Chapter 9: Chapter 9: We always learn together (Edited)
"So that's your grand prize?" asked Hermione as she held a silver egg in her hand.
"Yes, it's an Occamy egg, it's described in the book 'Fantastic Animals and Where to Find Them' that Occamy eggs have silver shells," said Tom.
Tom's special prize at the magical pet store was an Occamy egg. It was a rare item, not often found in the magical world.
"Come on, we'll talk about it when we get back." The three of them had left Diagon Alley and were in the parking lot. Mr. Granger stuffed their purchases into the trunk of the car and drove them back to the house.
Hermione's house was a small three story house with a large garden outside, and although it was in the suburbs, it was a good example of her family's wealth.
"Here, this is the guest room, what do you think?" Mr. Granger led Tom to his guest room, which was simply furnished with a bed, a small sofa, a table and chairs, and a closet. Everything was neat and tidy.
"That's great." Tom complimented him heartily.
For the next few days, Tom stayed at Hermione's house and received a warm welcome from the Granger family. Mrs. Granger was an intelligent-looking middle-aged woman, from whom Hermione had inherited her brown hair.
Mrs. Granger cooked an excellent meal, which Tom ate until his stomach was full.
It was almost a month before school started, and in the meantime, Tom and Hermione's main activity was reading books. Hermione soaked up the textbooks like a sponge, and her talent was evident: she quickly mastered some simple little spells.
Hermione's room was now a mess. But unlike the usual mess, her bedroom was crammed with books: there were magic books everywhere, and Hermione herself was sitting cross-legged on her bed, propped up on a pillow, with a book in her hand, reading with great interest.
"The 'History of Modern Magic' is a book that I think is worth reading, and I have found that 'The History of Modern Magic', 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts', and 'Important Magical Events of the 20th Century', all of these books mention one name."
"Harry Potter. When it comes to the history of magic in the 20th century, Grindelwald, Dumbledore, Voldemort and Harry Potter are inescapable characters." Tom guessed which character he wanted to talk about.
He glanced up at the bright sunshine, not often seen in London, and the temperature was perfect today, not too cold and not too hot.
"Shall we go for a walk?", Tom offered, "I've been cooped up at home reading books for the last few days..."
Hermione cocked her head to one side and thought, thinking Tom was right, so she shooed him out of the room.
A short time later, a young woman in a sailor suit appeared before him. She was wearing a white sailor suit with a short navy blue skirt and black stockings, Hermione held up the book in her hand, "Shall we go for a walk by the lake?"
Tom made no comment.
They walked through the gardens and up the tree-lined path that led to the lake.
"So, which house do you want to go to?" Hermione started the conversation, "I'm a little tempted to go to Gryffindor, which is where Dumbledore graduated from, but I guess Ravenclaw isn't too bad, what do you think? I'm a little worried about being sorted into Slytherin, or Hufflepuff."
"Well, being Muggle-born and getting into Slytherin is a real problem," Tom said.
"Is being Muggle-born a big deal?" whispered Hermione.
Tom hesitated for a moment, but still said, "It makes no difference, as long as it's not in Slytherin house, they're not so, er, friendly to Muggle-born wizards..."
More than unfriendly, if a muggle-born wizard went into Slytherin, they would be ostracized and take a lot of abuse from those in that house.
"That's good. I was a little worried." Hermione sighed in relief, "So you haven't said which house you'd like to go to?"
"Personally I'd rather go to Ravenclaw. There's more of a learning environment there, the Gryffindor students are a bit too energetic and can find it hard to study quietly..... There are many great wizards in Ravenclaw, for example, the Lady of Ravenclaw is the most knowledgeable and knowledgeable of the big four," Tom said.
It was clear that Hermione was somewhat impressed, but after a moment she sighed again, "Unfortunately I don't know how the houses are divided, and I may not be able to decide where I want to go."
"Students can decide which house they want to go to, their own will plays a big part in the choice, if you want to go to a house, the school won't stop you..." said Tom.
