I was finally going to Hogwarts today.
I was so excited I could barely sit still.
In the past week, I'd read my textbooks all day and night.
I was sure I'd gone through almost everything I'd be learning this year.
I wasn't usually so interested in studies but I hated the feeling of being left out so I tried to learn as much about the magical world.
I'd read about quidditch, Hogwarts, about my wand, and a bunch of small spells.
I'd even practiced using a quill till my hand no longer shook.
It wasn't the neatest but it was legible and that was good enough in my books.
I was beginning to think I was gonna ace this whole wizard thing.
Everything seemed so easy and came so naturally I genuinely felt like I had nothing to worry about.
I was at King's Cross with one of those shopping cart-like things that McGonagall had used back at Diagon Alley.
I wore a light grey coat over my blue sweater shirt and black jeans.
I was never told if I was supposed to be wearing robes and I'd rather not look like a lunatic to the muggles at King's Cross.
I'd packed everything but my wand.
It was the one thing that sat in my coat pocket other than my ticket of course.
Speaking of it I decide to glance at it again.
I looked at the ticket.
It said I had to go to platform nine and three-quarters at 11:00 am.
It was currently 10:30 and I'd just arrived.
I began to walk around to look for my platform.
I walk slowly and see platform nine which meant platform nine and three-quarters had to be close.
I continue to walk only to see that the next platform was ten.
That meant my platform had to be in between the two platforms but when I went backward to check, there was no platform.
This began to worry me.
The ticket didn't say where it went other than simply stating Hogwarts and when reading about Hogwarts it didn't mention anything about where it was located.
I looked around to see if anyone seemed to be carrying wizard-like supplies but still nothing.
I kept looking until about 15 minutes before 11:00 I spot an owl in a cage.
I instantly light up when I see that the person with that cart was none other than Harry.
Finally, someone to help me figure out where the platform was.
I remembered my conversation with Malfoy about how he lacked information on the magical world and hoped that this wasn't one of the things he was unaware of....
He stops a little far from where I'd been waiting at platform ten and the man helping him get his luggage here leaves him.
My hope then vanished because just as the man left I saw that Harry began to seem scared.
He didn't know where the platform was either...
I see him walk up to a passing guard and talk to him for a bit.
But he just continued to look even more worried.
I look at the clock only to see that I had only 10 more minutes before I'd miss the train.
I look back to Harry and notice he was now staring at a woman behind him.
She was surrounded by 5 children all of which were red-headed.
3 of them looked older than me while 2 of them looked about my age.
Out of the older kids, 2 looked to be twins while the third looked like he was the oldest.
And out of the younger kids, there was a girl, the only one, who looked slightly younger than me, and a boy about my age.
They all held carts like mine.
This made me feel thankful.
They had to know what to do.
I see them walk forward and then stop in front of a wall.
It suddenly dawns on me.
The magical world was a secret so the platform would be too.
I push my cart to where they were.
Hoping and praying they knew what they were doing.
As I reached behind them I hear the woman say, "You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."
In response to the woman, what looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten.
I tried to see what was happening but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him, and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.
I had 3 tries to catch the entry method.
"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.
"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy.
"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?" He said.
I had no time to be dealing with this kind of stuff.
If I did though I would have probably laughed.
I always imagined what having a twin would be like, maybe I did have a twin..? only I'd never know, being an orphan...
"Sorry, George, dear." Said the woman.
"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so because a second later, he had gone but again I'd missed it and was unable to tell what'd happened.
His twin went in as well and just as he walked he disappeared.
Now I was worried again.
But in the worst-case scenario, I'd just have to ask the woman what I had to do to get through.
"Excuse me!" said Harry.
Guess I wasn't gonna have to ask after all.
"Hello, dear," she said.
"First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too," she said.
She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.
"Um miss, I'm new too and I would appreciate some help on how to get to platform nine and three-quarters," I say before it's too late.
"Yeah I also need some help," said Harry, embarrassed.
"Not to worry," she said looking at us both.
"All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. You best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron." she said looking at Harry.
"Er -- okay," he responds meekly.
I watched as he pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier.
He started to walk toward it.
As he neared he began walking quicker.
Soon leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run, he was about a foot away -from the barrier.
And then he was gone.
This gave me confidence.
The woman then turned to me and smiled gently before saying, "Now your turn."
I nodded and began walking toward the barrier.
I walked a little more until I broke into a run.
I ran straight for the barrier and just when I thought I'd crash into the barrier I was somewhere else.
A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people.
I looked up to see a sign overhead that read, "Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock".
I looked behind me and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it, I smiled, I had done it.
Author's Note:
I've got at least 4 chapters of Just the Train unless I split it into larger chapters......
I have a lot of respect for the movies for being able to cut all this so short.
Word count: 1227
~Author <333