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Even in the early hours of Sunday morning, King's Cross retained it's usual frantic hustle and bustle, courtesy of being one of London's largest and busiest train stations. Here and there, people scurried about: a family departing with several large suitcases to Heathrow, ready for their first holiday abroad; a blushing young couple, brand new wedding rings shining on their hands as they looked forward to a romantic getaway; a businessman, attempting to juggle a bacon sandwich with his briefcase as he ran to catch his train on time; and perhaps more curiously so, a lone child of no more than 12 skipping quite happily along platform 9, trolley laden with ancient looking leather trunks, a broomstick, and a small, loudly squeaking toad locked up in a small glass box, balancing precariously atop her luggage stack. Arriving at the stone wall separating platform's 9 and 10, if one were to look away for just a second, she would disappear. The family, the honeymooners and the businessman didn't notice this however - in fact, nobody did. For most, seeing a wee girl and her luggage completely vanish into thin air would be a cause for concern, but as each new strangely dressed person approached the barrier, there was no worry on faces beyond that of wondering if everything has been packed, or if they would make the train on time, or if their youngest would fit in well enough at their new school. For each new person to disappear behind the barrier, they would emerge unscathed on the other side, emptying out into a packed platform that held dozens of clamouring schoolchildren, fussing parents, and a glorious red steam engine. This was Platform 9 and 3/4, holding the Hogwarts Express that was scheduled to leave at 11 AM on the dot. Sure enough, by the time the merrily skipping girl had handed off her luggage to the porters and found herself a seat with her friends within, a shrill whistle sounded, signalling the departure of the train, and the start of a new term. Children waved goodbye to parents and relatives in the station; some perhaps feeling a pang of homesickness as their family slipped out of sight, but also excitement for the year ahead. There was bound to be something new and interesting this year, just like every other year had!

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By now, the students were about an hour away from Hogsmeade station; the sun was slipping behind the horizon as dusk crept in, the sweet trolley was all but decimated by greedy schoolkids and sticky fingers, and first-year were clambering into their robes already, eager to make a good first impression for their brand new school.

Eva, however, hadn't even thought about her uniform yet. In fact, she hadn't moved from her seat since the last time the trolley had trundled past to buy yet another cauldron cake, and according to her grumbling stomach, that had been far too long ago.

"Merlin, I'm starved." She groaned dramatically, head lolling back onto her seat and rolling back and forth comically. She glanced at her bush rat as he squeaked, a glare appearing on her face as she noticed him stuffing his cheeks with sunflower seeds from within his cage, taunting her with his little beady eyes and sharp claws. She was going to feed him to the Giant Squid one day, she was certain of it.

"Do you think we're nearly there? I could eat an entire gryphon at this rate." Looking now to the twins sat in the carriage with her, Eva stuck out her bottom lip in a petulant, but joking, manner. Honey and Andreas should be used to her flair for over-exaggerating her hunger by now.

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Beverly's mother could not stand to watch her only daughter leave for school no matter how old she got. She remembered her first year at Hogwarts, and nothing had seemed to change. “You are ready my world, my baby.” her mother cooed, taking her hand and cupping Beverly’s rounded cheek. She reached down and gave her daughter a kiss on her forehead before stepping aside for a moment. "Claudia, please you're embarrassing me." Beverly had taken to calling her mother by her first name this year for some reason. She wasn't sure if she was doing it to piss off her mother or if was some phase. "Don't call me that, I'm Mom to you!" Claudia scolded, as the two got into a small spat of what respect was and how if she didn't watch it her lips would not be the only thing red for the trip.

For a moment the two were silent, looking at one another. "Have fun Bev." her mother said, a tired smile across her face "Thanks Mom." she said with a smile. The two exchanged hugs regardless of the fight that had happened just a few minutes ago. There was something about their bond that brought them back to best friends no matter how heated conversations got.

