," Cedric said.
His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone – but how had he done it?
Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier – he was almost there – and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.
"I don't think I'm realizing that their going through the wall," Harry said.
There was nothing else for it.
"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.
"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."
She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.
"Would he be a good friend for Harry?" Hermione asked.
"I'm not sure, though I do know that he had a strong case of hero worship towards Harry a few years ago, and that he's good at chess and Quidditch, but that's about it. At least, that's al I know," Cedric said.
"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is – the thing is, I don't know how to –"
"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.
"I will say this: Mrs. Weasley is the best person you could ask for help. The only think I've found bad about her is that she can be a bit over-protective, slightly controlling, and she is always comparing Fred, George, and Ron to the older three Weasley brothers – at least, she does that to the twins often – and she tends to call Ron 'Ronnie', when she not ignoring him, which probably has resulted in him having confidence issues. As for Ginny, well, it's a well known fact that, because their haven't been any girls in the Weasley family for at least seven generations, so Ginny is her favorite out of all of the children, with Percy Weasley in a close second," Cedric said. Percy was her favorite male child because of his love for rules – sometimes, Cedric wished that Percy would lighten up a bit – it would make it so that he wasn't as hated as he was by others.
"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important."
"Not really. Especially since those who aren't used to magic are always scared," Cedric said, remembering what one of his Muggleborn friends had said about how scared they had been the first time they went through the barrier to get onto the platform.
"Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."
"Er – okay," said Harry.
"I don't think you believe her, Harry," Hermione said.
"I don't think so either," Harry agreed. "In fact, I probably think she crazy."
He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.
"Of course it does. It needs to be," Cedric said.
He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble – leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run – the barrier was coming nearer and nearer – he wouldn't be able to stop – the cart was out of control – he was a foot away – he closed hi eyes ready for the crash –
It didn't come…he kept on running…he opened his eyes.
A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. He had done it.
"Wow," Hermione whispered, about to see it in her mind. Harry seemed to have good observation skills, able to paint a picture in her mind of what he was seeing. She had noticed it earlier, but hadn't thought about it.
Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound her and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.
The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats.
"I wonder if I'm already on the train, or if I got off to say bye to my parents," Cedric said.
"I'm wondering where I am right now as well," Hermione said.
Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."
"Oh, Neville," he heard the old woman sigh.
A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.
"Give us a look, Lee, go on."
The boy lifted the lid of the box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.
Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shoved and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.
"Ouch, that sounds like it would hurt," said Hermione.
"It does," Cedric said, wincing as he remembered doing that to himself several times. And, of course, his friends had laughed at him each time they saw it happen…just as he often returned the favor.
"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.
"Say no," Cedric said immediately. Harry looked at him weirdly.
"Why?" he asked.
"They're pranksters. I wouldn't put it passed them doing something while they're 'helping you'," Cedric explained.
"Yes, please," Harry panted.
"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"
With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.
"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.
"That'll distracted them from whatever prank they may have planned," Cedric said.
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.
"I'm sure that Harry's scar will distract them from pulling any pranks," Cedric said.
"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.
"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you –?"
"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.
"What?" said Harry.
"Harry Potter," chorused the twins.
"I am not going to be used to people calling me by my name," said Harry. "Much less people knowing it."
"Oh, him," said Harry.
The others laughed at that, though the laughter was a bit stilted, as they knew the reason why he was acting like that, though it couldn't completely cover up the fact that it was a bit funny.
"I mean, yes, I am."
The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.
"Fred? George? Are you there?"
"Yay, they're not staring anymore," Harry cheered.
"Yeah, but now they can, and probably will, mention that your on the train to others, and it will spread, and then you'll have people dealing with trying to find you on said train," Cedric said, which caused Harry's cheering to break off as a pout crossed his face.
"I really do hate my scar now," he muttered, knowing that that was how they had known it was him.
"Coming, Mom."
With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.
Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying.
"Eavesdropping, Harry? That's not a very good habit," Hermione said. "Why are you doing it?"
"I suppose I want to see how a real family acts. Or, rather, I want to see how a wizarding family acts," he answered.
"Honestly, every family acts different, so seeing how one family acts doesn't mean that every family will act that way," Cedric said.
Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.
"Ron, you've got something on your nose."
The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, bit she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.
"Mom – geroff." He wriggled free.
"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie go somefink on his nose?" said one of the twins.
"Shut up," said Ron.
"Where's Percy?" said their mother.
"He's coming now."
The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it.
"Ah, no," Cedric whined. Harry and Hermione looked at him. Luna, however, knew what it was that was making him like that.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"Percy became prefect," he said glumly.
