Chapter 6 The Train Ride

Harry was confused. He was standing in Kings Cross station and had no idea what to do next. Hagrid hadn't told him how to get onto the platform. He looked ridiculous with his trunk on a trolley and his owl hooting at him. Everyone around him was giving him queer looks. He tried to blend in, but with his secondhand clothes, which were much better than Dudley's, and his pet being noisy he stood out.

He was just getting to the point of a nervous breakdown, when he spotted a girl and her parents. She stood out because she was already dressed in the school uniform, sans robes.

"Excuse me," he called to them, "does the word Hogwarts mean anything to you?" he asked, quietly when they stopped near him.

"Oh yes, but shush, others can't know," the bushy-haired girl said, closing the distance between them. "Weren't you told how to get to the train? That was very neglectful of them. You can come with us. I know the way," she said hurriedly, and grabbed his shirt and started pulling him along.

"Hermione," her mum chastised, making the girl halt her progress. "Let the poor boy follow on his own accord," she reprimanded, smiling at Harry.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just ever so excited,' the now named Hermione said, letting Harry go, but hurrying along.

"It's fine," Harry mumbled, wondering what he was getting into. He walked behind her, and they came to the partition that separated platform 9 from 10.

"We have to go through the wall," she said, looking around to make sure they weren't overheard, and then seeing his confused look, she added, "It's magic. Really, it won't hurt you. Professor McGonagall told me all about it. It's so non-magical folks don't see the train. The barrier has a spell on it to hide us going through."

Harry looked at the wall with trepidation. He wasn't sure he wanted to run at what looked like a brick wall.

"I'll go first," she offered. "But first I have to say good-bye to my parents. Their non-magical, you see. So, they can't go through. Well, my dad is from a magical family, but he doesn't have much magic, so they call him squib. Isn't that the most horrid word?" she asked, then without waiting for a reply, she turned to her parents and tearfully said her good-byes.

"It's okay, honey, we'll see you at Christmas," her mum said, petting her hair.

"Okay, Mum. I'll see you then,' Hermione said, then turned quickly, as if she would change her mind if she stayed another second, and ran, pushing her trolley through the wall.

Harry gaped, she made it.

"Go on, young man," the girl's dad said, giving Harry a gentle push.

Harry took it as his cue and followed behind his new acquaintance. When he got through the barrier, he marveled at the red steam engine train. Hermione grabbed his sleeve and proceeded to pull him towards said train. She rambled on about all the research she had done, including the first-year curriculum, while they stored their trunks. With her guidance, they found a compartment and settled in. Harry put Hedwig on the rack above, and sat opposite the rambling girl.

While Harry and Hermione were getting settled, another meeting was happening.

Sally-Anne Perks was waffling. She and her parents had talked about Hogwarts this last month. It was decided, after much reassurance from Professor Snape that Hogwarts was safe, that she would attend. It was only after they had discussed it that they sent her reply. It was almost late, they waited until the last moment.

However, now that she was here, she didn't want to go. She knew that her parents had spent quite a bit of money on this, so she tried to steel her nerves.

She was brought out of her indecision by a cheerful voice.

"Hey there, I remember you," a dark-skinned boy said. "You were in the Alley. You were with that greasy-haired professor," Dean exclaimed, coming to her side, followed by his mum.

"Yes," she said, shaking bit, trying not to hide behind her father.

"Do you want to sit together on the train? We can find other muggleborns and be in a big group," he offered, thinking that she might feel safer with more people.

Their parents were chatting behind them, looking at the two smiling. The Perks were just glad the cheerful boy was nice enough to stop and help their daughter.

"Did you say muggleborns?" another boy asked, stopping next to them. His parents, in very spiffy clothes, nodded to the other adults, and said hello to them. They offered to have tea and chat when the kids were on their way. It was excepted by all.

"Yeah, oops, I probably shouldn't have said that out loud," Dean said, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "It's all still new to me," he explained.

"Don't worry, I'm sure no one else heard. I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley," he said, holding out a hand towards Dean and glancing at the painfully shy girl next to him.

"Dean Thomas," the other boy offered, shaking hands. "I'm sorry, I never got your name," he said, looking at Sally-Anne.

"Sally-Anne," she replied with a quick nod of her head.

"Me and Sally-Anne are going to sit together, want to join us?" Dean asked with a bright smile.

