Kim Do-Young and the Philosopher's Stone

- CHAPTER SIX -

Journey Of Nine Three Quarter

DOYOUNG'S last month with the Jungs wasn't fun. True, Hoseok was now so scared of Doyoung he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Jihyo and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Doyoung in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him -- in fact, they didn't speak to him at all. Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Doyoung in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.

Doyoung kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Jaehee, a name he had found in A History of Magic. His school books were very interesting. He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Jaehee swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Jihyo didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Jaehee kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Doyoung ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.

On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.

"Er -- Uncle Vernon?"

Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.

"Er -- I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to -- to go to Hogwarts. "

Uncle Vernon grunted again.

"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"

Grunt. Doyoung supposed that meant yes.

"Thank you. "

He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.

"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"

Doyoung didn't say anything.

"Where is this school, anyway?"

"I don't know," said Doyoung, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Johnny had given him out of his pocket.

"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.

His aunt and uncle stared.

"Platform what?"

"Nine and three-quarters. "

"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters. "

"It's on my ticket. "

"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother. "

"Why are you going to London?" Doyoung asked, trying to keep things friendly.

"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings. "

Doyoung woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes -- he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Jaehee was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Jungs to get up. Two hours later, Doyoung's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Jungs' car, Aunt Jihyo had talked Hoseok into sitting next to Doyoung, and they had set off.