"What's so wrong with that? I mean, doesn't that mean that he follows the rules, like your supposed to," Hermione said.
"Unfortunately, he's not only very ambitious, but he's also kind of a bragger, and annoying, and, if someone does something that's not against the rules against someone, and that person does something that is against the rules, he'll punish the one who broke the rules, even if they have a great reason for doing so," Cedric explained. Hermione frowned, crossing her arms.
"And what, exactly, can be a considered a good reason for breaking the rules?" she asked severely.
"Well, I think breaking the rules against someone who hurts another person is a good reason to do so. You know those people I was telling you about, the ones who supported Voldemort, and their children, if they weren't allowed to get away with everything that they are in school, there would probably be less of them," he said.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"No one bothers to stop the prejudice that they have in school, and Slytherins – the ones who are mostly prejudice against most of the Muggleborns, and blood traitors – are smart enough not to do anything in front of the teachers or anyone who can get them into trouble. No one of authority bothers to stop it or even attempt to, so it goes around unpunished, and, unfortunately, while most of them stay to words only, I have known a few of the older ones to attack the other students, and they have harmed them. But not one person bothers to do anything, even when evidence is given," Cedric said. "And, when someone does, they get into trouble."
"Why? Why would they do that?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know. They just do," Cedric said.
"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves –"
"It doesn't sound like he wants to stay long," Harry noted.
"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."
"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once –"
"Or twice –"
"A minute –"
"All summer –"
"Okay, I guess I can get your point," Hermione said, while the others laughed at the antics of those twins.
"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.
"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.
"Because he's a prefect," said their mother fondly.
"It sounds like she's favoring her one son above the others," Hermione said, frowning.
"That's because she does. Oh, she loves all of her children. But her two oldest, Bill and Charlie, have undesirable jobs according to her, the twins are troublemakers, Ron's ambitious but lazy, and Ginny's the first Weasley girl in generations, so she's expected to become just like her mother. Percy's the only one whom seems to be going towards something that Mrs. Weasley considers to be worthwhile," Cedric said. "Though, I do know for a fact that she's will to get something new for those children who do well: Prefect, Head Boy, things like that."
"That doesn't sound right," Hermione said.
"All right, dear, well, have a good term – send me an owl when you get there."
She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.
"Now, you two – this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've – you've blown up a toilet or –"
"Oh, bad, bad idea," Hermione said. "You should never give a prankster ideas. If they've done it, they'll do it again and in a more spectacular form; and if they haven't done it, they'll do it just because they've been told not to."
"That's the twins to a 'T'," Cedric said.
"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."
"It's not funny. And look after Ron."
"I'm sure they'll do that," Cedric said sarcastically, knowing that they wouldn't; not only because they were rather irresponsible, but the fact that Ron wouldn't let them himself.
"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.
"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"
"And here it comes," Harry muttered.
"Not good. There are still people on the platform who will probably hear, and tell their kids, who will tells those already on the train, who will then begin to look for you," Cedric said. "And then, of course, they will be looking for your compartment to sit down at so they can become your friend.
"Of course, there is also a problem with that, because, knowing the twins brother Ron, he'll try to be the first one there, and become your friend, but he'll also try to make it so that he's the only one your friends with. He's got…issues, and, even if he does become friends with you, he will act jealous to anyone else who may become friends with you as well. In fact, he might even try to make it seem like you shouldn't be friends with someone he doesn't want to become friends with."
"Would he really do that?" Hermione asked.
"I have no doubt about it. The fame that he thinks he'll get by being friends with the Boy-Who-Lived has been a driving point for him since I've known him," Cedric said.
Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.
"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"
"And now people will have a description of who their looking for," Hermione said.
"Who?"
"Harry Potter!"
Harry head the little girl's voice.
"Oh, Mom, Can I go on the train and see him. Mom, oh, please…"
"Fan girl," Hermione said. Harry had a look of distaste on his face, but was too polite to say what he really wanted to say.
"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"
"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there – like lightning."
"Poor dear – no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."
"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"
"Now, that's extremely rude," Hermione huffed.
Their mother suddenly became stern.
"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."
"All right, keep your hair on."
A whistle sounded.
"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.
"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."
"Will they?" Hermione asked. Cedric thought about it.
"Fred and George probably will, though Ron and Percy won't," he said. "Usually, if they say they'll do it, they will."
"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."
"Will they do that as well?" Harry asked.
"Most likely," Cedric said.
"George!"
"Only joking, Mom."
The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.
Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to – but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.
The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy cam in.
"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."
