ABANDONED || Me and my Evil Cousin

IV - The Hogwarts Express

Since I got back to the orphanage, I spent my summer reading all my books - I found out about all the subjects I would take, the Hogwarts houses, the teachers beside the one I knew already, different spells, famous wizards and witches, and in general - this new world which I am a part of. Tom was equally intrested - but in different aspects. I think you can guess what sort of things he wanted to find out about. I was counting down the days to the 1st of September - when I'd get to go there and experience it all and learn magic.

Finally, the day came. I was full to the brim with excitedness. I packed up my things and put them in my very own trunk - labeled V.G. I put Swift in his cage and got ready to go. Mrs Cole was going to drive us into the car to Kings Cross - the only thing that we hadn't thought about yet was where Platform 9 3/4 was - it was clear on my ticket. I guess we might find out when we get there. After a quick drive, we arrived at a crowded platform. Mrs Cole waved us goodbye and we just stood there, between platforms 9 and 10 - clueless. In about a minute or so we saw a family just walk straight through the wall. The muggles around us seemed to not notice - and after figuring out what to do, I ran headfirst into the red brick wall. Tom followed.

We came out onto a huge platform, crowded with students and their families, every student wearing their robes. Apart from the first years everyone had ties of different colours: I recognised the red of Gryffindor, the yellow of Hufflepuff, the blue of Ravenclaw and the green of Slytherin. I saw a face I recognised: it was a girl who I went shopping with - with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hi!" she said. "I'm Liza Robins. Remember me from Diagon Alley?" I nodded. "This is my friend Mary Warren - we went to school together and she's the only person I know coming here, well, apart from you and all the other kids we were with." I smiled at Mary - she smiled back.

I heard a voice coming from the other end of the station: "The train's leaving in five, everybody on, everybody on!" "Quick, we'd better get on" I heard Liza say. The train was huge, red and brilliant - with many compartments and doors. Me, Liza and Mary chose one to share. Liza's mother and father waved at her, so did Mary's. Her little sister seemed to be crying. I felt pretty sad that I had nobody to wave to. "That's my little sister Myrtle. She's such a crybaby - can't wait to have some peace and quiet for once, but I 'll really miss my family."

"Me too" said Liza. I sat there awkwardly, but then a very old witch came past our compartment. "Anything off the trolley dears?" We bought a few sweets. I'm being honest, these sweets were some of the nicest things I've ever had to eat in my life! We ate them and talked about Hogwarts, all the way up to Scotland. It felt like my life was about to begin!

Later in the day we finally got to the station. We exited our small compartment. Tom came out of this, which he wasn't sharing with anyone. I stepped out into the twilight and looked up at Hogwarts. It was so much better than I ever expected. The huge tall castle was surrounded by a picturesque lake and I saw some carraiges and boats. I gazed in awe at what would, soon, be my new home. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.