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otunnicliffe · 7 months ago

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Chloe + Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone

Chapter Six: The Journey From Platform Nine And Three-Quarters.

'Well there is no need to wait,' Dumbledore said, 'Let's continue on.'

He pauses for a moment, then says 'I think myself and Professor McGonagall will pick who reads from now on.'

'How come, sir?' Kimberly asks, looking confused.

'Because from this chapter, you are going to meet more children of some of you,' he explained.

'More children of us?' Molly asks.

'But whom?' Arabella adds.

'All will be revealed in this chapter,' McGonagall tells them sternly.

'Miss Wesia, would you like to read next?' Dumbledore asks.

Pandora stands up and sits in the readers chair, and takes the book of Professor McGonagall.

'This chapter,' She told them, 'Is entitled: 'The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.'

'They're going to Hogwarts James!' Gwendolyn says, excitedly.

Chloe and Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun. True, Dudley was now so scared of them both he wouldn't stay in the same room,

'Payback for all the years of abuse!' James argued.

while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him -- in fact, they didn't speak to them at all. Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with the twins in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.

Chloe and Harry kept to their room, with their new pets for company. Chloe had decided to call her cat Mittens, as she thought it was a cute name,

'It is a cute name,' Alice agreed.

she also decided the name of Harry's pet owl. They had decided to call her Hedwig, a name she had found in A History of Magic. Their school books were very interesting. She lay on her bed reading late into the night,

'She's a bookworm like you then, Gwen!' Arabella jokes.

Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before they went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper they had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.

On the last day of August they thought they'd better speak to their aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so they went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. They both cleared their throat to let them know they was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.

'He's turned into a pussy now!' Barty jibed.

"Er -- Uncle Vernon?" Harry said, as Chloe was still a little wary of Uncle Vernon.

Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.

"Er -- we need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to -- to go to Hogwarts."

Uncle Vernon grunted again.

"Would it be all right if you gave us a lift?"

Grunt. They supposed that meant yes.

'At least he's learning, I hope,' Andromeda says.

"Thank you." Chloe said quietly.

They were about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke. "Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"

'Magic carpets aren't real, you numpty!' Alice says.

Both Chloe and Harry didn't say anything.

"Where is this school, anyway?"

'Scotland,' Chloe answers. Harry looked at her shocked, he had no idea.

"We just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," Harry added.

His aunt and uncle stared. "Platform what?"

"Nine and three-quarters." Harry repeated.

"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."

"It's on my ticket."

"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."

"Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.

"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."

Giggles errupted from the room.

'I forgot about the tail,' Frank chortled.

Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. Chloe woke up not long after. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes, Chloe put on a nice top and a long, flowy skirt -- they'd change on the train. They both checked their Hogwarts list yet again to make sure they had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage and Mittens was safely in hers, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Chloe and Harry's huge, heavy trunks had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to the twins, and they had set off.

They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Chloe and Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. They both thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face. "Well, there you are, children. Platform nine -- platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"

'I forgot they won't know how to get to the platform!' Gwendolyn says, suddenly worried.

He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.

"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Chloe and Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing. Harry's mouth went rather dry. Chloe just stared at her brother, unsure of what to do. They were starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig.

'We'll have to ask someone,' Chloe concluded.

They then stopped a passing guard, but he didn't really pay them much mind, eventually walking away after a few minutes, muttering something about 'time wasters'.

The twins were now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; they was stranded in the middle of a station with trunks either of them could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl. Hagrid must have forgotten to tell them something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. Harry wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.

'To be fair, Hagrid should have told them,' Kimberly said.

At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying. "-- packed with Muggles, of course --"

Chloe and Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him -- and they had an owl. Heart hammering, Chloe and Harry pushed their carts after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying. "Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.

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

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first." What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Chloe and Harry both watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it -- but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy.

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went.

'Funny,' Sirius said, after chuckling to himself.

His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone -- but how had he done it? Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there -- and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.

There was nothing else for it.

"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman, Chloe following closely behind.

"Hello, dears," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."

She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.

"Yes," said Chloe. "The thing is -- the thing is, we don't know how to --"

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Chloe and Harry nodded.

'I like this woman,' Gwendolyn says.