She didn’t have much luggage with her, most of her belongings packed into her one large and slightly ripped suitcase. The other pieces of luggage a purse and a pet carrier. Steadying her items, she picked up pace and ran right through the terminal, like nothing. As a train worker instructed her what to do with her luggage she promptly followed his directions until she was left with her pet carrier and the small purse across her chest. The purse contained a few muggle candies and a couple mints that would keep her occupied on the trip. Beverly got motion sickness quite easily and spending hours on a train was hell if she didn't keep her mind busy or kept her eyes looking straight and not browsing out the window as most people would be enjoying.

Finding a compartment that had just been abandoned by an older girl trading cars to sit with her friends, Beverly chose the third in the line and made her way in, "Cool." she cooed, slipping in quickly and sliding the door behind her. She took a seat away from the window and let her bones settle with a big happy sigh. She placed her pet carrier containing her Cat, Frankie (Named after Frank Sinatra of course) gently on the seat next to her, whilst her hand dug into her purse grabbing a mint and sticking it between her painted lips to suck on to ease her mind. She knew it would be a terrible way to start the year if she threw up on the ride. It would be talked about for the rest of the year.

Big baby Beverly barfed breakfast.

It would haunt her for years.

Beverly eventually made room for other passengers, some she knew from her year and some younger than her. She offered them treats from her purse so they wouldn't have to buy from the overpriced cart that had made it's way past several times. She was proud of herself for not buying anything this year, she usually was broke before the train made it's way to Hogsmeade. Making friends was something Beverly was good at as she entertained her other compartment mates for the duration of the ride. "Okay try this one next, it's called a Charleston Chew you might like it!" she exclaimed, breaking it into several pieces so all of them could try it as she passed them around.

Morris Fetterdam had been a ticket taker at Hogsmeade for a year, and then a trolly pusher for two, before he was even allowed to begin training for his magical conductor's license. It was a more difficult position to attain than he had imagined when it so humbly became his boyhood dream as an unpopular, ginger squib, though this did not make him any less determined. In fact, it fueled Morris. Never before was there a man so driven to attain a conductor's hat aboard the Hogwarts Express, and never before had the train had such a young conductor. Unbeknownst to the hundreds of bright-eyed students aboard the train, this would be Conductor Fetterdam's first passenger-carrying journey, a hallmark in the achievements of any conductor. Truly, if Morris had a proudest day in his life, it would have been Sunday, September 9th, 1957.

It would have been.

Morris was a straight-spined, measured man. He took a measured breath, looking out the window, and then a measured sip of his cup of tea. Even in his conductor's cab, he stood perfectly straight, eyeing the barometer of the engine and speed of the train like a hawk. His door was locked, his uniform was pressed, and his smoked herring sandwich was wrapped in two layers of wax paper in his conductor's cupboard, organized with the precision of a Japanese architect. Everything was as it should have been for a smooth entry into his career as a conductor, and it was for this reason that the voice behind him took him even more by surprise.

"Urr ye tha railroad bobby?"

Morris spun around defensively, stifling the instinctive JESUS CHRIST he had grown so accustomed to using living amongst muggle cousins, spilling the contents of his tea down the front of his starch-white shirt. There was a brown-haired boy in his clean, prepared conductor's cab, with the dirtiest hands he had ever seen. It looked as if the boy had finished a spot of afternoon gardening with his bare hands, or perhaps, just had a blackish, brownish, greenish pen explode in his hands moments earlier. Whatever the case was, he was staring at Morris, picking his nose with, yet again, the dirtiest hand Morris had ever --

Morris collected himself for a moment, stifling an audible gag as he handed the boy a tissue, ignoring the sandy brown stain on his shirt.

"No, young sir, I am not the railroad police. I am the train conductor, and you appear to be in my cab. If you would be so -"

"Me pa tell't me that if ah ever dinnae where a'm, ah should find th' train bobby." The boy said, turning his back and pointing a grubby finger an inch from the emergency break. "Whit's this wee rid lever dae?"

Morris placed the napkin on the boy's hand and calmly pulled it away, exhaling with a boiling anger. "That lever is a knob, it is the brake to this train, and you are in Rutland County, several hours from your destination. Get out of my conductor's cab, you cheeky imp. You are not supposed to be here." The boy giggled at Morris's use of the word knob, reaching into the pocket of his green corduroy trousers.

