Hogwarts Mystery: Kenneth Russell & The Mysterious Room

Chapter 5: Platform Nine and three-quarters

"Oi, Kenneth!" called the voice and Kenneth looked up to see a familiar Indian boy with glasses, light brown eyes and short hair standing before him at the door. He was already wearing his robes.

"Rowan!"Kenneth says with a smile. "Good to see you!"

"You too!" pointing at the empty seat opposite Kenneth. "Anyone sitting there? Everywhere else is full."

"Yes, it's occupied." Kenneth says with a grin. "For you."

"Thanks," he says graciously sitting down. "So what house do you think you are going to be in?"

"I don't know," Kenneth admits. "My dad was in Ravenclaw and my mum was in Hufflepuff when she transferred. How about you?"

"Same, no idea. I wouldn't mind any house. I feel like Ravenclaw would b ethe first option because I read a lot."

They talked and talked for the next few hours about their lives. Kenneth felt it best not to mention the beach or the Fairy forest. The time went by faster from their conversations. Kenneth retold the time his brother got caught trying to fly on his father's broom he swiped from the shed and the time he and Jacob used to duel with licorice wands. They took time off when the Trolley witch came by offering them food.They ordered Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands and Jelly Slugs.

They were soon interrupted by the door of the compartment opening. They both turn to see a boy their age standing at the door. He was pale skinned with blonde hair and brown eyes. He wore a jacket with a sweater and jean trousers. The look on his face was nothing short of terror.

"You alright?" Kenneth asked concerned and confused.

"I--I--" the boy stammered.

"Do you not have a compartment to sit in?" Rowan asked, equally concerned. "Do you want to sit with us?"

Looking at the ground and scrunching his shoes on the carpet, "No, I got kicked out of mine by a girl. She kept threatening me and calling me something I don't know what it means."

"What did she call you?" Kenneth asked, feeling that he knew where this was going.

"She kept calling me 'Mudblood'. I don't-"

"She called you what?!" Kenneth yelled angrily jumping to his feet.

The boy took a step back in horror. "What—what's going on with your eyes?" Kenneth's eyes had turned to glaring crimson.

"Oh, sorry," Kenneth said calming down. His eyes changed back tohoney-gold. "My eyes can change depending on emotion. Long story."

"Did what she say to me was bad?" the boy asked still apprehensive of what he had just witnessed.

Turningto Rowan, knowing he claims to read a lot. "You want to do thehonours?"

"Gladly,"Rowan said. He, too, was also surprised by the eye colour change. He gestured the boy to sit beside him. He obeys, closing the compartment door and sits beside Rowan.

"Before we begin, Rowan says, what's your name?"

"Ben,"the boy says looking down. "Ben Copper."

"Rowan Khanna," Rowan says shaking Ben's hand.

"Kenneth Russell," Kenneth introducing himself and shaking Ben's hand as well. 

"Mudblood," Rowan explains, "is a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born – you know, non-magic parents. You come from a Muggle family, don't you?"

Ben nods.

"Well you must know, there are some witches and wizards – like this girl– who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood."

"It's a horrible mentality," Kenneth chimes in. "I can tell that this girl is going to be in Slytherin. Don't worry about her. You can sit with us for as long as you want."

Bengrunts in thanks. Kenneth and Rowan shared their sweets with Ben to make him feel better. With time Ben began to feel more comfortable with them and started to open up with them. They talked and joked for the next few hours.

Suddenly the door of the compartment opens that caused all three boys to jump. A girl with blonde-hair, pigtails and a half-upstood in the doorway.

"Oh, my goodness! I'm so sorry for interrupting and startling you," she says sincerely waving her hands in apology. "I just wanted to let you know that we're going to be at Hogwarts soon and everyone should change into their robes."

Kenneth gathered his wits and nodded in acknowledgement and thanked her for the message. He offers her the last Chocolate Frog which she gratefully takes while flushing a faint shade of pink. The girl then leaves to give them their privacy. Kenneth cursed himself for not asking her name. He then peers out the window to see that it was getting dark. He and Ben take off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Kenneth suddenly felt nervous and Ben, he noticed, looked pale with the same look on his face as he had when Kenneth startled him from earlier.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Kenneth shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and he heard a deep voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

Kenneth could see the man was huge. The tallest man he had ever seen in his life and at least five times wider. He couldn't see his face because it was dark.

"C'mon, follow me -- any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed the enormous man down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Kenneth thought there must be thick trees here. Nobody spoke much.

"Ye'all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!" The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side,its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Kenneth and Rowan were followed into their boat by Ben and the same blonde girl at the train.

"Everyone in?" shouted the big man, who had a boat to himself. "Right then-- FORWARD!"

Andthe fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. Kenneth couldn't help but marvel at the sheer grandiosity of the castle that would be his home for the next seven years. He suddenly remembered that when Jacob came home from finishing his first year telling Kenneth that he had to see the Hogwarts to believe it.

"Heads down!" yelled the enormous man as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking themright underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of undergroundharbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after the man's lamp,coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.
They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? Brilliant"

The man raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castledoor.

"Welcome to Hogwarts."