Darkness Falls

One

1st September 1991

Hermione Granger, 11 years of age soon to be 12, was the first to arrive at platform 9 and 3/4, eager to board the train and start her new adventure. Hermione had received her letter inviting her to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry just 3 weeks before and it was the start of a completely new life. For witches and wizards born into a magical family, it was normal to receive a letter inviting them to attend a school of magic. These families prepared for that day from the moment the children could walk and talk. Non magic families are different; they cannot prepare for the unknown, not fully. Children born into these kinds of family are not aware of their abilities. They may experience a few unexplainable situations throughout their childhood but nothing to confirm it; not until they receive their letters which gives them roughly three weeks to prepare for a whole new world. It can be both daunting and exciting, which was the situation in Hermione's case as she was Muggle born.

When she received her letter inviting her to start school on September the 1st, she couldn't believe it. Once it had finally sunk in, the excitement soon followed. Hermione had purchased every book both on and off her list that she could possibly need and read them all before the 3 weeks were up. There wasn't a chance she was going to arrive at a new school only half prepared, she had years of history to catch up on. Hermione sat beside her parents, waiting for the train to pull into the station. Her suitcase was at the ready and her pet of choice, a small ginger kitten that she'd named Crookshanks, was curled up sound asleep in his cage. The roaring sound of the Hogwarts Express releasing steam as it chugged into the station caused Hermione to nearly stop breathing. She turned to her mum wide eyed and pale as the realization that she was soon going to have to leave them dawned on her.

"You'll be fine sweetheart. You've prepared yourself for this, it's exciting! You're going to have so much fun!" Mrs. Granger said to her daughter with a smile on her face.

Hermione stood to give her mum a hug goodbye before she boarded the train and turned to her dad who was slightly less enthusiastic about this new adventure Hermione was about to take off on.

Still proud of his daughter nevertheless, "We will write to you every day if need be, study hard and enjoy yourself," he said with one final squeeze before he finally let her go.

Tears filled her eyes as she nodded, stepping back to grab her suitcase. With one last sigh, Hermione grabbed her suitcase and made her way to the train, waving to her parents before she went to find a carriage. An advantage of being early meant that she got the pick of her seat. Most, if not all, were still empty so she made her way into one towards the front of the train. Hermione sat at the window with Crookshanks still sleeping under the foot well and took a book out of her suitcase before putting it in the overhead, waiting patiently for someone to join her in the carriage. After around 20 minutes the train started to get busier. More and more students were outside saying their goodbyes to family members and finding their carriages. Hermione was so engrossed in rereading Hogwarts: A History that she hadn't realized two people had joined her carriage, or how long they had been there.

"I heard that the Slytherin common room is in the dungeons which takes you under the black lake," one of the boys said.

"I heard it's in the forbidden forest and you can see all of the creatures at night peering in through the window," the other said.

"Don't be stupid Blaise. The forbidden forest is nowhere near the castle," the first boy responded, after which he noticed she was peering over her book. "So, you noticed we are here then," he said to Hermione.

"I'm sorry, I was in a world of my own," she said while blushing and closing her book.

The boy smirked in return, "Figured as much. That's Blaise and I'm Draco," Draco introduced them both to her and held out his hand for her to shake.