"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, both of you, go now before Ron."

"Er -- okay," said Harry, looking at Chloe with fear.

They pushed their trolleys around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid. They nodded to each other and then both started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Chloe and Harry walked more quickly. They were going to smash right into that barrier and then they'd be in trouble -- leaning forward on their carts, they both broke into a heavy run -- the barrier was coming nearer and nearer -- they wouldn't be able to stop -- the cart was out of control -- they were a foot away -- they closed their eyes ready for the crash -

It didn't come... he kept on running... he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock. Chloe and Harry looked behind them and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it, they had done it.

Gwendolyn let out a breath that she was unaware she was holding in.

Chloe and Harry hugged each other in glee.

'Excuse me,' a voice appeared from behind them. 'I think you dropped this.'

A woman stood, holding a textbook that had fallen out from Chloe's trunk. The woman was quite tall, and had olive skin and raven black hair, and striking emerald eyes.

People turned to Arabella.

'Is that me?' she asks.

'Yes, Miss Nott,' McGonagall tells her.

Behind her was a girl, around the same age as the twins, who looked like she could be her daughter.

'I have a daughter?' Arabella says, 'With who?'

'With Mr S Black,' Dumbledore tells her.

'WHAT!' Sirius and Arabella yelled in almost perfect unison.

'We have a daughter together?' Sirius asked.

'What's her name?' Arabella asks.

'You'll find that out later, Miss Nott.'

'Why aren't I there then, or am I?' Sirius asks.

'You are not there, Mr Black, but unfortunately you'll have to wait until the third book for that,' Dumbledore informs him.

'The third book!' Sirius cried incredulously.

'Wait, I have a kid with him?' Arabella asks, eyeing Sirius up and down as if he was a flea.

'Yes we've established that,' Dumbledore tells, 'May we carry on?'

The pair were stood with, what the twins presumed, another mother-daughter pair. The mum was taller than other, and had chestnut brown hair and deep brown eyes. She also had a collection of scars running across her face.

Kimberly choked on air. 'I'm in this too?'

'Yes, Miss Fox,' Dumbledore says.

Her daughter was also rather tall, and had long brown hair and brown eyes.

'I have a daughter too?' Kimberly asks, her face paling.

'Yes, Miss Fox, with Mr Lupin.'

At this, Remus had the same reaction. 'But sir! What about our... you know?'

'Doesn't pass on,' Dumbledore reassures them, and they both breathe a sigh of relief.

'What is your... you know?' Pandora asks, curious.

Both Kimberly and Remus splutter, before Dumbledore tells them all 'You'll also find that out in the third book.'

'Please continue, Miss Wesia,' McGonagall instructs.

'Thank you,' Chloe said politely.

The raven haired woman smiled at her as she passed her the book. Suddenly, she and the other woman let out a gasp... their faces paling at the sight of the twins.

'First year?' The brunette woman finally manages to mutter.

'Yes,' the twins said in unison. They expected to be awkward in this situation, but there was something about these too women.. like they knew them before... something comforting.

'Same for our girls here,' the other woman added, turning to her daughter who smiled kindly at the twins.

'Nice,' Harry said.

'Well, we will let you put your stuff on the train, have a great first year!' the raven haired woman said.

'Thank you again!' Chloe called out, before she and Harry pushed their trollies further into the platform.

As they were leaving, Chloe and Harry heard the two women talking.

'Merlin, they are the spit of James and Gwen-'

'Girls, try and made friends with them two, ok?'

'Trying to make the friendship span two generations I see,' Alice quips.

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

"Oh, Neville," he heard the old woman sigh.

A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd. "Give us a look, Lee, go on." The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.

Molly shuddered at this. She really did not like spiders.

Chloe and Harry pressed on through the crowd until they found an empty compartment near the end of the train. They put their animals in it first, and then started to shove and heave the two trunks toward the train door. They both tried to lift it up the steps together but could hardly raise one end and twice Harry dropped it painfully on his foot.

"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.

"Yes, please," Harry panted. Chloe merely nodded, too out of breath to speak.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!" With the twins' help, Chloe's and Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.

"Thanks," said Chloe and Harry in unison, both pushing their sweaty bangs out of the eyes.