"I'd like that," Justin agreed, then they all turned to their parents and said their farewells. Sally-Anne was crying hard, so Dean took her hand and gently led her away, all the while telling her it was going to be alright. That he and Justin wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

They made it to the platform and all three of them stopped and looked on amazed or frightened.

"Cor, that's a big train," Dean said, his eyes wide with amazement.

"It's a beauty," Justin agreed as he took Sally-Anne's other hand, placing the girl between them.

They put their luggage in the luggage car, each having a satchel for their robes, and made their way down the corridors, looking for someone their age. They came across a bushy-haired girl and bespectacled boy. The boy looked dazed and confused, while the girl was chatting at him a mile a minute.

"Hey there," Dean said, poking his head in the doorway. "Can we join you?" he asked, waving to the two with him.

"Sure," Harry said, and introduced himself and Hermione, knowing her name from her parents calling her that.

"You're Harry Potter," Hermione all but yelled, not once having introduced herself. She was just so nervous.

Harry slouched in his seat, trying to look smaller. "Um, yeah," he said, his eyes darting to each of the children in the carriage.

"I've read about you…" Hermione started.

"I did too," the three others voiced, loudly or shyly as their personality dictated.

"Um, okay," Harry said, looking around, hoping to find a friendly face, which he did in Dean.

"No worries, we won't fuss," the dark-skinned boy said, then added pointedly to the others, "Will we?" He saw that Harry was uncomfortable with all the attention.

They all made noises of agreement, though Hermione did so reluctantly.

"So, how was your shopping trip?" Justin asked, hoping to draw their attention to him. "Mine was exciting. I found out I'm from a long-lost wizarding family," he said smugly. "Professor Sprout said there's no such thing as muggleborns. That we're all related to magicals."

"I found out I was a half-blood. Professor Flitwick said that it's not well known. If I hadn't run into Hermione, there, I might have never learned about my dad," Dean explained.

"I did too," Sally-Anne said softly, hiding her face in her long hair.

"That's what my research said too," Hermione said, then lowered her voice and waved them all to bend forward a bit so they could hear. "I found a book in a secondhand store, it's banned, though I didn't know that when I bought it. It tells of all the times in the past that this knowledge got out and the death threats that were made to keep them silent."

The rest of the kids gasped.

"Really?" Harry whispered, half afraid, half angry.

"Yes. We're going to need to not talk about it loudly. I want to start a conspiracy, just us muggleborns. If we get a large enough group, on the sly, we can either stand up for our rights, or take our money out of the wizard world, and let them suffer for their stupidity." She nodded her head decisively, then sat back to see how they'd take it.

Justin glanced at the door to make sure no one was there. He thought about all the progress he and his dad had made in talking to the goblins, and their lawyers. They were working behind the scenes to get the debit and credit cards going in Gringotts. There was a lot of laws to go through, and Justin didn't understand half of it. However, his dad made sure he got the gist. He thought about what Hermione had just said, and with what they'd uncovered, the felt that might be the right way to go about it.

"We can talk to the goblins," he said. "They want the vaults open. The head goblin, Ragnok, he met my dad, said that the government, I think it's call the Wizengamot, will take the vaults if they are not claimed. That's why the purebloods don't want us to know."

"That's what I learned too," Hermione offered. "I had my vault opened and there was ever so much information in there. My parents were very upset that the government is trying to suppress this information."

Dean, too, was angry. It was prejudice, pure and simple. Being of African descent, it made his blood boil that he would be looked down up here too. He thought, perhaps, that he had gotten away from all that tripe, now it was just in a different flavor.

Sally-Anne was just plain worried that she had gotten herself into something that would hurt her. She wondered if it was too late to sit elsewhere.

"I have some parchment from a store down Knockturn Alley," Hermione said, slyly.

"You went down Knockturn Alley," Dean said in awe. "Professor Flitwick told me to never go there. At least, not until I was older."

"My parents were with me," she explained. "This secret parchment is not illegal, per se, but it is frowned upon. What it does is let people talk to one another. You only have to touch your wand to the master document, and we can all chat. No one else can read it, which is why the government doesn't like it," she said, reaching into her bookbag and handing them each a sheet. Then pulled out an index card, which was the master document, and nodded for them to do as she said.

