Chapter 4 - The Hogwarts Express

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 This chapter's a bit shorter so, sorry, but I wanted to get the sorting and the dorms in a separate chapter to the train ride. Enjoy!

 Al and Harry had struggled to get onto platform nine-and-three-quarters when hey first arrived at King's Cross station on the first of September and for a horrible moment, Al thought they may not be able to go. But then just in time, a lovely lady with five ginger-haired children appeared and guided them through. Bidding goodbye to her parents, Al hauled her new owl (named Dill, after the first herb in her Ma's cupboard) and her trunk onto the train, with Harry close behind.

 They struggled down the corridor for a little while, when out of nowhere two of the ginger children showed up - Fred and George, Al thought they were called - and offered to help them find a compartment. They wandered along a bit further until Al saw a familiar blond head. "In here?" Al asked Harry, who shrugged.

"Er-" Fred said.

"Are you sure?" George asked.

"You're welcome with us if you need to," Fred added.

 Al shook her head, "No it's alright. We know him - we've met him before. But thank you." The twins shrugged and hauled their luggage into the luggage rack while Al and Harry sat down. "Thanks," they said to them as they said hello to Draco.

 He shrivelled up his nose in a form of disgust, "I wouldn't let a Weasley near my luggage if I were you," he said distastefully.

"Watch yourself," Fred said to him threateningly.

"What's a Weasley?" Al asked the compartment. The two overweight boys that had been sat with Draco snickered and Harry glared at them.

"Our surname," George replied.

"So watch it," Fred added.

 But Al was shocked - why was Draco being so rude? "That's a nasty thing to say," she pointed out and she thought he turned a pale pink.

"Yeah well, they deserve it!" he spluttered, clearly unable to justify himself.

"What, for being kind enough to give us a hand with our trunks?" she argued back. This time he did go quite pink. Harry thanked the twins once more and they left them to it.

 The train left the station and Al looked out the window for her parents but couldn't see them - they'd probably left as soon as possible. They'd only been moving along for a few minutes, when Al spotted someone their age looking a little bit lost. She noticed he'd been with the kind lady who'd helped them onto the platform. "Ron, is it?" she asked drawing back the door. "Wanna sit with us?" she asked, gesturing to the empty seat next to her. He peered into the carriage to see Harry, Draco and Crabbe and Goyle and went a little pale.

"Oh, it's ok. I can find somewhere else," he replied, taking a second look at Draco.

"Are you sure? Only, I think you know Draco - your brothers did," Al replied with a smile on her face.

"Uh-yeah. I've heard of him," Ron replied, still uneasy, "If you're sure?" Harry and Al nodded eagerly and (after Al had pointed out he needed help) Goyle jumped up to help Ron with his trunk. The attitude throughout the train journey was slightly awkward at first. Ron didn't seem to get on with Draco very well and Crabbe and Goyle weren't the most talkative. And all Draco wanted to talk about was his Father. But when they pulled out a game of exploding snap, the journey became far more lively and by mid-afternoon, they were all laughing and chatting amicably.

"Wanna see a spell?" Ron asked suddenly, getting everyone's attention. None of them had learned any magic yet. He cleared his throat and pointed his wand at Scabbers, his rat, but was soon interrupted.

 The door swung open to reveal a bushy-haired girl, with a plump boy hovering behind her. "Have any of you seen a toad?" she asked rather obnoxiously, "Neville here's lost one." Everyone shook their heads and her eyes landed on Ron's wand, "Are you doing magic? Let's see then."

 Ron hastily performed his spell, which failed, and then looked back up at the girl, his ears turning pink. Al noticed Draco was about to snigger, but then the girl spoke again, "Well that's not very good, is it?" Al was about to respond with something upon the lines of 'shut up' when Draco jumped in first.

"Well that was rather rude, wasn't it?" he said in Ron's defence. Both boys looked a little surprised, but then Draco's face went back to a stern look, waiting for the girl to retort back.

"Well - sorry then," she said to Ron, "I was just expecting something a bit better." Al thought it rather good of her to apologise straight away, but she still wasn't forgiven.

"Can you do anything yet?" Harry piped up from the window.

"As a matter of fact, I can," she replied, striding into the compartment and pointing her wand at Harry. "Oculus Reparo," she said simply and Harry's smashed glasses repaired themselves instantly. When she received no response other than surprise, she continued, "You're Harry Potter!" Harry nodded, blushing a deep red. He didn't seem to like all this attention.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she said, finally introducing herself. the others, in turn, told her their names and she finally left them to change.

"What a show-off," Al finally said when she returned. "Who does she think she is? Parading through like she's the best thing since sliced bread?" Everyone except Harry gave her confused looks until Ron spoke up.

"But she did know how to do magic," he argued and Harry nodded in agreement.

"So what if she's read ahead?" Al responded and Ron just shrugged.


Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}Where stories live. Discover now