"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at the twins matching lightning scars.

'And they get noticed again, it'll be like that all year I suppose,' Gwendolyn muttered to James.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you?'

"They are," said the first twin.

"Aren't you?" he added to Harry.

"What?" said Harry, Chloe looking confused.

"Chloe and Harry Potter, "chorused the twins.

"Oh, them," said Harry. "I mean, yes, we are." Chloe just nodded.

The two boys gawked at them, and the twins felt themselves turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door. "Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mum." With a last look at Chloe and Harry, the twins hopped off the train.

Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. They had now joined up with the two women from before, obviously being friends. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.

'I have a feeling I know who the woman is,' Kimberly said, referring to the red-haired woman.

"Ron, you've got something on your nose."

The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose. "Mom -- geroff" He wriggled free.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins. The two daughters of the women giggled at this.

"Shut up," said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" said their mother.

"He's coming now." the raven haired woman informed her.

The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Chloe and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it.

"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves --"

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once --"

"Or twice --"

"A minute --"

"All summer --"

"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.

'I like these twins,' James reiterated.

"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.

"Because he's a prefect," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term -- send me an owl when you get there." She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left.

Then she turned to the twins. "Now, you two -- this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've -- you've blown up a toilet or --"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."

'Rookie moves,' Sirius joked.

"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."

"It's not funny. And look after Ron."

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us, and the girls."

"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.

"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

Chloe and Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking. "You know that black-haired boy and blonde girl with the fringe who were near us in the station? Know who they are?"

"Who?"

"Chloe and Harry Potter!"

The mother turned to the two other women quickly, whom nodded.

Harry heard the little girl's voice. "Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see them, Mom, eh please...."

"You've already seen them, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Are they really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked them. Saw the scars. It's really there - like lightning." "Poor dear - no wonder they was alone, I wondered. They were ever so polite when they asked how to get onto the platform."

"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

'Harsh question,' Remus remarked.

Their mother suddenly became very stern. "I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."

"All right, keep your hair on."

A whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys and two girls clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye and the other girls for their mothers, and their younger sister began to cry.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George!" The two other women laughed at this.

"Only joking, Mom."

The train began to move. The twins both saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.

'Bless her,' Alice said.

Chloe and Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. They both felt a great leap of excitement. They both didn't know what they were going to but it had to be better than what they were leaving behind. The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy, and the two girls came in.

"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry.

"Everywhere else is full." the raven haired girl asked.

The twins shook their heads and the boy sat down next to Harry and the girls next to Chloe. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. The raven haired girl rolled her eyes at him. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.

"Hey, Ron." The twins were back.

"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train -- Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," mumbled Ron.

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

'Wait, Weasley?' Arthur asked.

'Yes, you and Molly have a few children,' Dumbledore tells him.

After a few seconds of shocked silence, Pandora decided to continue.

"Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.

'I'm Clemensia Black,' the raven haired girl introduced herself.

'And I'm Catherine Lupin,' the brunette girl added.

'Triple C,' Arabella remarked. 'Chloe, Clemensia and Catherine.'

"Are you really Chloe and Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.

'Ron!' Clemensia hissed.

They both nodded.

"Oh -well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got -- you know..." He pointed at Harry's forehead.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Chloe did the same after.

All three stared.

"So that's where You-Know-Who " Ron started

''Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.

'Ron!' Clemensia reiterated.

"Well -- I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else." Chloe added.

"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.

'He's a bit awkward I won't lie,' Molly admits.

"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found the other three just as interesting as Ron found him.

"Er -- Yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

'There's a reason for that,' Molly says, a bit snidely.

'Mine are,' Clemensia says. 'Both of my parents were from quite distinct pure blooded families, but they don't really talk to them.'

'True,' Arabella admits.

'Both of my parents were, but they were both half-blooded,' Catherine explained. 'One of each grandparent was a muggle.'

"So you must know loads of magic already." Chloe asked them all.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"

"Horrible -well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers." Harry admits.

"Five," said Ron.

'Five brothers?' Molly asked, looking wary.

'And there was a girl, so you would have had 7 children!' Kimberly recounts.

