Harry Styles and the Sorcerer's Stone

Chapter 6: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters

Harry's last month with the Biebers wasn't fun. True, Ross was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Hailey and Uncle Justin didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him – in fact, they didn't speak to him at all. Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.

Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in A History of Magic. His school books were very interesting. He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Hailey didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.

On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Ross screamed and ran from the room.

"Er – Uncle Justin?"

Uncle Justin grunted to show he was listening.

"Er – I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to – to get to Hogwarts."

Uncle Justin grunted again.

"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"

Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.

"Thank you."

He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Justin actually spoke.

"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"

Harry didn't say anything.

"Where is this school, anyway?"

"I don't know," said Harry, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Niall had given him out of his pocket.

"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o' clock," he read.

His aunt and uncle stared.

"Platform what?"

"Nine and three-quarters."

"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Justin. "There's no platform nine and three-quarters."

"It's on my ticket."

"Barking," said Uncle Justin, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."

"Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.

"Taking Ross to the hospital," growled Uncle Justin. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."

Harry woke at five o' clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizards' robes – he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Biebers to get up. Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Bieber's car. Aunt Hailey had talked Ross into sitting next to Harry, and they had set off.

They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Justin dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Justin stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.