Alohomora

2) Platform 9 3/4

Standing in the front room, dressed in my brand new Hogwarts robes, my parents were taking photos of me and telling me how proud they were. My nerves were starting to kick in. "are you ready Ruby?" asked my dad, pointing his wand at my trunk making it float in the air. I nodded. My mother took my hand and smiled down at me. "you'll be fine, its a new adventure for you, stick with Draco but im sure you will make so many new friends, your father and I are so proud of you, you will have an amazing time at Hogwarts, i certainly did, we better get a move on, you dont want to miss the train!" she said, looking at the clock. I took once last look around the room before walking out the door. It was sad thinking I wouldn't be back for a few months, but as I had been told many times, Hogwarts would be my second home. 

There wasn't any time to stop for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron, so we had to pass through. Lots of other wizarding families filled the bar, with students in Hogwarts uniforms, hurridly gathering their belongings, trying to drag their parents away to get to the station. We didn't see the Malfoys.

With 10 minutes to go, my parents and I were standing between platforms 9 and 10. "We will all go together, just run towards the wall, don't worry about hitting it because you wont, dont panic just run"said my Dad, taking hold of the luggage trolley. My mum took my arm again and on the count of three we ran at the wall. I closed my eyes and braced myself to feel the pain of the brick wall but it didn't come. I opened my eyes to see wafts of steam, floating onto the platform. A red sign hung from the wall we had just came through telling us we had made it to platform 9 3/4. The sounds of chatting, laughter and animals such as owls squarking and cats purring, filled the air. People were rushing around. I tried to take it all in but it was overwhelming. Excitment started to build up inside of me, but my nerves were still high.  A whistle sounded. My parents hugged me and said their goodbyes, i tried to keep the tears from escaping, i didn't want people to think i was stupid. Luckily i heard a familiar voice. "come on Ruby!we need to get seats!" shouted Draco as his family approached. His mother hugged him and his dad give him a nod, whilsy both my parents seemed like they wouldn't let me go. Our families were very different. "we have to go now!" cried Draco as doors started slamming. I said one last goodbye to my parents and joined Draco on the train. The first carridge was completely full with older students so we kept going until in the 3rd carridge we finally found Pansy, Goyle and Crabbe sat in a compartment. None of them were talking and they all looked up as we entered. "thanks for saving us seats, just think in a few hours time we will all be sat in the Slytherin common room together"said Draco excitedly. The others nodded. The atmosphere was frosty. Although all our families knew each other, except from Draco i wasn't really friendly with the others. But i decided i was going to try and become friends with them, especially Pansy incase i was in Slytherin with them. I didn't want to be the girl with no friends. "have you heard, Harry Potter is on the train?" asked Pansy, looking at Draco. "what?i thought it was a rumour, i knew he was our age but i didn't know he was starting! Crabbe, Goyle, lets go find him, get him with us before he makes friends with any unworthy people" smirked Draco. Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other, then stood up and followed Draco out of the compartment, then he turned back to me and Pansy "we wont be too long"he said, before they disappeared. 

Pansy didn't say anything for a while, and the awkwardness wasn't doing any good for my nerves. Finally after what seemed like an hour she turned to me. "they've been gone a while, do you think they're ok?"she asked. "they've probably found Harry and cant find their way back to us"i replied. She was right though, they should have been back by now. She was about to say something when the door slid open. But it wasnt the boys. A small round witch was stood in the door frame. Infront of her was a large trolley, stacked with sweets from Every Flavour Beans, which were my favourite to pumpkin pasties. "anything from the trolley?"she asked, smiling. Pansy and I put our money together and bought some beans and chocolate frogs. We started taking more after that. She didn't seem as bad as i thought she was, but every now and then she would moan about something new. First, she didn't like that Draco had left us, then she didn't like that Draco hadn't come back and then she didn't like how much time Draco and I spent together. I guessed she might quite like him.

The train started slowing down, i looked out the window and the sky was darkening. The door slid open again and this time Draco, Crabbe and Goyle entered. Goyle had a bruise on his face he didn't have when he left, Crabbes uniform was now in a mess. "you were gone ages, what happened? and where is Harry" asked Pansy, looking them up and down. "we got held up, and that Potter is not what everyone says he is, he isn't worth it"said Draco bitterly. The train had stopped and people started filling the train corridors, rushing to get out onto the platform. We gathered our things and followed a group of 3rd years off the train. 

"Firs' years, follow me" shouted  gruff voice. A tall, giant of a man was the speaker. He had shaggy hair and towered over everyone. Once he had decided all us first years were present, he waved a massive hand to indicate we should follow him. We were lead down a slope, the path surrounded by trees, the hooting of owls echoing throughout. Draco walked next to me. After about 10 minutes we came to a clearing. We were stood on the edge of a large lake. The giant moon in the sky was reflected onto the water making it shimmer silver. A dozen small wooden boats were floaring at the edge. "My name is Hagrid and im keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts, Righ' now everyone get into groups and pick a boat, we will sail up to Hogwarts, no messin' you don' wanna fall in this lake, dunno' what sort of creatures are at the bottom"he laughed, but everyone exchanged nervous glances. "go on then" said Hagrid. He picked a boat and sat in it, taking up all the room. Pansy, Goyle, Crabbe and I climbed into the second boat. When everyone was seating, the boats started to float away from the water edge. We were on our final part of the journey. 

As we approached the castle, everyone was silenced. The castle stood on the edge of the other side of the lake. Hundreds of windows were lit, illuminating the grounds. The turrets were taller than i had ever seen before. Because of the darkness, we couldn't see much else, but just the enormous stone castle was enough to take everyones breath away. Excitment was starting to take over my nerves. The boats neared the decking and hit the edge with a small bump. People scrambled out of the boats, not wanting to wait another minute. When everyone was out of their boats, Hagrid spoke again. "here we go!" he smiled as we followed him up a stone staircase. Draco turned to me. "this is it Ruby, we are finally at Hogwarts!"