"Yep, he sought you out," Cedric said. "I've yet to see the train filled so much that he couldn't find somewhere else to sit. Of course, as the years go pass, it does get a bit more crowded, but, at this point, there's probably at least one compartment empty, if not two."
Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.
"Hey, Ron."
The twins were back.
"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."
"Well, that will pretty much guarantee that Ron will be staying away from the twins," Cedric said.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"He's afraid of spiders," Cedric answered.
"Right," mumbled Ron.
"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."
"It seemed that they only came to introduce themselves," Hermione noted.
"Well, their mother pretty much warned them not to ask the questions they probably want to ask, and they most likely had no want to bug Harry – they did come to tell Ron where they would be, after all. Plus, the twins are alright, worthy friends to have, in truth. They may be pranksters, but they'll have your backs if it's needed," Cedric said.
"Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.
"Why do I get the feeling that saying that is going to be bad for me?" Harry asked.
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know, exactly, just that I get a bad feeling about his question," Harry said, frowning.
Harry nodded.
"Oh – well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron.
"No, they wouldn't do that," said Cedric. "While it would be a good prank, the…repercussions wouldn't be worth it. Plus, most people know when your birthday is, and when you'll be going to Hogwarts, including him, so no one would fall for it all that much. Of course, Ron is particularly susceptible to their pranks." He said that last bit under his breath.
"And have you really got – you know…"
He pointed at Harry's forehead.
"How nice," Hermione sniffed, her expression saying that his actions were anything but.
Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.
"So that's where You-Know-Who –?"
"Didn't his mother say not to mention anything about that?" Hermione asked.
"Technically, she told the twins not to say anything," Cedric said.
"Still doesn't mean that he should mention it," Hermione said.
"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."
"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.
"Well – I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."
"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.
"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.
"I'd probably think that of anyone," Harry said, a frown on his face. He knew that he was probably considering Ron as a friend, and, if Ron was opened to it, they would definitely become friends, but, also knowing himself, Harry knew that, because Ron would be his first friend in the book, he wouldn't be open to becoming friends with anyone else if Ron didn't like them, most likely out of fear that Ron would decide not to be friends with him.
"Er – yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."
"What?" Hermione said. "What do they mean, they never talk about him?"
"I think it means that they don't talk about him. What's the matter with that?" Harry said.
"Their basically saying that whoever that person is, isn't a family member. Or, rather, he's a family member, but an embarrassment to them, not worth speaking to or saying theirs any relation between them. Basically, this second cousin is disowned from the family, even if they don't say it," Hermione explained.
"How do you figure that?" Cedric asked.
"He said 'about' not 'to'. It's one thing if they don't talk to him, but another thing if they don't talk about him. Had they said talk to him, then it most likely would mean that communications between them is lacking, and lacking big time – since said cousin is an accountant, I'm guessing he's a Squib, which probably also means that communications are lacking because he's a bit bitter for not being about to do magic, so they can't be fully blamed unless they've never tried to talk to him.
"However, since he said 'about' not 'to', that means that he's not really worthy of being mentioned all that much, which goes hand in hand with my earlier explanation," Hermione explained.
"So you must know loads of magic already."
"Not completely true. Just as every family interacts differently, so do how much a child knows about magic before hand. They might now some spells – most likely cleaning ones, since Mrs. Weasley is a big example of a housewife – but, other than that, they probably won't know more than what's in the text books, and Ron probably won't know even that since he's not a huge reader. In fact, he hates reading, and thinks that anyone who do like reading is mental," Cedric said.
The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.
"No, not really, especially if he's a pure blood fanatic as I suspect him to be," Cedric said. "The Weasleys are, and usually have always been, blood traitors."
"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"
"Horrible – well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."
"He's got five, not three," Cedric said. "The eldest two are already graduated and work out of the country."
"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy.
"Why?" Hermione and Harry said. "I mean, I would love to have siblings," Hermione added, with Harry nodding his head.
"He's got feelings of inadequacy. Because of the fact that the others are great, he feels he's expected to being great as well. Of course, that's mostly only his opinion, though I'm sure that his mother wants that as well. On the other hand, he feels that even if he does something – and he doesn't really strive to do anything, as he expects things to just fall into his lap – it won't matter because everyone else in his family had already did it," Cedric said.
"So, basically, he's jealous of the rest of his family, but, instead of doing anything, he just complains about it to others," Hermione said. Cedric nodded.
"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left – Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny."
"I guess, when it gets put like that, it does seem like he's got a lot to live up to," Hermione said. "Of course, just because he's got that doesn't mean that he should just give up as he seems to do."
"True," Cedric said.
"Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first."
"Every small victory is a big deal," Hermione said. "Plus, just expecting them to do as well as the others does make it a big deal if he does. I mean, what exactly does he expect, a big parade about it. Did they do that for the others?"