Hermione paused, she seemed pleased by the news.
"...And I think you're so smart, you'd fit in better in Ravenclaw," Tom said.
"Oh?" Hermione raised her eyebrows, eyes flashing: "Well, Ravenclaw isn't out of the question, but...".
"But what?" asked Tom.
"I'm still having trouble deciding between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, so why don't we have a race to see who gets to the lake first? If you're faster than me, I'll go to Ravenclaw, and if you're slower than me, then you'll go to a house with me, okay?" said Hermione.
Tom looked at her, "A race? Are you serious?"
"Come on, don't underestimate me." Hermione tied her hair back.
They walked down the path together, Hermione stood in the middle of the path.
"Now start, one, two and three!" Hermione took off running in a flash and all Tom could see were the heels of her leather shoes clacking lightly against the ground with a crunching sound and the blue ribbons on her chest fluttering in the wind like two blue butterflies.
Hermione was much faster than he expected and hurried to catch up with her.
He ran after the pair of blue butterflies until he caught up with Hermione at the end of the road, not far from the lake, and sped up, rushing after her and grabbing her by the shoulders.
"Gotcha!" shouted Tom gleefully, though he was out of breath.
"Oh, hands off, it hurts!" Hermione jerked her shoulder, trying to free herself.
The two of them stood panting at the end of the path, Hermione's last strength drained from the run, leaning involuntarily on Tom for a moment, but one that would remain in her memory.
The two were staggering together towards the lake, when Hermione suddenly turned her head, "You've lost!"
"What?" said Tom.
"Look, I got to the lake first," said Hermione.
Tom shook his head as he remembered that their bet seemed to be that the first one to the lake won. "You're playing with words."
Hermione smiled mischievously, "I've decided, you're going to the same house as me!"
"Fine, I'll go with you." Tom found a clean, shady spot and lay down.
"You're going to Ravenclaw with me!" suddenly said Hermione.
Tom's eyes widened in surprise, only to see Hermione standing next to him with a smile, looking up at him.
"Then let's make a pinky promise!" Tom stuck out his little pinky.
"No problem!" Hermione also took pinky finger.
"No more lies, no more lies, the liar will be thrown into the glacier. The glacier is cold, the snow is cold and the liar's tongue is frozen," Tom recited.
"What kind of strange agreement is that?" said Hermione.
Laughter from the two of them could be heard around the lakeshore.
"Hey, tell me more about the magical world," said Hermione.
"Yeah," nodded Tom.
...
Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Farewell on the platform (Edited)
The first of September came at once. When Tom woke up that day, there was a depressing atmosphere in the house, mainly because the family's only daughter was leaving to study in a strange world, but also because of the cloudy sky outside.
Hermione woke up at five in the morning, so excited and nervous that she couldn't go back to sleep. She sat up, curled up in a blue ball with her back on the bed and her arms around her knees. She saw the stuffed tiger on the bed watching her intently, so she picked up the doll in her arms, put the tiger's head on her chest and carefully brushed the stuffed animal's fur, then rubbed it, then messed it up, and so on.
"Tiger cub, I'm going to school in a faraway place, you'll have to bless me...," Hermione whispered a prayer as she pressed the tip of her nose against the tiger cub's. The doll's eyes were bright and hollow, as if to say, "I'm sorry, I'm just a little doll."
Hermione buried her head in the tiger's belly, the doll was scented and smelled good, Hermione took two deep breaths and calmed her mind. She glanced outside and, feeling it was time, jumped out of bed and put on the clothes she had prepared.
She put on a white shirt with a smart lady's tie, a gray sweater and a gray skirt. By the time she had finished dressing, it was already dawn. She opened her suitcase again and checked the items against the Hogwarts shopping list, making sure she had everything she needed before going to the bathroom.
When she emerged from the bathroom she met Tom, who looked ready to leave. Two hours later, their large, heavy suitcases were loaded into the Granger family car, with Mr. Granger driving, Tom in the passenger seat, and Hermione and Mrs. Granger sitting next to each other in the back. The four of them were on their way together.
