THE WITCHING HOUR ➸ h. potter

3 - platform 9¾

The month I had left with my mum flew by, and before I knew it, it was the last day of August.

She walked into my room just as I was throwing my last few t-shirts into a big suitcase I was going to be taking with me.

"Hey, I brought you some tea," Mum said, sitting on one corner of my bed and setting down a tray with two cups on it.

I smiled, getting off the floor and joining her on the bed. "Thanks. You know — I'm really going to miss your tea at this 'Hogwarts'."

She laughed, picking her cup up, "Really? You're going to miss my tea?"

I pretended to think about it for a second, "Hmm, okay, fine — maybe you, too."

The two of us sat and talked for a while. It was nice to just sit with her, since I knew we weren't going to be able to do that every so often now.

"It's not like we won't meet, though. I mean there are so many holidays. I'm sure they allow you to come home for them. And you can come visit me there too, right?"

Mum nodded, "Yeah. I think we're allowed to come a few times during the year. It'll be fine! Don't worry about it."

"And . . . you're totally one hundred percent sure that you are alright with me leaving? You won't be sad or lonely or —"

She cut me off before I could finish asking the question that I had already asked what felt like a hundred times. "Nat, of course I'll be fine. Please, don't worry about me. Just enjoy yourself and have fun! I'm sure they'll be some nice children there who you can make friends with."

Even though I highly doubted ever fitting in with a bunch of witches and wizards, I nodded. As long as Mum was safe, I'd deal with anything.

"Alright then," She said, picking up our now empty cups. "I just wanted to check in to see how you were doing."

"When is the train meant to leave from, anyway?" Mum asked me suddenly.

"I don't know," I said, realizing this for the first time. I pulled the ticket the witch had given me out of my bedside drawer.

"It says I take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," I read out to her.

Mum stared at me, "Platform what?"

"Nine and three-quarters."

"I'm pretty sure there is no platform nine and three-quarters," She said slowly.

"It's on my ticket," I told her.

"Well, then — I guess we'll just have to reach there and see."

The next morning was a mess. Even though both Mum and I had woken up extra early — at six in the morning — we were running late.

I had gotten up and put on a pair of leggings because I didn't want to just walk into the station in my witch's robes. I'd change on the train.

I checked my Hogwarts list once again to make sure I had everything I needed and checked that Alaska was shut safely in her cage. She had to be in one until we got onto the train, apparently. Then, I could take her out of it.

We reached King's Cross at half past ten. Mum helped me put my trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for me.

"Well, here we are. Platform nine . . . platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but I don't see it. Do you? Maybe its a 'magical person only' thing."

Sadly, I could only see what she did. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.

"Hey, don't worry. If this is where the train really leaves from, we'll probably find someone else who's going there, as well — let's maybe ask someone working here," Mum said.