{King's Cross Station, London}
I dragged my trunk on a trolley, with Hedwig in a cage. Emma helped Hermione with her trolley as we walked through the station, drawing countless odd looks. I checked the time again, the clock showed 10:47.
'That morning quickie took longer than expected, didn't it?' We had to rush through breakfast and the morning traffic to just barely make it in time.
"Mum, we are going to be late," Hermione complained as she tried to push her trolley forward faster.
"It's going to be fine, sweetheart," Emma whispered, trying to ease her daughter's worry as they arrived at Platform 9.
Our eyes searched for any anomaly when I noticed a familiar bunch of redheads gathered at the end of the platform. It didn't take a genius to guess who they were, especially since two of them had names and numbers floating over their heads. Molly was accurately represented as a plump redhead, as in the original story.
...
[Molly Weasley]
[9]
...
...
[Ginevra Weasley]
[10]
...
'The Weasleys, perfectly placed in my path as if it was fate itself that was bringing us closer.' I looked at Ginny in particular, noticing the change in her name, maybe it was her real name, and Ginny was simply a short nickname that everyone knew her by. I realized I'm not as familiar with everything about the story as I thought.
'Still, she's kind of cute, looks totally different from the original actress though.' I thought as I checked her out. She wore a faded brown sweater and jeans that had seen some rough days. She had a shy smile and a constant blush as she listened to the twins' antics.
The Weasleys, it seems, weren't doing too well financially, which made sense, since they had to somehow feed seven people on one person's salary. Still, I'm not the only one who noticed them, as Emma pointed out their odd group and their trolleys that matched our trunks.
"Excuse me, is this the right place for Hogwarts students?" Emma asked as Molly turned around. Her brown eyes checked Emma's outfit, then turned to Hermione and me, and her face brightened. "First time at Hogwarts, dears? Ron's new, too." She said, pointing toward the nervous-looking, lanky redhead standing with the others.
Ron waved at us nervously as Hermione waved back, and I just nodded. She then pointed towards the pillar, explaining the process: "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. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Now, since we are late, let's hurry up. Percy, my eldest of this bunch, will show you. Percy, go on."
I watched as the curly-haired redhead took off running and disappeared through the wall. It was way more fascinating to see it with your own eyes than in a movie. I shared an excited look with Hermione before I decided to try it.
"Alright, see you on the other side," I whispered to Hermione, gave Emma a look, and pushed my trolley toward the wall. I didn't run so much as jog through the partition. My eyes darkened for a moment, as if I were actually walking through a solid wall, but I felt no resistance before I arrived at a bustling platform.
A scarlet steam engine greeted me as soon as I walked through, and I looked around at a platform packed with people saying their goodbyes. A sign above said Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock. I looked behind me and saw an iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it.
Hermione and Emma walked through it together, and I watched wonder appear on Emma's face as she looked around. She hadn't seen as much magic as Hermione and I during the summer, so this must have been a real novel experience for her.
"Wow, I just walked through a wall," Emma whispered as she and Hermione walked up to me. Before either of us could reply, a loud wail erupted from the train's engine as it began to let out steam.
"We are going to be late, bye, Mom," Hermione said hurriedly, her eyes wide with panic as she waved at Emma and started pushing her trolley toward the train. Emma watched her go with a rueful smile as I pulled her into a light hug.
"I'll take care of her, don't worry," I whispered before I gave her ass a small, discreet squeeze.
"Thank you, love. Take care of yourself as well," She whispered back as we shared a moment before I let go and waved at her as I moved through the crowd, trying to follow Hermione. She had her trolley parked at the entrance to a compartment as she tried to lower her heavy trunk, filled with books, onto the floor.
"Need a hand?" I asked her as I stepped up beside her.
"Yes, please," she panted, stepping away from the effort.
"You really forgot you are a witch, you know," I teased as I pulled my wand from my jeans pocket and cast the Levitation charm. "Wingardium Leviosa~"
The trunk wobbled as it rose, but it was a lot easier than lifting it. I guided the trunk into the first empty compartment on the right, then followed the same strategy with my own trunk, giving Hermione a teasing look.
"Shush you," she huffed as she sat down in front of me, folding her legs and crossing her arms. She wore her black lace high-necked dress. Dress culture across the station was predominantly formal, with only a few pieces of Muggle clothing floating about.
"So, excited?" I asked Hermione, only to see her pull out her own wand and focus on her trunk, trying to cast the Levitation charm.
"What?" I asked, confused by her attempts.
"I tried the charm on your trunk while you were gone. It didn't work." She replied, frowning. I pulled up my status sheet and looked at my total mana, just getting the levitation charm to work on the two trunks and levitating them to the corner of the compartment had taken almost 10% of my mana.
'And that was with my Levitation charm at level 5, and it takes a lot less concentration and MP/s to perform the spell now compared to when I first started. Added to the fact that the spell costs more mana the heavier the object is, it's not surprising that Hermione was not able to get it to work.' I thought.
"Maybe it was too heavy, you know you have a difficult time with heavier objects." I tried to comfort her, which didn't really work.
"I know, I just wish I was able to practice spells longer like you, that way I would be able to practice spells for longer and learn them faster." She complained as she tore a piece of paper from her book and focused on practicing the levitation charm.
Knowing there was nothing I could do, I looked outside as the students were rushing to the train one by one, leaving only the parents on the platform.
'Alright, let's see if I can spot any potential targets.'
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AN: In the next chapters, we'll introduce a few more characters as we go through the train journey before the sorting.
P.S.: 30+ advanced chapters on P.atreon: p,atreon.com/AndreaHodges