Dynamite Duo (1)

Chapter 4- The Hogwarts Express

We arrive at the station not long after finishing our drinks. Harry and I got trolleys to push our stuff along more easily. Shadow had to go back in his cage which he didn't like much but it had to be done. "Blimey is that the time!? Sorry you two but I have to get going Dumbledore will be wanting to see his-," Hagrid yells suddenly, he pats his pocket where the tan package was at the end. "Well he'll be wanting to see me, your train leaves in ten minutes. Here's your tickets, stick to your ticket that's very important you two, stick to your ticket," Hagrid says firmly. We look at our tickets, seeing "Platform 9 ¾" written in gold. "Hagrid there must be some mistake, it says platform 9 ¾ there's no such thing," Harry starts saying. He pauses when he realises Hagrid has disappeared however. "It probably has a secret entrance like Diagon Alley," I say to him, he nods his head and we start exploring platforms 9 and 10, seeing nothing weird or any sign of the platform. We make our way back to platform 9, having a break and seeing if we can spot anyone who can help.

We see a family of redheads pass us, the older woman yelling about the platform we were after. We follow them quickly, desperate to find out where we were going. They stop in front of one the support beams of the building, two signs on either side reading "9" and "10". The older woman steps in front of everyone, a little girl following her. "Alright Percy, your first," she says, out of breath. One of the redheads moves away from the others, running towards the pillar. I tense, waiting for the loud crash that's going to come but he phases through the wall like it's nothing. Harry and me look at each other shocked. "Fred you next," the woman says, beckoning to one of the twin red heads. They get slightly annoyed, one of them saying, "he's not Fred I am, honestly woman you call yourself our mother." They both shake their heads in unison. I smile at the interaction, knowing a trick is going to come soon. "Sorry George," their mother replies, feeling genuinely guilty. George moves in front of her saying, "only messing with ya, I am Fred." As soon as he says that he runs through, his twin follows close behind leaving their mother to mutter curses under her breath. Realising there's only one left Harry calls out to the woman. "Excuse me, could you tell us how to?" Harry starts saying, unsure of how to word it, his sentence breaks at the end. The woman doesn't seem to mind however, placing a hand on his shoulder as she looks at us, "how to get on the platform?" she asks. We nod and she laughs slightly , pointing to the boy beside us. "It's Ron's first time to Hogwarts as well, now all you got to do is run at the wall between platforms 9 and 10," she explains, pointing at the wall the others disappeared through. "Best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous," she adds at the end, the girl beside her wishes us luck as Harry moves into position first. He starts running to the wall, I follow after him after a couple of seconds, hearing Ron do the same. We phase through and are engulfed by darkness before seeing a bright red train in front of us. A large sign on the fr4ont that read " The Hogwarts Express 5972".

Harry and I collect our things from the trolleys, moving them to a trolley stop before climbing on the train. We find a compartment and sit down, Ron follows after us, asking if he can sit with us. We nod our heads with a kind smile, Harry let Hedwig out through the window like Ron advised and I let Shadow out. Shadow curls up on my lap and starts purring, happy to be out. Ron tenses at the sight of my cat, I look up and see a rat on his lap. I smile a bit before saying, "Shadow doesn't like chasing after rats, he prefers hiding in shadows and curling up on my lap." Ron seems reassured at this relaxing as Harry sits down. The train starts moving and I look out the window. We quickly reach the countryside and I zone out from most of the conversations happening. A trolley lady comes by, asking if we wanted anything. Ron refuses, pulling out a sandwich sadly. I look at Harry, twin telepathy is very handy in situations like these as my brother pulls out a handful of coins from the pouch Hagrid gave us. Showing them to the lady and asking to have the lot. We eat tons of sweets, Harry and I having nothing to eat all day. Shadow remained on my lap the entire time, content on sleeping there. I pick up a chocolate frog, handing another one to Harry. "Bertie botts every flavour beans?" Harry picks up a box of jelly beans, placing the chocolate frog on his lap. Ron had moved to sit beside us, the quickest way to form a bond really was through food. "They mean every flavour, George swear he got a bogey one once," Ron says, grimacing at the thought of eating a bogey flavoured bean. Harry places the box down, picking up the chocolate frog I gave him. "These aren't real frogs are they?" he asks, worried. Ron reassures him saying, "it's just a spell, besides it's the cards you want. Each pack has a famous witch or wizard, I have about five hundred myself." "Maybe we'll see you in there," I say, elbowing Harry lightly. He shoves my shoulder lightly before opening the box. A moving chocolate frog looks at us before jumping out the window. Harry doesn't care much for the lost frog, picking up the card at the bottom and turning it over. "I've got Dumbledore!" Harry exclaims excitedly. "I got about six of him, " Ron says. Eager to open mine, I pop the box open, grabbing the frog before it jumps off. I split it in half as it wriggles, giving one half to Harry who accepts it. I turn my card over and see Godric Gryffindor. "He's gone!" Harry exclaims looking at his card. "Well you can't expect him to hang around all day, can you?" Ron says. We hear squeaking from his lap and see his rat's head in a box of Bertie Botts. "This is Scabbers by the way, pathetic isn't he," Ron says, disappointed and slightly mad. Harry grimaces, trying not to seem rude he says, "just a little bit." "Fred gave me a spell that's supposed to turn him yellow, want to see?" Ron asks. From the stories we've traded with each other I don't think the spell will work. Fred and George Weasley seem like trouble makers, who also like to tease their siblings and parents. Eager to see a spell though, Harry agrees. Ron takes his wand and clears his throat dramatically. I don't think he believes it will work either.

"Has anyone seen a toad?" a girl with bushy hair asks us. "A boy named Neville's lost one," she continues. "No we haven't sorry we can't help," I say, slightly concerned for the boy. It could have jumped off the train like Harry's chocolate frog after all. "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see then," the girl says, a bit rudely. Ron's mouth is still full of sweets, so when he finally recites the "spell" it comes out slightly muffled. As expected nothing happens. I have to bite my lip to hide a smile, these Weasley twins seem very amusing. Ron and Harry shrug at each other, Ron seems to have expected this so he doesn't seem surprised. "Are you sure that's a real spell? Well it's not very good is it," the girl says. I frown at her, just because it wasn't real doesn't mean she had to be rude about it. Ron and Harry share a look with each other, clearly thinking the same thing I was. "Of course I've only tried a few simple spells myself, but they've all worked for me," she continues, sitting down in front of Harry. "For example," she says, pointing a wand in Harry's face. Shadow, sensing the tension, leaps of my lap, which helps as I position myself ready to Harry with whatever spell she casts. "Oculus Reparo," she says. The tape of Harry's glasses flies off, revealing them to be intact once again. Ron gapes at her and Harry takes them off in wonder. "That's better isn't it," she says proudly. "Holy Cricket! You're Harry Potter, that means you must be (Y/N) Potter," the girl says. She sticks her hand out to Harry, introducing herself, "I'm Hermione Granger," she says. Harry shakes her hand and she moves hers in my direction. I smile politely and shake her hand. She's the first one who wants to handshake with me after realising who we are, most focused on Harry. She looks at Ron, a bit disgusted by him shoving his mouth with sweets, "And you are?" "Ron Weasley," he says, mouth full of chocolate. "Pleasure," Hermione states bitterly. "You should probably change into your robes, I expect we'll be arriving soon," she says, walking out to continue looking for the missing toad.