An American at Hogwarts

My First Trip To My New Home

My mom woke me up early, and for once, I didn't mind. Today was the day I would finally go to Hogwarts for the first time! I got dressed quickly. I'd been in contact with Hermione and Marie since we'd first met, and agreed to meet at King's Cross at nine in the morning, which frankly seemed a bit early to me, but I was too excited to argue much. I'd decided that it was probably best for Hermione to have me and Marie there, since she was muggleborn, and wouldn't have much idea as to how to find the platform. My mom had told me the night before: all you had to do was run into the pillar between platforms 9 and 10, but I honestly wasn't sure if Hermione would believe me if I told her that over the phone. We'd only just met, after all, so I decided it would be best if I just showed her. Marie had told me the day we met how much she loved reading, and Hermione seemed to be a bit bookish as well, so I'd dragged my mom back to Flourish and Blotts a couple days before we left to get each of them a gift. After seeing all the money my grandparents had left me (as I found out after prodding my mom a bit, almost 150,000 Galleons), I had decided that I'd be fairly generous with it. Not reckless, mind you, something my mother was very keen on reminding me, but I honestly saw no way I would ever use even half of the money before I graduated, so why not use it to help out my friends and whoever else may need it? I got Hermione a book on Intermediate Charms, and Marie one on the development of early magic. I got myself a second copy of each, just for good measure. Would give me something to talk about with them, at the very least. When we arrived at the station, I met Hermione's parents for the first time. They were rather nice, if a bit nervous, which I suppose made sense given, well, everything. Hermione had a late birthday, so it had been almost a full year since they found out about her being a witch, but I imagine it was only in the past month or two that it began to feel truly "real". My dad was talking with Mr. Granger about him finding out my mom was a wizard when I finally saw Marie. She was waiting over by the barrier that marked the entrance to Platform 9 3/4, and fiddling with a ring on her right hand. I ran up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Boo!"

She jumped slightly and turned to face me. "Rather rude, no?"

I almost frowned, but she broke out into laughter shortly after. "Just kidding! It's good to see you, Y/N! Who's this?"

Hermione stepped forward. "Hermione Granger! It's my first year at Hogwarts as well!"

Marie shook Hermione's hand. "Marie Yinsby! It's wonderful to meet you! Y/N told me about you in a letter, said you're muggleborn?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes! My mum and dad thought it was all a weird joke at first, but here we are!"

Marie laughed. "I reckon a lot of muggles think that at first. I can hardly blame them, this all would seem a bit ridiculous from the outside I imagine!"

Hermione smiled back at her. "So. Where do we go now, then?"

I smirked. "Why don't I just show you?"

With that, I went over to my cart and charged forward, straight through the pillar and onto the hidden platform. It felt a bit weird passing through, but my jaw dropped when I opened my eyes. There it was. The Hogwarts Express, in all it's bright red glory. The platform wasn't super busy yet, since we were a bit early, but there were a couple kids here and there with their families. I saw a blonde haired boy that looked to be my age a few feet away from me, and ran over to greet him.

"Hey! Are you a first year too?"

The boy turned to me. "I... yes. Who are you?"

"Y/N L/N! I'm from America obviously but my mom went to Hogwarts so here I am!"

A tall man who seemed to be the boy's father suddenly grabbed his shoulders and pulled him away from me. "Draco. Don't speak with him. You, boy. Run along now."