Revised: June 13, 2021

I had already made some of the changes about a month ago, but then I decided to just redo the whole chapter.

——————————

"— packed with Muggles, of course —" a woman's voice exclaimed.

Harry whipped his head around, seeing a family of six redheads. He let out a resigned sigh. First Hagrid, now this strange woman. Did anyone know what subtlety was? Shouting about Muggles in front of Muggles — even if people were oblivious most of the time — was not a very smart thing to do.

He watched as they stopped not far from him.

"Now, what's the platform number?" said the woman.

"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mum, can't I go... "

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."

The eldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry watched as he ran straight toward the barrier and — disappeared. Well, that was odd. And how could the mother not know what the platform was? Unless she was quizzing her kids or something.

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said to a pair of identical boys.

"He's not Fred, I am," the second twin said.

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother?" the first one said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, George."

The boy got into position. "Only joking, I am Fred," he said before disappearing.

Harry waited until they had all gone through before getting in position. Hoping he succeeded and didn't crash into the barrier like an idiot, he briskly walked forward. A moment later, he emerged on the other side, blinking.

There it was, the Hogwarts Express. He made it! Grinning a little, Harry began searching for an empty seat.

He found one near the end and tried to lift his trunk up with no success.

"Want a hand?" It was one of the twins.

"Yes, please."

With the extra help, Harry was able to lift his trunk and put it up. "Thanks," he said, wiping his hair out of his face.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you —"

"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.

"What?" said Harry.

"Harry Potter, "chorused the twins.

"Unfortunately."

The twins gawked at him. Harry felt his face heat up.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom!"

"Wait!" Harry said. "Can you do me a favor and not tell anyone?"

The boys looked confused.

"I — I don't like the attention," Harry explained.

The two redheads grinned. "Don't worry, mate."

"Won't tell a soul."

Harry nodded, relieved, even though he had a feeling they were at least tempted to ignore his words. He quickly went to sit down before anyone else noticed.

Fred and George were left staring at the spot Harry had been a moment ago. "Blimey," Fred whispered. "It was really him!" He was quite small, too, even for a first-year.

"Yeah. Come on, Mum's waiting." They went to rejoin their mother.

Harry watched as the mother spoke to her children. He breathed a sigh of relief when the twins kept their word and didn't give away Harry's identity, only saying that they were helping a first-year with his trunk.

Harry was glad for the solitude, even if it were just for a little while. Excitement flooded his body. This was it. He was leaving the Dursleys for a whole school year.

It wasn't long before the compartment door opened and in came the youngest redhead boy.

"Hi. Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."

Harry shook his head. He seemed like a friendly guy.

"Hey, Ron." It was the twins again.

"Listen," said the twin on the left, "we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," mumbled Ron.

"Oh, did we introduce ourselves?" the other twin said to Harry. "Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then." They left.

"Well, you already know my name," Ron said. "What's yours?"

"Harry," Harry replied, hoping Ron wouldn't ask for his surname.

Unfortunately, luck was not on his side. "Harry Potter?"

Harry winced. "Yes."

Ron stared at him. "Do you really have the — the scar?"

"Yes." But Harry didn't make a move to show him.

"Whoa!" Then Ron seemed to realize he was staring and looked away, changing the subject to the houses.

"Wait, wait, wait." Harry waved his hands when he mentioned Gryffindor. "You know for sure you'll go to Gryffindor?"

"Well, yeah. What else would I go?"

"I mean, just because your family's in it..."

Ron shrugged. "It's tradition for us Weasleys. What about you?"

"To be honest, I have no idea what any of the houses mean."

"Well, Gryffindor is the house of the brave," Ron said, raising his chin proudly. "Slytherin is where the ambitious ones go, Ravenclaw is for the bookworms, and Hufflepuff has the loyal ones."

Harry blinked, feeling slightly overwhelmed. "We'll see," was all he said.

Noon had just come when an older woman opened the compartment door. "Anything off the cart, dears?" she asked.

Harry got up and went out into the corridor. He was slightly disappointed. Candy wasn't going to fill anyone up. Not wanting to say no, he bought a little of everything and rejoined Ron.

"Hungry, are you?" he said.

"Yeah. You want any?" It was only polite, plus Harry had never shared before.

Ron's eyes lit up.

When the door opened yet again later, a round-faced boy came in. "Sorry, but have seen a toad at all?"

"No, sorry," Harry said. "Maybe you should check with a prefect."

"Maybe I should." The boy disappeared, looking more hopeful now that he had a plan.

The fourth interruption was a bushy-haired girl who introduced herself as Hermione Granger. While Harry was pleased to meet another student who was raised in the Muggle world, he did not like her know-it-all attitude.

When Harry revealed his name, she got very excited.

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books. for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"That sounds... interesting," Harry said. And a bit freaky.

"Do either of you know what house you'll be in?" Hermione went on. "I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best."

Harry was glad to see her leave after she suggested they get changed, but he knew they would be crossing paths again.

For the fifth time that day, the compartment door opened to reveal three boys, one of them being the pale boy from Madam Malkin's. "Is it true?" he asked eagerly. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," Harry said warily. "And you are?"

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," the blond replied haughtily. "And this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," he added carelessly, gesturing to the large boys that seemed to be acting as bodyguards.

Ron coughed under his breath.

"Think my name's funny, do you?" Draco said. "No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand.

Harry glanced at Ron, feeling a little bad despite his chattiness. Then back up at Draco. "I appreciate the offer, but to be honest, this is all a bit overwhelming. May I think about it?"

Draco retracted his hand. "I suppose you may," he said. "But I'd be careful if I were you. Make the wrong choice and you'll go the same way as your parents."

He left the compartment.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's no way to make friends."

Ron was staring at Harry as if he had sprouted a second head. "You're not seriously considering it, are you?"

"Why not?"

"His parents were big supporters of You-Know-Who. They claimed they were bewitched."

"Maybe Draco will be different," said Harry.

"Maybe," echoed Ron doubtfully.

Yeah, maybe. Anyway, here's another revised chapter where I put less emphasis on the Weasley bashing — because I hate it now.