Hidden || A Harry Potter Story [Book 1]

Chapter 4: Hogwarts Express

Charlotte spent her last two weeks packing and organizing her trunk for Hogwarts. She had never stressed over something like this ever in her life. She had folded her shirts three times in the past five days and had shifted her robes from one side of the trunk to the other. She even forgot her birthday until Remus surprised her with a box full of sweets. "Happy birthday, darling. It should last you all semester, but knowing you it will probably only last a couple of weeks." He smiled as she tore open a chocolate frog package.

"You've only got three more days have you packed everything?" He asked before he sat beside Charlotte on her bed. She nodded as she chewed the chocolate frog. Her truck had been sitting by her door for the past couple of days and she had patiently waited to move it. "I need to tell you something." Remus said with a more serious tone.

Charlotte looked up towards him as he spoke, "You need to know this before you leave for Hogwarts. People are going to treat you different there; they will try to be your friend, some will do anything for you to know them."

"Why? Why would they try to be my friend?" Charlotte asked confusingly.

"Because you're a Potter," Remus said. "The night your parents died was-was history. They gave up their lives to save countless others, they are heroes. However, they aren't the ones who stopped Voldemort; it was your brother, Harry."

Charlotte was told about Harry when she was very young, it was one of the first things she could remember from when she was a small child. As usual she was not told much about him, or about anything before her life with Remus.

Remus continued, "Harry stopped Voldemort, he ended one of the darkest times in the world. He survived the killing curse and it destroyed Voldemort, that's why he's famous." He looked at Charlotte sympathetically. "I tried to take you to him one time. I learned where he was living and I knew that James would never forgive me if you two never met... So I took you to that house, you might remember it, you were around seven. I knocked on the door and this blonde headed woman opened it and I told her who I was, but she didn't seem to hear me she was just staring at you.

"She closed the door quickly and I heard yelling inside. Soon enough a big man with a mustache opened the door and asked me what I wanted. So I told him, I said that I wanted to speak to Harry, but the man just laughed. I saw that thin woman behind him; she looked as if she would faint. A small boy stood behind the man, I knew exactly who he was, it was Harry. He looked exactly like your father. I tried speaking to him but that man pushed him back inside and stepped out from the door. He told me that if I came to that house again that he'd call the authorities and he shut the door." Remus spoke. Charlotte did remember parts of the story. She remembered seeing the big man with the mustache in the cookie-cutter house but she never remembered seeing Harry. "So just be careful of who you choose to be your friends." And with that he kissed her hair and left her to her thoughts. Charlotte began to get nervous again before she turned her lamp off and went to sleep.

The next three days rolled by slowly and the butterflies in Charlotte's stomach kept growing and growing. It was September first and Remus had taken her trunk and put it by the door right after breakfast. It was very early in the morning and the Hogwarts train left at eleven sharp. Charlotte got dressed quickly into a shirt and skirt and skipped down the stairs as the sun rose through the windows. Four hours later, she and Remus were walking downs the platforms at Kings Cross, making their way towards Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

"This is it," Remus said, stopping at the barrier between platforms nine and ten, "You go on, I will be behind you with your trolley." Charlotte looked curiously at the solid wall, Remus had instructed her how to get through while on their way to the train station and insured her it was safe, but that didn't stop her from being nervous. She took a deep breath and ran towards the wall. Before she knew it she was on the other side, a sign that read platform nine and three quarters was hanging above her. She grazed the platform, looking at the people and the train. She continued to walk, Remus still had not come; and she walked next to the steaming train. She ran her fingers along the side of the train and, with her mind off reality, she thought of what awaited her at Hogwarts. Finally she hit something-another person; there was a loud clash and when she looked there were books all around her.