William stared at the ticket in his hand and grimaced.
He looked to his left. Platform Nine.
He looked to his right. Platform Ten.
He returned to staring at the ticket.
Then he chuckled.
Is this a magical version of hazing?
While he was busy attempting to burn a hole through his ticket with his eyes, he unintentionally began eavesdropping on a conversation.
"Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"
William looked up to see what he could only assume was a werewalrus. The man clearly had all the features of one, with a build that would leave Santa Clause looking like a bodybuilder. His words, innocent as they seemed, carried a venom only someone with true hate in their heart could manage.
Beside the man was a skeleton of a boy, with glasses nearing the end of their lifespan and clothes that were made for a boy three times his width, he looked the very image of mistreatment.
It was moments like these that William thanked whatever higher power there was that his parents had decided not to be involved in his life at all. They bore remarkable similarity to King Midas, save for the fact that instead of gold whatever they touched was almost guaranteed to be ruined.
The half-walrus flashed the boy with him a nasty smile and left.
William found his feet moving on his own, without his consent. No doubt it was magic.
"Hey there." The words too left his mouth without consent. "You on your way to Hogwarts too?"
The skinny boy stiffened and then slowly turned to him. He bore an awkward smile on his face, one that one delivered to an angry dog while they themselves slowly retreated.
"Erm… yes. Are you a wizard too? You wouldn't happen to know where Platform Nine and Three Quarters is by chance?"
The words tumbled out of the boy all at once. A common occurrence for those who are usually forced to shut up.
William snorted. "I haven't the faintest idea mate. I'm William by the way. William Zenin."
This boy, William figured, was similar to him. If neither had the faintest idea how to navigate a social situation, he felt no reason to be nervous.
The boy's shoulders sagged in disappointment, but he quickly recovered.
"Nice to meet you." He said politely. "I'm Harry Potter."
Potter? That's an interesting surname. In fact, I think I've heard it before.
William froze.
Harry Potter's introduction echoed in his head, each repetition more damning than the last.
Had he not known better, he would have thought he had been trapped in a frame.
Oh, Merlin above! What have I done?
Before arriving at the station, William had made three rules for himself.
1. Avoid famous people
2. Avoid rich people who like to make you aware they're rich
3. Don't anger an adult wizard
He had just broken rule 1 about as spectacularly as possible. Harry Bloody Potter. The chosen one himself.
"Hey William, are you okay?" Harry asked, his tone carrying a hint of worry.
William was not okay. He was mentally KO'd.
The repressed instincts of a jujutsu sorcerer awoke when prodded by William's spike of worry.
Two possible paths revealed themselves to William.
Scenario one.
Immediately break away from Harry and move on as he was.
The results of the action began playing in his head.
A dejected Harry Potter, still aware of William's existence – only now with a negative image attached to it. A famous wizard who didn't like him. A famous potentially rich wizard, one that lots of adults love.
All three rules ripped to smithereens.
Absolutely not.
Scenario two.
He continues acting as he was, maybe even befriending the boy.
Once again, the future played out before him.
Harry Potter doesn't hate him. Any future ally of Harry Potter, which may include Professor Dumbledore himself, will view William in a positive light. In an ideal world, no one would ever have any reason to dislike him.
William knew better. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had allies as well. Dark wizards who would be positively delighted to get their hands on a friend of Harry Potter.
A second passed.
William made his decision.
A hand patted Harry's shoulder. "No need for concern, I'm as fit as a fiddle. I was just wondering how we'll find our way to the train."
Harry grimaced and ran a hand through his hair, revealing the infamous scar.
Don't stare William. You don't want to weird out the chosen one himself.
"Should we go around and ask the guards?" Harry finally suggested.
William shrugged. "Better than nothing."
The two boys spent the next few minutes asking guards for a train that leaves at eleven, only to be informed no such train exists.
As time went on, Harry began to panic. William himself was no better off, his mind racing to picture magical punishments Hogwarts might enforce on latecomers.
The boys returned to the spot they met and tried to accept their fate.
It was at that very moment that a family walked by them, talking amongst themselves. They were loud in a way only a family completely comfortable with themselves and how others view them were.
" – the whole place is packed with Muggles of course –"
William blinked. Did I hear that right?
Before he could say something, Harry had already turned around and began walking towards them.
William looked down and noticed he was being dragged along with the boy, who had firmly gripped his hand.
The two boys slowly dragged their trolleys all the way to the family, who William finally got a good look at.
The group was being led by a plump red-haired woman. The sheer maternal aura emanating from her was enough to make William want to take a step back.