Luckily, there was no traffic at the station and they arrived at King's Cross at half past ten. Mr. Granger put their luggage in the trolley and helped them into the station. European train stations are a little different in that they have no security checks or ticketing rooms, and the platform is a few steps from the outside.
The Granger family stopped between platforms 9 and 10.
"This is platform 9, that's platform 10, where is platform nine and three-quarter ticket?" Mr. Granger said with a scowl, "Haven't they had time to build it yet?"
As far as the eye could see, there was a large plastic sign with the number 9 on one platform, a large plastic sign with the number 10 on the other, and nothing but two tracks in between.
The joke wasn't funny and Hermione frowned, but then Tom nudged them, pointing towards a wall.
They saw a family standing by the wall, then furtively looked around for a moment, and the next thing they knew they were leaning against the wall... and then they were gone.
"I think that's the entrance." Tom saw a man dressed as a guard approaching them and hurriedly said, "Hurry up, don't miss the train to Hogwarts."
At the word 'Hogwarts', the guard stopped and went in the other direction.
They pushed the cart towards the wall, and Tom saw a large group of redheads approaching not far behind them, led by a short, plump woman with bright red hair. They were also pushing suitcase carts with an owl.
Tom smiled at them, and the fat woman leading the group smiled back and gestured for them to go first. So he and Hermione took a deep breath as they looked at the wall, which seemed very solid, and then they ran, closing their eyes as the wall got closer and closer, and then they 'ran through' the wall to Platform 9.
There was a dark red steam locomotive parked on the platform, and the platform was full of passengers with luggage bags.
The train's sign read Hogwarts Express.
The platform was filled with the smoke of the steam locomotive, the hum of voices and the chirping of pets brought by young wizards and their families, and the first carriages were already full of students, some leaning out of the windows to talk to their families, others playing in their seats.
As soon as he entered, Tom's mind was alerted to the change taking place, and the second stage of the mission he had undertaken earlier in Diagon Alley had gone from 0/2 to 1/2.
Platform 9 at King's Cross station had also been unlocked.
Hermione was saying goodbye to her father and Mr. Granger gave her a big hug and a kiss on the forehead, by which time Tom had already taken the luggage into the compartment.
"Well, keep in touch!" Mr. Granger released his daughter, rubbed his eyes and watched her walk with Tom towards the train.
"Hermione, over here!" Tom found an empty compartment and, with a leap, jumped up, unlocked the door, placed the suitcases on the shelf and brought Hermione's luggage and his up, one by one.
"Thank you." Hermione smiled apologetically. She pulled a small bag from her bag, "Here, let me share some strawberries with you."
In Hermione's eyes, there was no such thing as a boy carrying a girl's things, even in England, where chivalry was the norm, there was no such thing as a boy of seven or eight boys to help with a girl's heavy luggage.
The two were soon sitting face to face in the compartment.
Hermione looked out the window and saw that Mr. Granger had drowned in the crowd, and what caught her eye was the group of redheads she had met earlier, one of the twins helping to carry suitcases, and the short, plump lady of their family wiping her youngest son's nose.
A young red-haired boy in a black Hogwarts robe with a shiny silver letter P on his chest was talking to them....
The whistle blew, the three teenagers boarded the train, leaned out the window to kiss their mother goodbye, and the little girl their mother was carrying cried again.
The train started to move. Hermione saw the children's mothers waving, her little sister running after the train, crying and running, until it sped up and fell behind, still waving to them. The crowd thinned on the platform, and she saw her father standing alone on the platform, a father she had never seen so alone and helpless.
Hermione's eyes watered and a crystalline tear escaped from the corner of her eye. But before it could cross her cheek, it was sucked away by a handkerchief. She saw Tom staring at her, handkerchief in hand.
"Hurry up and say hello to your father," Tom said.
Hermione came to her senses, opened the window, leaned out and waved to Mr. Granger, who saw her at once and waved goodbye until the train rounded the corner and they were out of sight.
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