Chương 7: The Train to Hogwarts
1st September, 2001
Harry adjusted his uniform and slipped into his new pair of dragon hide boots. The platinum locket which he had taken from his family vault was very much visible as it was hanging from his neck, outside his uniform. His moderately long shoulder-length black hair framed his face. Hedwig had decided to fly to Hogwarts instead of being in a cage, so he would only be taking his trunk with him. Once he was sure he had everything, he bid farewell to the ghost of Alfred Potter, the portraits and the tearful house-elves, shrunk his trunk and stepped inside the Floo. Within moments, he was engulfed by the green flames.
When he reappeared, he flicked his fingers and any remaining soot disappeared from his clothes. He was quite early so he found an empty compartment, enlarged his trunk and started reading a book on Runes he had taken from the Potter library. About thirty minutes later, he felt the train begin to move. Harry mentally sneered at the display of open emotions on the platform. Really, all those people wore their hearts on their sleeves; morons .
Just when he got comfortable, a brown-haired girl opened the door and asked meekly, "Excuse me, do you mind if my friend and I sit here?"
When Harry shook his head, the girl entered the compartment, dragging her trunk with her. Behind her, a very pretty girl with long, wavy dark-blonde hair and deep blue eyes entered the compartment. Harry flicked his wand to his hand and silently levitated both their trunks to the racks above.
"Wow, thank you," the brunette gushed. Harry simply nodded and went back to his book.
The blonde, Daphne Greengrass, looked at the boy critically. He was a pureblood for sure; his clothes were enough to scream that he was rich, and the casual display of magic proved that he was wizard-raised. She tried to identify who he was, secretly having to admit that he was incredibly cute. Her eyes spotted the blue diamond ring that adorned his right ring finger. It took her a minute to concentrate and decipher the crest. Her eyes widened when she finally recognised it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Potter," said Daphne, introducing herself politely. "I'm Daphne Greengrass and this is my friend, Tracy Davis."
Daphne thought she saw Harry's eyes light up in recognition, but she couldn't say for sure. He bowed to her, as per their wizarding customs, and said, "The honour is mine, Miss Greengrass, Miss Davis."
"Wow, I can't believe you are actually here!" Tracy exclaimed. "Lots of people have been talking about finally meeting you. It's been the only topic of conversation over the past two months!"
Harry rolled his eyes. "That just shows they have nothing productive to talk about. I'm just an eleven-year-old boy. I'm not sure what people are expecting from me, to be honest."
Tracy was gobsmacked at the candid answer and she didn't know what to make of it and neither did Daphne. Blue eyes narrowed as she observed her new classmate. Just then, the door of the compartment was rudely yanked open by a boy with red hair and freckles. He looked at the three of them and asked excitedly, "Have you seen Harry Potter?"
None of them replied, but the ginger didn't miss the girls suddenly look at the dark-haired wizard who was reading a book. It didn't take long for the boy to put the pieces together. He immediately sat down in the empty seat next to Harry and said, "Hi. I'm Ron. Ron Weasley."
Daphne's eye twitched at the boy's rude behaviour. She had heard about the youngest son of the Weasleys before but hadn't had the pleasure of meeting him.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" asked Ron eagerly. "Like the Harry Potter?"
"As opposed to some other Harry Potter?" asked Harry casually as he turned the page of his book.
"Do you really have the - the - you know - the scar? "
Harry would have continued reading the book, but his irritation spiked; his eyes narrowed as he turned towards the redhead. "Does it look like I have a scar?" he said, referring to his unblemished forehead.
The scar on his forehead was present, but this boy didn't need to know that. His forehead above his right eye had a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, but it was not as prominent as it used to be. The angry red mark was reduced to a thin, faint line after his house-elves had done something to it, but Harry usually covered it up whenever he was in public. He couldn't do it every day; it was too much of a bother, but for days like this…
Ron spluttered. "But - but - everyone knows you have a scar! You're hiding it, aren't you?"
Harry tuned him out as he continued to read. He wondered if this was how Hogwarts was going to be, with people gawking at him and interrupting his quiet time. If that were the case, his time at the school was going to be harder than he thought.
The ginger, having not noticed, or just did not care that Harry wasn't paying attention, kept his monologue going, telling Harry about the different Houses of Hogwarts and how Gryffindor was the best. Daphne and Tracy were talking to each other in hushed tones when the door was rudely yanked open again. A girl with incredibly bushy hair and large front teeth peered inside the compartment.
"Has anyone seen a toad?" asked the girl in a bossy tone. "A boy named Neville has lost one."
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