Chapter 5: Platform Nine and Three Quarters
Tom Marvolo Riddle sneered at the people passing him by at The King's Cross station.
He sneered at their mediocrity and their false deep belief that each of them was unique in their own way.
Ha!
How laughable!
Wasn't that a fallacy in itself?
They all thought the same, exact thought that they were different from everybody else around them - wasn't that a paradox in itself?
Those non-magical folks and their ever-present delusional fantasies.
He laughed at them because he knew he was truly different from them.
He was truly unique from these mundanes.
Why?
Because he was Magical and they were Muggles.
He finally had a name for non-magical folk. Muggles.
Those children in the orphanage and all the other adults were Muggles, the very same ones Tom hated.
Muggles… he hated them all.
He crossed the Nine and Three-Quarters barrier and finally entered the other side of the platform.
His side.
The magical side.
The world where he rightfully belonged.
There were clusters of people for as far as the eye could see on the platform.
He eyed the parents - as mothers kissed their children's reddened cheeks and fathers proudly clasped their son's on the shoulders.
Tom had always liked to pride himself on being independent and not in need of such maudlin gestures but he was only eleven and watching the loving exchanges gave him a brief sting of bitter discontent.
He also felt a sense of exhilaration inside him for being away from the orphanage and having a clean slate to start over with. However, he kept his mouth in a tight, firm line - no need to wear his emotions on his sleeves and let others see him as an emotional fool and let anybody have any kind of leverage over him.
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Harry watched with barely concealed amusement as his family fussed around him in the proper, pureblood manner.
His mother huffed while straightening his already pristine robes, pressed a kiss to his temples and then walked off to greet some other highborn ladies.
Oh, it wasn't that she didn't love him or anything of the sort.
It was just that she didn't know how to show her maternal care towards him and his siblings in the conventional way he had been used to in his previous life and the other muggle parents were doing to their children at present.
Then, his father simply stated his name with a few continuous small pats on his right shoulder and then turned his face away from him.
Harry couldn't help but tilt his lips in a facsimile of a smile. God forbids if a male member of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black showed his emotions in front of the general public, he mused.
How improper!
How scandalous!
Still, Harry launched himself at his father, grabbing him around his waist.
He hugged him for a second longer and then untangled himself with swift movements. All of this was done within less than a minute with smooth flowing motion - as if an everyday action.
Harry couldn't restrain the well of happiness and gratefulness for having such a loving family the second time around.
Nigelus Black shot a look promising instant death to his heir for making such a public show of emotion.
However, Harry still noticed the pleased look in his father's eyes that he was trying hard to mask and internally, gave himself a pat on the back for a job well done.
Then, The Heir to The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black turned towards his siblings and peppered each of them with kisses on their foreheads.
The two kids were almost half his age at the moment and didn't understand much except that their loving elder brother was leaving for school and that there would be nobody else to play with them back home.
Therefore, they started sniffling and Harry saw a few tear-tracks on their faces. Those salty water droplets on their face pained him much more than a Cruciatus Curse ever did.
However, as Heir Black, he couldn't be home-schooled. He knelt down to their level and wrapped his arms around their shoulders and pulled the twins into a hug.
With a soft whisper, he said, "Big Brother will send you letters regularly so don't cry, sweetlings. You remember those lookie-speakie mirrors Big Brother gifted you?"
At their nods, he continued, "Big Brother is taking one of those mirrors with him to school. Say Big Brother's name at night and we'll talk, yeah?"
Cygnus nodded, burying his forehead into the crook of his elder brother's neck, Elladora copying her twin's actions.
Their family was too strict - father always cared more about teaching them than loving them, mother concerned about making sure that they didn't shame the House of Black whenever they went out and their grandfather - Lord Pollus Marius Black too stern to even talk to.
However, they had their big brother who loved them, pampered them and played with them.
He never found faults with them and even saved them from their parent's anger when they did something wrong - like when they had broken that heirloom vase or when they had accidentally made the curtains in the tea room catch on fire.
Now, Big Brother was leaving them behind - to go to Hoggywartsy.
It wasn't fair.
Not fair.
How come they had to stay away from their brother till xmass but Cousins 'Dromeda and Narci could stay with their elder sister Trixy at home?
Cygnus huffed to himself at that thought.
As Hadrian had already said all the farewells, he turned towards The Hogwarts Express, when unexpectedly; a boy his age caught his attention.
His feet subconsciously brought him closer to the boy.
No, no, that was wrong.
It wasn't subconsciously or even consciously.
It was just that there was an entry door to the train near the boy.
Yes, that was it.
It wasn't too odd for him to be walking in the boy's direction.
Moreover, Harry had had enough adventures to last him the next few lifetimes and wasn't interested in calling or inviting trouble his way.
Also, T.M.R was trouble at his best and a menace at his worst; Hadrian didn't want anything to do with him, in his second lifetime.
However, no matter how he tried to give himself a pep talk or try to prove that his actions were normal, he couldn't deny the fact that his feet moved at a quicker pace when he neared the boy and that his shoulders almost sagged in relief when he passed the boy.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Shiksha_Jerath
Shiksha_Jerath Heya Folks
I know I spelt the two-way mirror, Bellatrix, Narcissa, Andromeda and Hogwarts wrong.
I did it because I was writing from Cygnus's perspective and a 5/6-year-old child won't say everything correctly.
On another note, a big THANK YOU to everyone for taking the time to gift, comment, rate and vote for my work.
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THE STORY.
Sending loads of hugs your way
Shiksha Jerath x
P.S. Are any of you watching IN Vz NZ ICC CWC semi-final?
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