"No," Cedric said. "They had a small party, but that's about it. If I am remembering correctly, the birthday parties that gets thrown are larger."
"You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."
"That's not because he has five brothers, though it does save money. It's like that because they don't have the money to pay for new things every time they need something," Cedric said.
"That's not very nice of him to complain about not having things to someone who, arguably, was worse off than he was. At least he has people who care about him," Hermione seethed.
Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.
"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they could aff – I mean, I got Scabbers instead."
"He's ashamed of not being rich, isn't he?" Hermione asked. Cedric nodded.
"Why?" she asked. "I mean, just because he's poor one way doesn't mean he poor in other ways. I mean, his family probably loves him a lot. If you asked me, it's better to be loved by your family than rich."
"I definitely agree," Harry said. He would give up everything he owned if he could have his parents.
Ron's wars went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.
"He didn't say too much, he just said the wrong things," Hermione grumbled, clearly not impressed with Ron.
Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being about to afford an owl.
"He'd probably mention something about how your rich, so of course it wouldn't seem wrong," said Luna, who was also not impressed with Ron.
After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.
"Hearing about the way you were treated cheered him up!" screeched Hermione. "What a despicable boy!"
"…and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort –"
Ron gasped.
"What?" said Harry.
"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people –"
"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Harry. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn…I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."
"Doubt it. You seem to be a very smart person, you just not only lack incentive, but I have a feeling your aunt and uncle were less than kind if you did well in school," Cedric said. Harry nodded at that last part. It was true, they were never happy if he got better marks than Dudley did. He had learned rather quickly to do poorly to avoid punishment.
"Well, Harry, at least when your at Hogwarts, you won't have to do that. You can do as well as you want…and I really hope that you want to do very well," Hermione said.
"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quickly enough."
Well, that a double standard thought Cedric. It was true that those from Muggle families learned magic quickly, but it was also true that they learned of the prejudice against them, as well as their place in life according to the blood status fanatics.
While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.
Around half past twelve there was a great chattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"
“I wonder what type of food they serve,” Hermione said.
“They kind of only serve sweets,” Cedric said.
“So they don't serve anything of nutrition value,” Hermione said, shaking her head.
Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor.
He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry – but the woman didn't have Mars Bars.
"Awe," Harry moaned. "I love Mars Bars. Why don't they have it?"
"I think it's because it's a Muggle candy. They only have the Wizarding type," Cedric answered.
"Why not? I mean, from what you said, there are quite a few Muggleborns, so it would make sense to have a variety of Muggle and Wizarding candy instead of just the one," Hermione said. Cedric thought about it, and realized that it was a good idea. Of course, the ones who were in charge of such things were mostly purebloods, so it did make sense that they didn't mix it up, because they didn't want to mix the Muggle and Wizarding worlds together. If he was honest, even those who weren't fanatics didn't want the worlds mixed. And, usually, the Muggleborns were quick to adapt to such concepts…and forget their Muggle family members.
“So they not only have nothing of nutritional value, but they basically force Muggleborn students to adapt if they want anything to eat while on the train.
What she did have were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans,
"Which are indeed every flavor imaginable," Cedric said.
Drooble's Best Blowing Gum,
"Which allows you to blow bubbles that can last for hours," said Luna
Chocolate Frogs,
"Chocolate in the shape of frogs. They are also animated and come with cards that have a picture of a famous witch or wizard, as well as a bit about said person's life,," Cedric said.
Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life.
Cedric and Luna continued commenting on every sweet named that was on the cart.
Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.
Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.
He was probably watching Harry do that with envy in his eyes thought Hermione.
"Hungry, are you?"
"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.
Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."
"That's new," Cedric said. "Last I heard, corned beef was his favorite." Of course, it was also Percy's favorite as well… I wonder if that has anything to do with the change in tastes he thought.
"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on –"
"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."
"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before, or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten).
"That does sound nice," Harry said, though a part of his wished that it was one of the three with him right now who he was sharing with, as he didn't really care for Ron all that much right now. As Hermione had said, it was kind of horrible that he had been cheered up hearing about Harry's home like. It was also because of what Cedric said about him; as well as the fact that Hermione didn't seem to like him all that much. Of course, there was also the fact that Ron seemed to take his family for granted the way he did, something Harry strongly believed that Ron should actually appreciate instead of scorn.
"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.
"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."
"He seems to think that whoever you get, you'll give to him if it's someone who he doesn't have," Cedric said. "That's kind of rude of his to assume."
"What are the cards? And who's Agrippa?" Harry asked, looking a bit confused, as did Hermione.