For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left -- Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

'That's a bit sad,' Kimberly says, but quietly so Molly wouldn't hear her.

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff -- I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.

'Don't have so many children then,' Lucius scorns.

'Do you have any siblings?' Chloe asked Clemensia and Catherine. They both just shook their heads.

Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and Chloe basically living in charity shop clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up. "... and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort"

The three others gasped.

Most people in the room did the same.

"What?" said Harry.

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed.

"I'd have thought you, of all people --" Catherine added.

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Harry, I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn.... I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

'Me too,' Chloe said, looking downtrodden.

'I'm sure they won't be!' Gwendolyn added.

"You won't be!' Catherine encouraged.

''There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough." Clemensia adds.

'I hope our daughters all become friends,' Gwendolyn says to Arabella and Kimberly.

'I have a feeling they will be,' Kimberly reassures her. Arabella nodded, a smile on her face.

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past. Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?" Chloe and Harry, who both hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to their feet, as did Clemensia and Catherine, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Everyone except Ron went out into the corridor.

They had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that they both had pockets rattling with gold and silver Harry was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry, and Chloe wanted skittles as far as the eye could see -- but the woman didn't have Mars Bars or Skittles. What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, they both got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts. Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat. Clemensia and Catherine returned, Clemensia held about 3 pumpkin pasties and Catherine had a couldron cake and a chocolate frog.

'My daughter seems to share my love for pumpkin pasties,' Arabella retorts.

"Hungry, are you?" Ron asks.

"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.

'They're good aren't they?' Clemensia remarked. 'They are mine and my mums favourite.'

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on --"

'Bless him,' Molly coos.

"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."

"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with.

'Yeah, go on Ron,' Chloe added, feeling the same way as her brother.

It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, Clemensia and Catherine, eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten).

'Fair enough,' Amos mused.

"What are these?" Chloe asked the group, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs.

"They're not really frogs, are they?" Harry was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.

"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know -- Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect -- famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

'He's obsessed with those bloody cards,' Catherine tells Chloe, rolling her eyes. 'Me and Clemmie don't care for them much.'

'Clemmie is an adorable nickname,' Molly remarks.

Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half- moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore. "So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.

'Lets see!' said Chloe, before finally seeing the man that Hagrid held to such a high regard.

"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa -- thanks''

Harry turned over his card and read:

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

'You enjoy bowling?' Gwendolyn asked, 'As in the muggle activity where you throw a ball at some sticks?'

'Precisely, Miss Evans. I find it to be rather fun.'

'Yeah its fun, if its your seventh birthday party,' Gwendolyn whispered to James, who tried his best to not start howling with laughter.

Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared. "He's gone!"

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Clemensia.

"He'll be back.'' Ron added, ''No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her... do you want it? You can start collecting.''

Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. "Help yourself," said Harry.

"But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos." Chloe said.

'Really?' Narcissa asked, looking at Gwendolyn quizzically.

Gwendolyn nodded.

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "weird!"

Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna,

'Quite the collection already,' Xenophilius remarked.

who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

'The devil themselves,' Kimberly huffed.

"You want to be careful with those," Catherine warned the twins. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor -- you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and mar- malade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe.''

''George reckons he had a booger flavored one once." Clemensia added.

'I've had one before too, very unpleasant,' Xenophilius added.

Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. "Bleaaargh -- see? Sprouts."

They had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Chloe and Harry between them got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and Chloe was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny grey one none of the others would touch, which turned out to be pepper.

'Some of them sound abysmal!' Kimberly retorts.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills. There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Chloe and Harry had passed on platform nine and three quarters came in. He looked tearful. "Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?" When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

'I wouldn't mourn the loss of a toad,' Regulus snides.

"He'll turn up," said Chloe, with a small smile to the boy, who looked transfixed on her.

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..." He left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.

'Scabbers isn't that bad...' Chloe mused, even though she didn't even look like she believed it.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..." He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. "Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway-''

He had just raised his 'wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.

'Bit harsh, poor girl,' Alice said.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down next to Harry.

Ron looked taken aback. "Er -- all right." He cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

'That's not a spell,' Gwendolyn announced. 'No wonder it won't work.'

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.

