The Muggle Witch

The Boy With the Platinum Blonde Hair

Julia stood just beside the brick wall, frozen in awe. She watched as one by one Harry and four ginger boys made their way straight through the wall, just as Hermione had.

She hadn't realized how long she had stood there with eyes out of her sockets until she heard the loud bellow of her train. She whipped her head around to see her train making its way out of King Cross Station. Julia gasped and chased after it fruitlessly. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her but the locomotive quickly disappeared from her view.

A look of intense worry crawled onto Julia's face. She was stuck in Kings Cross. There was no way for her to contact her father now, and no way to get to her school either. Her mom and Cory were probably in America already for all she knew.

In a panic, Julia looked around the station. People were walking everywhere. Running. Their feet shuffling loudly, their suitcases swinging at their side. The large frames of adults towered over Julia's body like skyscrapers. Her insides began to swirl up into her throat. She felt tiny. Tiny and alone. Trapped in a whirlwind of chaos. The sounds of the busy platforms echoed in her ears, and her eyes began to circle around the area searching for an escape.

That's when she caught a glimpse of the wall. Without thinking twice Julia sprinted towards it. Although she had already seen both her neighbor, best friend, and four other people magically disappear through the thing, she still half expected to slam into it and fall on her face. However, with no other visible escape from the turmoil, all doubts temporarily escaped her mind. As she reached the wall between platform nine and ten her eyes shut.

~~~~

When Julia finally peeled her eyes, she found herself on a new platform, different from the ones she had been at before. "9 3/4" was written on a plaque. The floor was packed with kids of all ages, with big carts and cages housing owls, toads, and cats. Finally her eyes swung to her left. There stood a locomotive more grand than any other at King's Cross. On it was a emblem reading "Hogwarts Express".

"Holy cricket!" she exclaimed, "It is real!"

Her eyes widened at the realization and her mouth turned into a big smile. Her feet carried her closer to the express. Now that she had found her way to a school of magic there was no way she wouldn't make the ride.

To her dismay, she soon realized that at the entrance into the train stood a ticket collector. She had no ticket.

Julia grunted, and tugged at the roots of her hair. She had to get on that train.

She needed to focus. Her heart yearned for something recognizable and comforting to cling onto, something to ground her. She wished to find something warm and homely within this foreign territory she had entered. Almost as though she had manifested it, a faint familiar scent reached her senses.

"My candle!" Julia gasped.

She followed the apple fragrance through the crowds of kids and parents until reaching its source.

Smelling intensely of apples, with his back turned to her, stood a little boy.

There was cart at his side covered up to its wheels with a lavish velvet green cover. The initials D.L.M were stitched into the bottom corner.

Julia looked up to see a head of platinum blonde hair held back with an excessive amount of gel.

He stood there talking to two other boys, both of whom were much bigger than himself. Despite their physical superiority, the looks on their faces displayed that they were intimidated by their blonde acquaintance.

"Do you know when these bloody goons will load our luggage into the express Goyle?" the blonde boy asked.

"Ugh...no? I suppose we can just leave it at the entrance Draco," the taller boy said hesitantly.

"Malfoy," he corrected, "And my luggage is especially expensive, Goyle. I wouldn't want one of those overpaid gits working the train to touch or try to steal anything. My father insisted he see to it that all my stuff be loaded in safety."

Goyle and the other boy just stood awkwardly moving their weight from foot to foot.

"You two are worthless," Draco spat, "Guard my cart. I'm going to find my father..."

Without turning to show his face, Draco moved into the crowd. Julia watched by the cart as the its new guards both shifted their attention from their duty onto a croissant.

As she stood there, she quickly realized that the blonde boy's cart would make it into hogwarts without a ticket. Not to mention it was one of the only carts with its contents not out in the open.

Quietly, as to not alert Goyle and his friend, Julia lifted the velvet covering of the cart and climbed inside.

~~~~~

  The air was heavier inside of the cart. Julia crouched in between a bunch of books and cases. It was impossible to get comfortable and the velvet green covering had made it terribly hot.

There was something poking her in the rear, but she dared not move. She was too nervous she'd knock something over and cause enough commotion to regain the attention of Draco's human gourd dogs.

So, she stayed quiet and still.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of waiting she heard the vaguely familiar, nasty voice return. Draco must've come back after consulting his father.

She felt the cart move forward suddenly, the unexpected movement sent her toppling over. Her eyes bulged at the thought that someone had heard her move around, but the cart's movement continued uninterrupted toward the Hogwarts express.

~~~~~

When she felt her ride come to a stop, and the lighting inside the cart get even dimmer than before, she knew she was finally in the cargo compartment.

Julia lifted the veil covering her hiding spot to reveal a crowded room filled with hundreds of other people's luggage.

She attempted to stand up and out of her uncomfortable niche but a loud bellow coming from the head of the train startled her. She fell backwards as the locomotive began to move.

With the rumbling of the train tracks as a lullaby, and nothing better to do anyways, Julia closed her eyes and drifted off.