Neville Longbottom and the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter 3: The Hogwarts Express

Neville had a more difficult time leaving Roody this year than he did last year. Not just because he was feeling particularly protective, but also because he was acutely aware that Roody was his only friend. He was facing nine months of loneliness.

He and Gran arrived at King's Cross and walked to the Magical dividing wall on Platform 9 3/4. Neville gave Gran a hug before pushing his luggage cart through the wall. The cart was stopped by the wall and Neville flipped on top of it. As it tipped over, dumping him onto the ground, Trevor hopped free.

Neville braced himself on the overturned cart and stood up, then limped after Trevor. "What happened?"

"You ran into the wall," Gran said, "not through it."

"Did I do something wrong?"

Gran put a hand on the wall and pushed. "There's nothing to do wrong. I don't understand why you couldn't get through."

Another student approached with her parents and prepared to pass through.  Neville recognized her as the pigtail girl who was Sorted into Hufflepuff last year.  Gran warned them of Neville's failed attempt, and that student failed to get through as well. Neville helped her to upright her cart and reload it, and made sure she wasn't hurt.

Several other families began to gather, and no one wanted to try getting through after hearing about the two failed attempts. There was much discussion about how to proceed, but there were no practical ideas. No one had ever heard of this happening before, and the only Wizarding Station Agents were on the other side of the barrier.

Eventually, one mother arrived with her son and announced that she worked for the Ministry of Magic. She pulled out her Wand and examined the wall.

"The Enchantment is still there," she said, "but there's another one blocking it. It might be too strong for me to remove, but I can try."

She waved her Wand around, and then pushed on the wall. Her shoulders drooped, and she turned to face the substantial crowd gathering behind her.

"You there," she suddenly said, pointing into the crowd. "Would you mind seeing what you can do?"

A House-Elf stepped out of the crowd looking rather embarrassed. Neville couldn't help but wonder if this House-Elf was treated well, or if she was Bonded to her family. He was now feeling irritated at everyone around him, imagining they were all cruel to their loved ones.

The House-Elf swiped her hands over the surface of the wall, then stepped back and announced, "Okay, it's better now."

The crowd cheered, causing the House-Elf to blush. The Ministry of Magic employee Cast a Spell so that nearby Muggles would not see anything suspicious, and the crowd began queuing for their turn to get through.

Although it was almost time for the train to leave, the conductor was willing to wait once the situation was explained to him. The rush to get on the Train was more chaotic than Neville remembered, but then there was not usually a large group of students arriving all at once.

When he got on the train, he headed toward the front looking for an available compartment. There were open seats here and there, but he did not want to sit with a group of older students. With so many compartments mostly full, Neville was surprised when he came across one with only a single passenger.

Neville entered the compartment and asked if he could join her. She had wavy blond hair, doey gray eyes and a sleepy-looking expression. Beneath her robes she wore a pink cardigan, and she was reading a copy of the 'Quibbler'.

Neville sat down across from her. "I'm Neville. I see you like to read the 'Quibbler'."

"I'm Luna," she said and returned to her paper.