The Wolf of Hogwarts

Chapter 5

Harry stood in Kings Cross, his knapsack over his shoulders and his trunk shrunken down and in his pocket. He watched as a multitude of people passed by him, ignoring the well dressed pre-teen. 

Harry smiled and walked towards platforms nine and ten. He stood off to the side as he watched a familiar girl say good bye to her parents and go through the wall between platforms nine and ten. He stood there looking at the wall. Finally he shrugged and walked past the parents of the girl and through the wall. 

Harry immediately got out of the way on the other side and took his time to take in the sights and sounds. Just like in Diagon Alley the air was thick with magic. Harry watched it dance around the kids chasing pets and friends. 

On the far side of the platform was a large maroon and black steam train. Harry made his way there, weaving in and out of the crowd with an ability that could only be picked up on the streets. 

He slipped onto the train easily and found an empty compartment. He tossed his bag on the seat and sat down next to the window. He watched as families said good bye to each other. Harry turned away from the window, feeling funny and pulled out his fathers letter. 

He had found hidden pockets riddled throughout his godfathers jacket and taken to carrying around his mother diary and the letters from his family. Opening the letter he read through it one more time, trying to pick out anything that could be useful to him. The last line of the letter, The Stone is with the Gaunts, had puzzled him for days on end. He still had yet to ask someone to tell him about the tale of the three brother though. That might help. 

Harry was startled out of his reprieve when the train started moving. He folded the letter back up and put it back in his hidden pocket. He opened his bag and pulled out Advanced Rune Translation.

Harry was staring out the window, munching on a chocolate frog he'd bought, when the door to his compartment was opened. A girl with dark brown skin and wild bushy hair peaked in. "Can I sit here?" Something about her seemed familiar to him. Something like. . . her scent.  

Harry got the whiff of vanilla from here and nodded to the seat opposite. This was the girl he had caught scent of in the bank. He held out his hand. "I'm Harry Potter. Whats your name?" He had no clue if this was how greetings where done between children. He had watched adults greet each other the same way and theorized that it shouldn't be too different with children. 

He wondered if he did something wrong when the girl just stared at him with wide brown eyes. He retracted his hand. "Did I do something wrong?" The girl gave a start before erupting into a deep blush. Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! It's just I read about you in Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Most Recent Wizarding History. I was trying to figure out if they had any truth to them. I'm terribly sorry for staring. My mother says I have a bad habit of just staring at people and I've been trying to work, on, it. . . and now I've scared you." 

Harry was amazed that the girl was able to say all that without taking a breath.

The girl sighed and looked down at her lap. She timidly peaked up at him through a curtain of her hair. "I'm Hermione Granger. Do you think you can forgive me?" Harry cocked his head and looked at the girl. To him it was obvious that she didn't have much, if any experience with talking to other kids. 

He knew from the few times he saw kids meet each other that they don't ramble on. Meaning that this Hermione was problem one of those kids who was always on the edge of the group, not really there. He looked her up and down, taking in the book sitting beside her -which upon closer inspection was Hogwarts: A History - the book bag that she had set down which was almost definitely filled with more books.