Jane Fizzle and the Philosophers Stone

Chapter 7

    Jane's last few days of Summer were fun. She and Robin went to a Muggle pet store and picked out things for Tibbles, who was happy to have toys and some sweaters to try on. He had some moments of being mean, but got over it and started playing with the feather wand Jane bought. Jane got whacked a few times by him, shocking Jane each time it happened, giving him the cold shoulder, forgiving him about an hour later.

    Jane wrote to Jacob on her last week of Summer and was shocked to see him write back, agreeing to contact her through owls when he could, telling her how Aunt Maria got Uncle Arnold defeathered after about two hours after she left with Robin. He even apologized for acting mean towards her, telling her he was just so jealous and his parents were scary when he didn't do what they wanted him to do.

    In her free time, she read the books she bought, as they were very interesting. She would lay on her bed, reading late into the night, Tibbles laying right next to her, knowing she's his owner and friend. Tibbles is also very affectionate; licking her hands with his sandpaper tongue, laying next/on her, kneading her stomach and legs, and never letting her leave in the mornings when it was time for breakfast.

    On the last day of August, Robin tells her that he couldn't join her on the train to Hogwarts or even to King's Cross station. "They don't want me with ya, and I'm not allowed to be at certain places," he tells her during lunch. "I'm lucky to even be allowed at Hogwarts."

    "But why?" Jane asks, frowning. She doesn't know anyone other than Rachel and the Cipher Brothers, and she doesn't know if Rachel would even sit with her on the train. There's more entertaining people on the train than her, why would Rachel even bother sitting with her.

    "I just... got in trouble," Robin sighs heavily. "There would be other people like ya around, if ya know where to look."

    Jane wakes up at five o'clock the next morning, too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. Robin's still sleeping, so she decides to get dressed, not wanting to walk around the train station in her wizard robes, not wanting to look weird. She pulls on loose jeans and a black shirt which was covered in cat hair. After that, she checks her Hogwarts list again to make sure she had everything she needed, and sees Tibbles sleeping away on her bed. She smiles and lays back down on her bed, wrapping her arms around the cat, giving him a kiss on the head. Tibbles makes a sleepy cat noise, moving around a little, not waking up.

    Two hours later, Jane's huge, heavy trunk is put on the back of Robin's motorcycle and the cat cage was strapped and shut just as tight on top, Jane worrying a little for Tibbles's safety.

    They reach King's Cross at half past ten because of morning traffic. Robin puts her things down on a trolley and rolls it to platform 1, stopping in his tracks, looking nervous. "Alright, this is where we part ways, Lil' J. Sorry for not being able to see ya get on the train and such."

    "It's alright, you helped me a lot anyway."

    "I'll be there for the sorting. I'll be at the far right end of the table," Robin smiles, patting her shoulder.

    Jane gives him a hug, Robin returning it happily. "I can't wait to see you until then."

    Before Jane can ask how to get to nine and three-quarters, Robin is speed walking away, trying to be unseen. Jane wonders why he's so nervous and how he got in trouble. Once realizing that she's alone, Jane's mouth gets dry as an elbow. What on earth is she going to do? She's alone in a place where finding a witch or wizard would be hard to find. She's starting to attract a lot of funny looks because of Tibbles and her huge trunk. She'd have to ask someone.

    She stops a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard has never heard of Hogwarts and when Jane couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Jane was being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Jane asks for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard says there wasn't one. In the end, the guard strodes away, muttering about time wasters. Jane is now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, she has ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and she has no idea how to do it. She's stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk she could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a black cat.