"The card are famous witches and wizards , some who are known to the Muggle world as well, and their basically to collect for the most part," Cedric said. "And Agrippa was a German Mystic and Alchemist. That's also pretty much what his card says as well, only it has his full name on it as well."
"What?"
"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know – Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect – famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."
"Who's Ptolemy?" Hermione asked.
"A geographer and astronomer," Cedric answered.
Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, has a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.
"So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.
"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron.
"Of course I haven't heard of him. I wasn't kept in the wizarding world. The way I even know of him is due to the fact that he was in first chapter of this book, and then theirs the fact that his name is on my Hogwarts letter and mentioned a bit by Hagrid," said Harry. "Though, technically, I only know the name in the book because of just the letter, as I do not know what happened in the first chapter."
"I suppose that Ron probably thinks that Muggles would know him as well. I mean, with how great he supposedly is, some might assume that he's known in the wizarding world as well," Luna said.
"Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa – thanks – "
Harry turned over his card and read:
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwalk in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.
I wonder why we had to know what his card said thought Hermione, who found it rather odd that they now knew what it said. She really couldn't see what was the point in knowing that Dumbledore liked chamber music.
Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.
"He's gone!" Harry and Hermione both said.
"Yes," Cedric said slowly, trying to figure out why they were surprised, and then realized that Muggle photos were most likely different.
"Wizarding photos can move; they're more like minature films than a photo," Cedric said.
"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron.
"I guess he doesn't bother thinking that Muggle pictures might be different," Cedric said.
"He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her…do you want it? You can start collecting."
"Morgana?" Harry asked.
"Morgana, more commonly known as Morgan le Fey," Cedric said. He didn't have to explain who she was, since she was rather famous in Muggle legends.
Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.
"Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."
"Do they? What, they don't more at all?" Ron sounded amazed.
"He's probably more horrified than amazed. And he's already been told this before, not just by his brothers, but his father," Cedric said.
"Weird!"
Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards card, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft,
"Who?" asked Hermione. Cedric had a feeling that he should just automatically give a small explanation for the witches and wizards that were named. Or, rather, he should tell them what their card said.
"Founder of Hogsmeade Village, which is near Hogwarts, and supposed to be entirely magical," Cedric said.
Alberic Grunnion,
"A wizard from the song of Nibelungen," said Luna, owning this card herself.
Circe,
"Greek witch who would turn sailors into pigs," said Luna, also owning that card.
Paracelsus,
"Alchemical genius," Cedric said.
and Merlin.
Cedric didn't need to say who that was, for, like Morgan le Fey, he was well known in the Muggle world.
He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Betie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor – you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peperment and marmalade, but them you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once."
"And, how, exactly, did he know what a booger tasted like?" Hermione asked.
Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.
"Bleaaargh – see? Sprouts."
They had a good time eating the Every Flavor Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.
"Nice," Hermione said, making a mental note to avoid ever trying them. She would stick to the Muggle type of jelly beans, thank you very much.
The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.
There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.
"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"
When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"Poor guy," Hermione said sympathetically.
"He'll turn up," said Harry.
"That's nice of you," Luna said, smiling at Harry, who blushed under the praise.
"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…"
He left.
"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron.
"How nice," scoffed Hermione.
"If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."
"Yet you did," Hermione muttered. He had purposely put the boy down in her eyes, and then said that he couldn't talk after the fact.
The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.
"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust.
"He may act like he doesn't care, but I know for a fact that Ron would be heartbroken if something happened to him. After all, I know for a fact that he cares for Scabbers quite a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if he asked for him when it became clear that Percy was going to be given a new owl," Cedric said.
"I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…"
He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.
"Why is it so battered?" Hermione asked.
"It's an old wand, not new. Technically, it belongs to Ron's older brother Charlie," Cedric said, not pointing out that it had already been mentioned before.
"Unicorn hair's nearly poked out. Anyway –"
"That doesn't sound very safe," Hermione said.
"It's not," said Cedric.
He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.
"I think I'm just meeting you, Hermione," Harry said, looking at the almost carbon copy of what the book had just said, save for what she was wearing. Hermione nodded, having recognized her description as well.
"It's nice of you to help Neville find his toad," Cedric said. Harry nodded, wondering why he didn't offer to help himself, then realized that he was still in the 'lets not lose Ron as a friend' stage, and probably thought Ron would change his mind about being Harry's friend if he left with Neville, though it didn't really make sense when he thought about it at the moment. Then again, Ron was his first friend in the books as compared to now.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.
