I'm finally here, thought Min-jung, as she gazed around King's Cross station. She was brimming with a combination of excitement and nerves, still hardly believing that she was going to Hogwarts. She had never dreamed of being any sort of magical, always considering herself very ordinary.
I just hope that I fit in...Min's parents had both accompanied her to the station to see her off, and now the family of three stood, looking somewhat lost. They had made it to King's Cross without a problem, but now they had to find platform 9 3/4 - which was proving to be rather difficult. They were standing right between platforms 9 and 10, unsure of where to go from there.
"Excuse me," a kind voice belonging to a woman spoke up behind them. Min and her parents turned around to find themselves looking at a smiling black woman wearing a scarf tied around her head, holding the hand of a young boy who Min thought looked around her age. The boy smiled at her. The woman spoke again, "I couldn't help but notice that you have an owl. Are you folks looking to board the train to Hogwarts?"
Min and her parents nodded. "Thought so," the woman said. "First year? Elijah here is just starting too. We can show you the way to platform 9 3/4 if you'd like? My name is Maria, by the way."
Min nodded excitedly, and her father said "Thank you very much," to the woman, and the Choi family introduced themselves as well. She directed them to platform 9, and explained to them how to cross to their platform. Once all of them had crossed, the parents kissed their children goodbye.
"Want to sit together?" Eli asked Min, who nodded gratefully. She had been very worried about who she would sit with, and was very thankful to have met Eli. They hauled their trunks and their pets aboard the Hogwarts Express, and wandered down the hall to find a place to sit. They eventually came across a compartment where a girl of Korean descent was sitting, and Eli knocked on the door and opened it. "Hi there," he said. "Mind if we sit with you?"
"Vi!" squealed Madeline, dropping her trunk into her accompanying house elf's arms and running over to her friend, her family following behind. She grabbed her friend in a hug, and whispered in her ear "Thank god you're here already, my parents have been arguing with Annalise all morning, save me!"
Pulling away, Maddie beamed at her friend. "You look
sooooo good!"
Maddie's sister, Annalise, grudgingly kissed her parents goodbye before grabbing her trunks and running off to board the train with a group of Slytherin girls who greeted her happily. Maddie's parents said their hellos to Vivienne's parents and the other family they were speaking with, sliding cooly into the conversation.
Maddie rolled her eyes at her parents. "Want to get on the train?"
"Catch me if you can!" Archie bellowed at his brother, Gus, before taking off at a full-tilt run with his trolley to platform 9 3/4. He appeared on the other side and narrowly avoided colliding with a few older students, muttering an apology to them as they shouted at him. He could hardly believe that finally,
finally, he and his brother were going to Hogwarts!
Archie finally stopped, and turned around to wait impatiently for the rest of his family to arrive. He could hardly contain his excitement, and felt that at any given moment he might begin bouncing off the walls. "Come on, hurry up Gus, all the good seats will be gone!" he said to himself.
Carter and his sisters had just finished saying their goodbyes to their parents, and were hauling their trunks aboard the Hogwarts Express. Nathalie wiped tears away from her face - the most sensitive of the three siblings, she was always sad to leave her parents and felt very overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of platform 9 3/4.
Their oldest sister, Serena, patted her gently on the back. "C'mon Nat, you love Hogwarts! Let's find you your friends, you'll be happy to see them." Nathalie nodded, looking slightly happier at the prospect of seeing her friends. Serena looked over at her brother. "I told mom and dad I'd find you somewhere to sit too, so come on."
Carter rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed his sisters, complaining about being babied too much, but Serena pretended not to hear him. They quickly found Nathalie's friends, and left her and her things amidst a pile of hugging, smiling Hufflepuff girls.
They cam across a compartment with two students Serena didn't recognize - a dark haired boy and a brown haired girl. "There," Serena declared triumphantly. "They look about your age." Carter groaned, and pleaded with his sister not to embarrass him, but she simply said "I promised to find you somewhere to sit," and knocked on the door. Serena opened it, and poked her head in. "Hey," she said in a friendly tone. "You guys first years? So's my brother. Can he join you?"
Carter's entire face went bright red and he fought off the urge to tackle his sister, knowing full well she could take him with one hand tied behind her back.
Jacob sat alone in his compartment, with his legs stretched out across the seat. He and his brother had arrived early, as his parents had wanted to visit with the other families before the train had left. Eventually, Jacob and his brother, David, had gotten bored, and bid their parents farewell.
He had made sure to get an empty compartment as his parents had said there would be a few Pureblood families of Slytherin sorting that would have children attending Hogwarts for the first time, and he was to ensure he sat with them and no one else. Montague, Nott, and Burke were among the names he had been told to ask for. Jacob knew he would be easily recognized, as he had borrowed his brother's Slytherin scarf, not to mention the fact that he looked like the typical Yaxley - dark hair, pale eyes, narrow face.
Jacob opened up a piece of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, chewed it, and began to blow bubbles. He was getting bored, and hoped that he'd have some acceptable company soon.
"Now Saoirse, once you're on that train, stay in your compartment and don't leave unless you have to go to the bathroom! And once you get to Hogwarts, make sure that you follow the other first years, there will be boats and..." Saoirse's mother was worriedly reminding her daughter what she had planned for her to do during her trip to Hogwarts. Saoirse was barely listening - she had heard this speel a hundred times. "Mum, promise, won't do anythin' I'm not supposed to. Thistle and I will stay put, I'll be just fine."
Her mother turned, still looking worried, to Saoirse's older brother, Conall. "Conall dear, make sure she finds somewhere to sit, and if she can't bring her with you..." This was cut off by groans from both of her children.
"Now now, I'm sure they're going to be fine," a man, Saoirse's father, spoke up, though not without an anxious tone to his voice. "It's Hogwarts after all, they'll take good care of her."
Saoirse nodded slowly, and stared at the train, hardly believing she would be going to Hogwarts. After her mother repeating herself once more, an array of hugs and kisses, Saoirse and her brother hauled their trunks aboard the train and began looking for a place to sit. They quickly came upon an empty compartment. "You go here," Conall said, helping her move her belongings inside. "I'll be back to check on you once the train leaves. Saoirse..." She gazed at her brother with wide eyes. "Just...please don't do anything weird, okay?" Conall closed the door and left to find his friends, leaving Saoirse staring after him.
After a few moments, Saoirse shook her head and sat down, placing her owl on the seat beside her. She began absentmindedly chewing on her hair and humming a song, wondering about all the things she would learn at Hogwarts, and all the new people she would meet.
Nadia sat alone in a compartment, her schoolbooks scattered beside her. She was frantically reviewing the notes she had made all summer and flipping through the pages. "I knew I shouldn't have taken last week off, stupid stupid..." she muttered to herself, as she looked over famous wizards from each Hogwarts house.
Nadia had forced her family to arrive early, so that she wouldn't miss the train and to allow herself time to review. Her brother, Anthony, was off with his Quidditch friends in their own compartment. She silently thanked his friends for whisking him away, otherwise she'd have had no hope of focusing on her books.
"Now, if I can only make it through all these notes before we get there, I'll be ready for the Sorting Ceremony," she said, her brows wrinkling with worry. "I just hope I have enough time..."
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