Around her were even more redheads, all focused on completely different activities. The tallest amongst them attempted to look as regal as possible while his identical younger brothers completely destroyed my image by throwing what from the looks of it were insults, their expressions twisted in mischievous delight.
"Now, which platform was it again?" said the boys' mother.
"Nine and three quarters!" A young girl holding her hand piped. "Mum, are you positive I can't go too?"
"You aren't old enough Ginny. Now be a good girl and stay quiet for a bit. Percy! You go first."
The oldest of the boys, presumably Percy, marched towards the space between platform nine and ten.
Both William and Harry stared at him unblinkingly, afraid of missing whatever he was about to do.
As the boy drew closer to the divide between the platforms, a crowd walked in front of the boys obscuring their view of Percy.
"A thousand curses upon them all." William furiously whispered under his breath.
He still wasn't too worried, however. There was a whole family left for him to observe.
"Fred, you go next." The mother gestured towards another boy.
"I'm not Fred, I'm George!" The boy retorted. "Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George by looking at me?"
The boy spoke in a teasing tone William usually associated with toddlers.
"Oh, sorry George dear! I wasn't paying attention."
George giggled. "Only joking mum, I really am Fred."
William's eye twitched.
The boy – Fred or George, Willaim didn't care anymore – began marching forward with another boy who looked identical to him chasing after him.
Then they both disappeared.
Harry's jaw dropped.
William moved his hand towards Harry's mouth and closed it.
The boys continued staring.
"Harry, mate." William began to say, still looking ahead. "You don't think we look creepy staring at a family, do you?"
Harry slowly turned to him, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Do we really?"
Now it was William's turn to look worried. "How would I know?"
Harry rubbed his hands together, appearing to be deep in thought.
"You know what, let's just ask the woman how to get to the train."
Then the boy turned and began walking towards the family, once again dragging William with him.
Why does this keep happening?
"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.
"Hullo dear." The woman answered, gracing both boys with a pleasant smile. "First time at Hogwarts? My little Ron is in the same boat as you."
She pointed at her youngest son. The boy was long and gangly – so exactly like the two boys he was being introduced to. His face was covered in freckles and his hair just as red as the rest of his family.
"Yes," Harry began to say. "Thing is I'm not sure how exactly we're supposed to get to the – "
"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. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now both of you"
William and Harry shared an uncertain glance at each other.
"You first." William whispered.
Harry's eyes widened in mock outrage. "I feel like you deserve the first turn."
William's eyes narrowed. "Do it unless you're a coward."
Before Harry could answer, Mrs. Weasly began talking.
"It really is no big deal dearies." She said. "Why I dare say it's a bit of a thrill the first time."
Met with the woman's expectant gaze, William sighed and began pushing his trolley.
Stepping forward, he turned towards Harry and wordlessly mouthed "You owe me".
Cursed Energy Reinforcement
William had realized early on that its purpose wasn't just a boost in his physical ability but a boost in everything about him, that included his endurance.
If he were to hit the wall, at least it wouldn't hurt too much.
As William began speeding up, Flywick – who was on the trolley William was pushing – immediately assaulted William's ears with panicked toots.
William stared at the approaching wall without blinking, refusing to let it catch it off guard.
The moment the trolley made contact with the wall, it simply phased through.
William's mouth twisted into an 'O'. That's kind of nifty, honestly.
As Flywicks toots slowly faded, William surveyed the area around him.
If one asked William what he thought a magical train station would look like, he would tell them he hadn't the faintest idea. He wouldn't just stop there; he would also tell them they were incredibly weird for asking such a question and weirder still for thinking he had the time to spend thinking something like that up.
Regardless of what William thought a magical train station should look like; he knew one thing for certain: it shouldn't look like the one before him.
A normal steam engine – colored scarlet – dominated the area, surrounded by a crowd of students and their parents. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. William looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it.
Moments later a boy tumbled out of the wall William had come from, his eyes clenched.
William could practically see the moment the boy's muscles relaxed when he realized no crash had happened. Tentatively, he opened his eyes.
Harry stared at the station in awe, slowly taking the sight in. Then his eyes zoned in on William.
The boy rushed towards him with his trolley, his face sporting a wicked grin.
"That was brilliant! Simply brilliant!" Harry said, huffing excitedly.
William tilted his head. "Brilliant but unnecessarily complicated. Honestly, if we hadn't found that nice lady, we probably would have missed the whole first day."
Harry patted William's shoulder lightly. "All's well that ends well, mate."
William flashed him a wry smile.
And that, my dear friend Harry, is exactly the problem. For all to be well, it must end first.
Looking at the scene before him, William could practically sense this was the furthest thing from an end.
May Yuji Itadori's, Gojo's, and Merlin's blessings be upon me.