"I probably already know they they've told him, and only came in because I saw that he had pulled a wand out and was planning on doing some magic," said Hermione, a bit guiltily, as that wasn't something that would help Neville find his toad.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see then."
She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.
"You seem to have a forward type of manner," Cedric said.
"Er – all right."
He cleared his throat.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
"That's a definitely twin creation right there," Cedric said while laughing with the others.
He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl.
"That's a bit rude of me, isn't it?" Hermione said, looking ashamed at her thoughtless words.
"Well, in defense of you, Ron should have known better than to trust anything the twins said, so it's his own fault he looked like a fool," Cedric answered.
"Yeah, and, had you not said that, and I not worried about losing my first friend in the book, I probably would have asked that myself," Harry said, though he wasn't quite sure if it was true or not. He felt it was, though.
"Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course. I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"
Cedric's eyebrow went up as he wondered how fast Hermione had actually said that, while Hermione looked a bit mortified.
"I was blabbing," she moaned. "I'm obviously nervous, because I can barely stop talking anytime I'm nervous, and I also tend to talk pretty fast ."
"Hermione, it's alright, though I do have to ask, are you going to memorize our course books in this reality as well?" Harry asked, looking rather impressed at the fact that she not only seemed to get the hang of spells so quickly – along with the fact that she was about to do so outside of school, especially since Cedric had mentioned that it wasn't allowed.
"Probably. However, my memorization of them isn't so much due to the fact that I read them over and over so much. I can't really help it. I've got an almost photographic mind, meaning that almost everything I read, I can remember, to an extent, of course. My mom says that, when I get older, I'll most likely have developed my mind so well that I can take off the almost part," Hermione explained.
She said all this very fast.
"I probably didn't even bother to stop and take a breath," Hermione said.
Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.
"I think that has more to do with the fact that they don't have photographic memories like you do. Also, Harry, I would suggest you don't follow Ron's lead too much; you won't do well if you do," Cedric said, warning Harry not to fall into Ron's lazy ways, as they would not help him a whole lot in school.
"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.
"Doesn't seem like he's very happy to hear about your amazing brain talents," Cedric quipped.
"Harry Potter," said Harry.
"I wonder if you know who I am already or not," Harry mused.
"Are you really?" said Hermione.
"Apparently I do. Now the question is did someone tell me, or did I read about it," Hermione said.
"I know all about you, of course –"
"Okay, that's probably the wrong sentiment," Hermione said, having the feeling that what she 'knows' is what she read, which, from what Cedric and Luna had implied, was pretty much wrong, since there really wasn't any way for the writers to know what had happened that night.
" – I've got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"Well, I will say this, you did pretty damn good on what books to get some information out of. I've also read those three, and I can pretty much say that their mostly about what happened on October 31st, 1981, along with theories about why you survived, though no one can say what's true and what's not. None of those three even mention about you life afterwards, just that you live with 'remaining family in the Muggle world'," Cedric said.
"Still, saying that I knew all about him wasn't the right thing to say, because, in truth, I don't know all about him," Hermione said. "So, I shouldn't have said that I did."
"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.
"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione.
"You know, Harry, you should do that yourself, this way you can be prepared for what others might say about you and all. Plus – while I don't about the wizarding world's view on this, of course – in the Muggle world, you can sue a number of places for using you for profit," Hermione said. "They have to have express permission from you in order to do that, and if they don't…"
"Yeah, perhaps your right, I should learn all about 'me' before I go there," Harry agreed.
"I'll let you borrow my collection of The Boy Who Lived Adventures series, though it's relatively small," Luna said, before adding, "my mother got them for me," when she was faced with looks from Hermione and Harry. Cedric cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably before adding, "I'll let you borrow my collection of comics about you as well."
The looks shifted from Luna to him, though Hermione was the first to realize exactly why they had such items. Harry was the one who got rid of Voldemort, who was arguably the most dangerous wizard of all time from what was said. He was hailed as a hero, and, had he grown up in that world, he might have preened under the attention. Arguably, people were going to write about him because of his hero status, as well as the fact that he was missing; many of them were probably assuming where he was.
"So who wrote these two series, anyways?" Harry asked.
"Well, The Boy Who Lived Adventures is written by Virginia Slandarius, and the comics that Cedric was talking about is also by her, but with drawings by Altaitius Artius," Luna answered.
"Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I supposed Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."
Cedric wanted to pout as he realized that she wouldn't want to be in Hufflepuff with him, then he wondered where the last part had come from. While, yes, he wanted her in the same house as he was, that didn't mean that she didn't want to – or have to – be with him. Plus, in the story, they probably didn't even know each other, so having her in his house wouldn't really mean much unless the two of them began to get to know each other, which, while not impossible, would probably be improbable, since he would most likely be hanging out with his friends, and she with whichever friends she made.