'Knew it,' Gwendolyn huffed.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all

'Great, a mudblood... just what this story needed,' Lucius says to the other Slytherins.

, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard -- I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough -- I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you.''

She said all this very fast.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

'Clemensia Black.'

'Catherine Lupin.'

'Chloe Potter, and he's my brother, Harry,' Chloe said finally, as Harry was still staring at Hermione, shocked that she had already memorized their books.

'Fair enough,' James said, chuckling.

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

'Mental,' Amos said. 'You're children are proper famous James!'

"Are we ?" said Harry, feeling dazed. He looked a Chloe, who looked equally as dazed.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad.... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

And she left, taking the toadless boy with her. "Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.

'I have a feeling that's not going to happen,' Arthur says.

He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell -- George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

'Well duh it didn't work!' said Catherine. 'You know how the twins like to joke!'

"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.

"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" "Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.

'Doesn't make it a bad house though!' Clemensia said. 'My whole family apart from my parents were Slytherins, including my Uncle, who can be quite nice when he wants to be.'

'Which side of Uncle are we on about?' Arabella asks. 'Regulus or my brother?'

'Your brother, Atticus Nott,' Dumbledore tells her.

'Wait, me and my brother speak?' Arabella says, a small smile on her face at the idea.

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses.

"So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" Chloe was wondering what a witch or wizard did once they'd finished school.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles -- someone tried to rob a high security vault."

'Bet it was the vault that they visited with Hagrid!' Gwendolyn exclaims.

Chloe and Harry stared. "Really? What happened to them?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it." Clemensia told them.

'So You-Know-Who is not gone? For definate?' James asks, confused.

'Basically, but for this year, he's not his full self, and that's all you're knowing for now,' Dumbledore explained.

Chloe and Harry turned this news over in their mind. They were both starting to get a prickle of fear every time You- Know-Who was mentioned. They supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.

"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.

"Er -- I don't know any," Harry confessed.

'They don't have Quidditch in the Muggle world, Ronald!' said Clemensia, rolling her eyes.

"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world --" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.

Six boys entered, and Chloe Harry recognized the middle two at once: it was the boys from Madam Malkin's robe shop.

'Bet they've found about about the Potter twins,' Molly remarks.

The pale boy was looking at Chloe and Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley. The other looked indifferent, but still Chloe found his eyes upon her. Chloe also noticed how Clemensia seemed to tense up at the sight of them.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Chloe and Harry Potter are in this compartment. So it's you two, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Chloe was just staring at the other boy, who had yet to give his name. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

'You owe me!' Kimberly says happily, turning to Sirius.

'Oh for Merlin's- fine!' Sirius said, sounding agitated. 'I'll give you it later.'

'Wait, I have a son?' Lucius asks.

'Yes, Mr Malfoy, with Miss N Black,'

Narcissa's face flushed slightly.

'Can I continue, there's one name here that will shock you all!' Pandora said, looking shocked.

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigget. Draco Malfoy looked at him. "Think my name's funny, do you? 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."

'Shut up Malfoy!' Clemensia scorned, making the other boys laugh.

'Just because you're my second cousin, Black doesn't mean anything!' Draco says, eyeing her with disgust.

'Hey cousin,' said one of the other boys, obviously trying to not cause a scene. The boy was brunette and quite tall, and seemed to have a thick, Italian accent.

Clemensia merely nodded back, before saying: 'Chloe, Harry, this is my cousin, Theodore Nott.'

'Yeah I was expecting that one,' Arabella says.

'I forget how connected we all are sometimes,' said the final boy, who was also quite tall and had jet black hair. 'I'm Draco's cousin too, on his dad's side. My name is Lorenzo Berkshire.'

'So how am I related to him?' Lucius asks.

'Lorenzo is your sister's son,' Dumbledore informs him.

'Who's the other girl?' He asked.

'Catherine Lupin,' Catherine introduced herself, looking at the final unnamed boy like she couldn't believe he was standing here.

The boy must have noticed this, because he chuckled and mused 'You look like you've seen a ghost, Lupin.'

'I mean, we're just surprised that you're here,' Clemensia said, obviously trying to keep her cool. Ron just gaped up at the boy.