Hermione and her family had spent the whole month reading and researching. They had always been stanch supporters of equal rights, and if Hermione had not already been accepted at Hogwarts, they would have pulled her out. However, by accepting the invite, they were now bound to a contract that made sure the she finished up to her OWLs. Boy were her parents angry. They took it all the way to the Ministry but were told that it was a binding contract.

This conspiracy was them rebelling. Though they made sure to tell their daughter not to do anything dangerous.

The boys immediately pressed their wands to the card and put the parchment in their bookbags. However, Sally-Anne just shook her head no and handed it back. She wanted no part of this. She would keep her mouth shut, and her head down. Hopefully, she would make other friends.

Hermione opened her mouth to reprimand Sally-Anne, but Dean glared at her and shook his head. "Not everyone is as brave as you. Don't push your ideals onto others," he said, firmly.

"Fine," she said, giving the shy girl a smile in apology. She knew that she could be pushy, and when she was nervous, it was worse.

"Harry," Justin said, "isn't your mum a muggleborn?" he asked, having read about the Boy-Who-Lived. He really didn't believe half of it, and now looking that said person, with his taped-up glasses and worn clothes, he was doubtful about the rest.

"Yeah?" Harry answered questioningly.

Justin leaned forwards and whispered. "My family spent a lot of time with the goblins. If you can get out of Hogwarts one weekend, they can do a full family tree, for a fee. I think it's a galleon. You can find out who your mum was related to," he explained.

"Oh, well that's good," Harry said thoughtfully, wondering how he would get out of Hogwarts without being noticed. "If I can't leave during the school year, I'll go this summer."

"Good plan," the rich boy agreed.

Just then a chubby sandy blond boy opened the door. "Can I sit here?" he asked, bashfully.

"Yeah, we have room for one more," Dean said, smiling at the boy and moving away from Sally-Anne. Maybe the two shy ones could bring each other out of their shell.

Justin took it upon himself to introduce everyone, and they all learned the boy's name was Neville Longbottom. Dean tried to hide his snicker with a cough and only just barely managed it.

"What House does everyone want to be in?" Harry asked, hoping to get on a safe subject.

"I'll bet I'm in Hufflepuff," Neville whinged. His gran would be so upset if he wasn't in Gryffindor.

"Well, I don't know much about all of the Houses, but Professor Sprout, who took me shopping, was a nice lady. She told me that Hufflepuff was for the hard working and loyal. I can see me either going there or Slytherin," Justin said, his nose in the air, like he was daring them to complain.

"Those are two drastically different Houses," Hermione said, tapping her chin in thought. "You must be very ambitious, but willing to work hard to get there."

"I am," he agreed.

"I'm confused," said Harry. "I thought only bad people went to Slytherin. That's what Hagrid told me."

"What hogwash," Hermione said, with a wrinkle of her nose, that someone on the staff of Hogwarts would say such a thing. "Eleven-year-olds are not evil. Sure, some of them repeat after their parents, but they can still grow up to see the light, so to speak."

"Oh, yeah, I guess so. Anyway, I think I'd like to get into Gryffindor," he offered his opinion.

"I wanted to go there as well," Hermione said, then shook her head. "However, I did quite a bit of research and decided that I prefer Ravenclaw," she finished with a nod.

"I'm pretty sure I'm Gryffindor bound," Dean put in his two cents worth. "I'm brave enough. And I'd like to think I'm pretty chivalrous," he added with a pleasant smile. "Where do you want to go, Sally-Anne?" he asked, drawing the girl into the conversation.

"Hufflepuff," she said, still hiding behind her hair.

"I think that would be the perfect House for you," he agreed, proudly.

"I think, I'm going to try for Hufflepuff too," Justin said, thoughtfully. "What better place for a Slytherin to hide then in the house of the loyal."

Everyone smiled at that and then thought about their attributes. Each wondering if the boy had the right idea.

"No matter where we end up, I'd like us all to remain friends. I mean, we hardly know one another now, but I'd like to change that," Dean stated firmly. "Most of us have something in common, and I'd like to see us stick together. Don't' worry, Neville, we won't bar you. You seem like a nice bloke. Are you a pureblood, by any chance?"

"Um, yeah," the shy boy confirmed.

"Great, you can tell us when we mess up, and teach all we need to know to succeed," Dean said, cheerfully, clapping the blond on the back.

"I think," Harry said, taking in the expressions of all his new friends, "that this will be the start of something historical," he offered, sharing a wink with the other muggleborns.

"Yeah," most of them said.

It just might be.