Harry wasn't sure who to sit with. He saw a three boys siting together. As Harry opened the door to that compartment, a boy with sleek, blonde hair turned to face him. He grinned mischievously after a moment. "Hi," Harry said, "I'm-"the blonde boy interrupted him. "We know who you are. Harry Potter."
Harry smiled and adjusted his glasses. "Great. And you are...?" He stood up, "Draco. Draco Malfoy." Harry shook his hand. "This is Crabbe," Draco gestured to a plump boy sitting behind him. "And the other boy's Goyle." Harry waved to them. Draco was clearly the ring leader of the trio. "Could I sit here?"
Draco nodded and motioned for Goyle to give his seat to Harry. Harry thanked him and sat down.
"So..." Draco began, "What are your thoughts on the Dark Lord?" Harry whipped his head to face Draco with wide eyes. Did he seriously ask that?
"I hate him. Obviously. Haven't you heard my story?!"
Draco shrugged. "Well yes. But haven't you thought about how you guys are, like... connected?" That connection again. Harry stood up. "I think I'll be leaving now." Draco's face hardened. "Fine. But your making a mistake." Harry closed the compartment door behind him. "No, no I'm not."
Harry walked up and down the corridor, deciding who to sit with. He finally decided to venture into the next car. In the first compartment sat a red-headed boy, all alone. Harry slid the door open. "Hi," he said. The boy grinned. "Hi. I'm Ron Weasley. Nice to meet you." Harry sat down across from the boy. "I'm Harry Potter." Ron's eyes widened. "Is it true? Do you really have the... the scar?" Harry lifted his bangs to reveal a scar
---
Harry and Ron were just chatting in the compartment, and the train had completed about three quarters of the journey to Hogwarts, when they heard a strange noise outside the door.
"What was that?" Ron stood up and made his way over to the compartment door. He unlatched it, then slid it open. At first, they saw nothing. Then... a toad hopped on to Ron's shoe.
The red-haired boy let out a yelp. Harry just chuckled and scooped up the toad. "Take it easy, mate. It's only somebody's pet."
The toad croaked as Harry gently rubbed its back. "Actually, he's kind of cute." Then there was a knock on the compartment door. This time, Harry answered.
There stood a bushy-haired girl with a smug expression. "Was that you who screamed?" She asked Ron in heavily-accented English. He replied to her with a glare. She turned to Harry. "Well, I see you've found Trevor. It's a boy named Neville's frog, and I think that I best return it to him." She held out her hand, expectantly.
Harry held on to the toad. "I know Neville well, and I think I can deliver his toad back to him myself. Thanks, though."
The girls face seemed to have hardened. "Okay, fine." She lowered her hand. She was about to turn and leave when she noticed something... familiar, let's say... about the boy.
She gasped. "Holy crickets! You're Harry Potter!" She stuck out her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger." Harry shook her hand nervously. Was everybody going to be like this to him?
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Hermione. That's Ron," Harry gestured to the other side of the compartment in which Ron was seated.
Ron smiled only to reveal his teeth full of sweets. Hermione crinkled her nose with disgust. "Pleasure."
She turned back to Harry, "Well, you two best change into your robes. We're going to be there soon." She was nearly past the threshold when she whipped her head back around to look at Ron. "You've got dirt on your nose. Just there. Did you know?" Before he could reply she was half way down the hall.
Ron rubbed his nose self consciously. Harry stood up. "Ron, the dirt is gone. Let's go change into our robes."