"But ah unly come 'ere tae give ye this shiny key ah fount, sur." The boy said, pulling the golden key to Hogsmeade Station from his pocket. If his supervisor knew he had compromised the station's safety, this would be his first and last day as a conductor.

Morris paused for a moment, dumbfounded, snatching the key from his hand and giving it a wipe with an additional napkin. The anger he had felt moments earlier disappeared "Why, thank you! Where on Earth did you find this, young man?"

The boy pointed to the cupboard to the left of Morris. "Ah smelt yer salty herring in yer lunch-pail, truth be tell't, and mah whole plan were tae get to that. But ah won't take yer key on account ah ah'm a honest young man like ye said. Give us a taste, then?"

"OUT! OUT OF MY CAB YOU LITTLE WELSH MONSTROSITY! OUT!" And, sure enough, the boy was gone in a flash, bolting like a hare with a giggle, past two members of the Hogsmeade Train Conductor's Union, holding a cake and balloon, respectively. His supervisor, Patty Kincaid, and the chairman of the union and president of the Welsh Magical Transport Committee, Alwyn Davies.

"S-Sirs! That's, fancy, seeing both of you, here, on the express. Happy first day Morris, that says? Oh, that's, uh. That's lovely, fellas. Sirs. Let me get you a cup." He said with a sheepish giggle, pointing to the brown stain on his shirt. He turned around to find his thermos in the cupboard. It was there as he expected, but his herring sandwich had vanished into thin air. His hand balled into a fist.

Aibhlinn arrived at King's Cross at ten o'clock in the morning, only to have to board another train. The young petite blond dragged her luggage through the station to get to her next destination but along the way the smell of fresh baked buns and salted meat called to her.
The train ride from Ireland was always an interesting one. Aibhlinn never understood how landscape could change so much in as little as five minutes. Then again, Aibhlinn never understood anything that was on the ground. Now the sky, that was a topic the young girl would ramble on about for ages.
Aibh boosted herself up onto a stool and watched the muggle world go by her. She took a bite from her sandwich to get her going before she begun to feed Calli bits of it through her cage. Of course this created all manor of looks from the muggles and Aibhlinn smiled at each and every one of them. Aibhlinn never understood how simply smiling at a muggle made them so uncomfortable. It was like they only wanted to blatantly stare at you in private and you weren't supposed to notice.
At quarter to eleven Aibhlinn placed Calli, her long-eared owl whom was named after Jupiter's second biggest moon, back onto her trolly and made her way to platform nine and three quarters. Along the way, the girl stopped no less than three cross guards to ask them where the platform was and had to keep from giggling each and every time. She loved the dumbfounded expressions and the way they looked at her, wanting to inquire as to where her parents had gotten off to but she always dashed away. Calli squawked at her and Aibh stuck her tongue out at the bird.
"Alright, fine. We'll go now," she said and made her way to the barrier between platform nine and ten. She took a deep breath after lining up and shut her eyes before running. Aibhlinn never quite got used to running at a wall. When she opened her eyes again she was staring at the gleaming red engine. In several hours she would be walking into Hogwarts to begin her fourth year.
After the luggage was stowed and Calli was set up with the rest of the hooting owls, the blonde bobbed her way through the train in search for her friends. There was an old familiar smell on the Hogwarts train that always set a gentle calm over Ahbilinn, lemon and old books she thought as she found a friendly face to join.

Aibhlinn laughed, rolling back and forth on the seat as she listened to her friend retell about his encounter with a great mountain of a dog over the holidays.
"You can't be serious Kendall? You know, not all dogs want to be loved," she teased him. She wiped the tears from her eyes before she ate another fizzy wizzy. She loved the feeling as they melted in her mouth and dripped down the back of her throat. She popped two more in after the first one completely dissolved.
The Slytherin cloak sat beside Aibhlinn, covered in candy wrappers from the mountain of junk the young girl purchased from the trolly. Her mother, bless her heart, gave her extra money just for the trolly for she understood her daughters addiction to anything sweet. The green and silver winked in the compartment light, reminding Aibh that she would have to put it on within the hour.