Of course, if she didn't make any friends…
And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.
"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.
"Well, I hope I'm not in whatever house your in," Harry said, a bit hotly. Ron was insulting his friend! Though, of course, his book self would probably agree more with Ron than want Hermione in the same house as he was in. After all, in the book, Ron was his friend, not Hermione.
"Does this mean that, if he's in whatever house you end up in, you'll want to end up in another house?" Hermione asked. While she didn't want to end up in the same house as Ron was herself, she wasn't quite sure that it would be possible to do so. Plus, just because Ron was a jerk didn't mean that the house he was in would be bad.
He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell – George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."
"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.
"Gryffindor," said Ron.
"Your parents were both Gryffindors," Cedric told Harry, as he ooked up to ask, having just thought of it. He perked up slightly, then realized that, if Ron's brothers were in Gryffindor, then there was a real chance that he would be there as well, and groaned because, if he ended up there, he would have to be near Ron a lot.
Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not."
"And there's another example of expectation. Just like with most of the Slytherins, quite a few other families expect their children to end up in the same houses as they were, though I do believe Potters haven't ever done that themselves," Cedric said. "Also, most people tend to try to marry or date in the same house, though once their out of school, it's hard to do that, since they don't exactly always say what house they go to, and Hogwarts isn't the only magic school to go to, so some people end up dating others from the other schools in Britain."
"There are other schools? Then how do they separate between the witches and wizards in Britain?" Hermione asked.
"Well, honestly, I don't know. I do know that they try to have an equal number of Purebloods, Half-bloods, and Muggleborns each year, but, unfortunately, the Pureblood class is usually the largest, since the Board of Governors prefer it that way. In fact, there are a number of purebloods out there that don't know about the other schools, even in the Ministry, because of this. Hogwarts is the oldest school in Britain, but there are at least three others here as well, though smaller and not quite as popular," Cedric said.
"I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."
"He'd never get into Ravenclaw. It's most notably known as the house of intelligence, and Ron isn't up to par on that," Cedric said.
"Is Ron against Slytherin as well?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. He's convinced that every single witch and wizard out there who were, or are, evil came from that house. Not completely true, of course, since they can come from any house, but nothing anyone says will change his mind, unless, of course, he ends up faced with it, and even then, he'd probably say that it was a misplacement, and that they should have been put into Slytherin," Cedric said. Hermione, Harry, and Luna all rolled their eyes at that. Sadly, being evil wasn't explained by being in a house, despite what Ron seemed to think.
"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"
"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.
"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"
Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he's finished school.
"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't supposed you get that with the Muggles – someone tried to rob a high security vault."
"It's the vault Hagrid and Harry went to, the one that Hagrid emptied," Hermione said instantly. "I mean, it does make sense. Hagrid did mention that, while Gringotts is safe, Hogwarts is safer, and that whatever it was, was important and top secret. The thief or thieves were probably after that, but didn't get it, of course, because it wasn't there any longer."
"That does make sense," Cedric said. "And I have never heard of a thief trying to steal something, but my dad says that it has happened before, but no one ever hears about it, which also supports that theory."
Harry stared.
"Really? What happened to them?"
"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught."
"Which is why it's known," Cedric said.
"My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Grongotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."
Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned.
"That's not good," Hermione muttered.
He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.
"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.
"Don't say you don't have one. Ron considers it the highest insult if your don't have a team," Cedric warned, then he wondered why he was warning against it when nothing said would change what was going to happen in the book.
"Er – I don't know any," Harry confessed.
"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world –"
"It's the only game in the world, well, the wizarding world, anyways, and no witch or wizard follow any Muggle sports here in Britain," Cedric said. "At least, no non-Muggleborns do."
And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the position of the seven players, describing famous games he's been to with his brothers and the broomstick he's like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy or Hermione Granger this time.
"Who is it, then?" Hermione asked.
Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once; it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.
"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
"Think he's seen any of the James Bond movies?" Hermione asked. Harry snickered, while Cedric and Luna looked at her curiously.
"James Bond is a Muggle book and movie character," she said, then perceeded to explain him in a bit of a more in depth forcus, ending with, "and he introduces himself as 'Bond, James Bond'."
Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.
"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weaseys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."
"While I do agree that Ron shouldn't have sniggered at his name, what Malfoy said was uncalled for," Hermione said.
He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
"Somehow, I doubt that," Harry said, having the feeling that Malfoy wouldn't consider Cedric, Hermione, or Luna as 'the right sort'.
He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.
Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.
"While you should have accepted his hand, I don't think you should have said that," Cedric said. "He's obviously feeling embarrassed, and more than likely to attack and say something that he shouldn't say."
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents."
"See, he's saying something he shouldn't be saying," Cedric pointed out.
"They didn't know what was good for them, either."
"Technically, wouldn't Voldemort already being after since your mother is a Muggleborn," Hermione said, having the feeling that Malfoy meant that they were going against Voldemort rather than what their blood status is.
"Yes, he would have," Cedric said.
"You hand around with riffreaff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."
Both Harry and Ron stood up.
"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.
"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.
"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."
"So, he's attempting theft. I do hope he's been warned that thieves are not accepted well at Hogwarts, and that if he does more than once, he'll be expelled, and if that happens, and his wand is snapped, that's it for him," Cedric said. "Once your wand is snapped, no wandmaker is allowed to give or make him another wand, nor is he allowed to have one. He'll be little better than a Muggle."
Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron – Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.
Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle – Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets,
"Yeah, that's it, their afraid that there's more rats," Cedric laughed.
or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.
"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.
"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry.
"He's ignoring you," Harry frowned. He noticed that he himself hadn't said anything to Hermione, but he had noticed she was there, and he was hoping that he was going to say something to her next. He would be ashamed of himself if he didn't. Hermione, who seemed to notice his inner thoughts, leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure you probably said something to me that the book just doesn't mention."
Harry smiled at her for that encouraging thought, while Cedric once again felt a hint of jealousy over the bit of closeness they were beginning to develop.
He looked closer at Scabbers. "No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep."
And so he had.
"You've met Malfoy before?"
Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.
"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared."
"Of course they did," Cedric said. "The Malfoys may be pure blood fanatics, but their more concerned with appearances and their selves than anything else. If something threatens their family – whether it's death, prison, or permanent separation – they do whatever they can to make sure it doesn't happen. The fact that their rich doesn't hurt them either. My dad believes that Lucius Malfoy paid someone - not the minister, because she was wellknown to be quite against any follower of V-Voldemort - to keep himself out of prison, since there was no other way he would have stayed out of it otherwise."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"He was caught torturing Muggles the same day that Voldemort disappeared, in full Death Eater garb, with his sister-in-law and her husband, who are only in Azkaban because of something else that happened a few days later. And yet, instead of being in prison where he belongs, he's out on the street, able to do whatever it is that he wants," Cedric said. "And, I don't think that's all he does, since a lot of laws that would have been for the good of the people – but that don't promote the Pureblood beliefs – don't make it pass Fudge's desk, but laws that are not as good – but promote the pureblood beliefs – do. Of course, no one's been able to prove this."
"Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it."
"Did his dad tell him the real reason?" Harry asked. Cedric shook his head. In truth, his own dad hadn't told him that. He only knew because he had overheard his dad talking about it to his mother before he had started school, and had heard his dad tell his mother that.
"He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"
"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"
"Your worried about us, aren't you?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded her head, a bit surprised that Harry hadn't considered her to be nosy, and that he had realized that her 'scolding' was done out of worry.
"Sorry for book me, who probably either doesn't realize this, or is overshadowed by Ron, who I am thinking is not a good friend for me," Harry said. Normally, he wasn't so…idiotic, but, for his book self, Ron was his first friend, and he didn't want to lose him, since he hadn't had a friend before.
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"
"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice.
Hermione winced at the way she was acting, and wondered what it was that she had heard that made her act so contemptuous.
"And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"
Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.
He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.
"Of course you could. While Bill is tall, he wasn't as tall as Ron is at the moment, and his other robes are in use at the moment, so Ron's stuck with one that doesn't fit him right," Luna said calmly.
A voice echoes through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.
The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"
"Hagrid," the four cheered.
Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.
"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there much be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud "Oooooh!"
Hermione leaned forward to hear about the school she was going to soon. She trusted that Harry would make note of quite a few details – he had with everything else before.
The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its window sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.
That's a little disappointing Hermione and Harry thought, then realized that, as it was night, they didn't really have a good look.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione.
"At least your there," Harry said. "I'm not sure about Neville, though. I guess I'll see if he'll be a good friend or not later on."
"He seems like it," Hermione said. "And with how much he's being mentioned, my guess is that he'll have a larger part in this series."
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then – FORWARD!"
And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Head down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.
"How'd the toad get there?" Hermione asked, amazed. "Especially since it had been missing since the platform; remember, Harry passed Neville who was lamenting to his Gran that he's lost him again."
"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out of his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at least onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.
They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
"That's the end of this chapter," Cedric said, handing the book over to Luna, who took it, and turned the page.