'Who is the boy?' James asks.

'Prepare yourself,' Pandora says.

'Well that's not surprising,' said the boy, with an evil grin appearing on my face. 'My name, Potters, is Mattheo Riddle.'

There was a stunned silence.

'The dark lord had a son?' Bellatrix asked.

'But with who?' Narcissa asks.

'There's a Black, two Potters, a Lupin, a Malfoy, a Nott, a Berkshire and a Riddle in the same year... choas!' Alice said, her face drained of all colour.

'Yes, Mattheo is the son of Voldemort,' Dumbledore informs them. 'Voldemort mated with a pure blooded woman, named Esmeraude Vance, and then once she had given birth, he killed her.'

'Merlin, he's so cruel!' Sirius said.

'So that's why he was with the Malfoy boy at the shop,' Arabella says, putting the pieces together.

'Let's continue on, shall we?' McGonagall asks.

Chloe let out a small gasp, she remembered reading about You-Know-Who's real name, Tom Riddle. Harry just looked confused, until a nearly shaking Ron whispered the fact to him, and he then looked up at Mattheo in shock.

'Scared now, Potters?' He said, his eyes still on Chloe. 'You know, it makes sense as to why you're so pretty.. you're mother was half-veela, and you a quarter.'

'See, Potter,' said Draco. 'This is the group of people you need to hang about with, not with two blood traitors and a half breed.' He scorned at the other three as he said this.

'Ouch, we're still family Draco, whether you like it or not' Clemensia reminds him, clearly unhappy with the connection as well. This was when so noticed Lorenzo looking at her, and she realized Theodore was looking at Catherine.

'I have a bad feeling about Mattheo, Theodore and Lorenzo in the later books,' Kimberly says. 'I feel a romance with three girls.'

Draco didn't answer her, he just 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 a hand each to shake the twins, but both didn't take it. "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Chloe said coolly.

'Get told,' James said, a chuckle escaping his lips.

Clemensia snorted lightly at this, and Chloe noticed that Mattheo, Lorenzo and Theodore were all looking at her with amusement, they didn't even seem that annoyed.

Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents.

'Merlin man, its not the end of the world!' Frank said shocked. 'That was way too far!'

They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Everyone who was originally in the cabin stood up.

"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.

"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.

'Draco, just leave it mate,' said Theodore again, in his thick Italian accent.

'Why does he have the accent?' Arabella asked. 'We aren't Italian.'

'His mother is,' Dumbledore explained, 'Or rather, was, she passed away when Theodore was 10 from an illness.'

'Oh,' Arabella said, unsure of what else to say.

"But we don't feet like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron - Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.

Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle - Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbets finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once.

Chloe laughed at this, Clemensia and Catherine joining in. She then noticed, that the three boys remaining were also laughing.

'We better be off, but that was funny,' Lorenzo announced.

'See you later, cousin,' Theodore said to Clemensia.

'See ya,' She replied.

Mattheo just stared at Chloe a little longer before also leaving.

'I have a horrible feeling that you are right about the romance, Kim,' Gwendolyn says.

Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.

"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.

''I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No -- I don't believe it -- he's gone back to sleep-" And so he had.

"You've met Malfoy before?" Ron asked

Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley, with Mattheo too.

"I've heard of Malfoy's family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."

Everyone turned to Lucius and Narcissa.

'He's still my family,' Clemensia reminded him.

'Poor you,' Catherine said.

Ron turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right -- I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

Ron glared at her as she left. Chloe and Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. They could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.

'They're nearly there!' Gwendolyn said, excitedly.

'We'll go to the bathroom,' Catherine said, taking Chloe and Clemensia with her.

Harry and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them. The girls returned shortly after, also in their robes.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Both Chloe's and Harry's stomachs lurched with nerves and Ron, Harry saw, looked pale under his freckles. Clemensia and Catherine were slightly worried. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Chloe shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and the twins heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Potters?" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. "C'mon, follow me -- any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that the twins thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice. Harry and Ron walked ahead, so far that Chloe couldn't see where they'd gone. The three girls found themselves walking with Mattheo, Lorenzo and Theodore, Draco and Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere to be seen.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

Chloe stared up at the castle in awe. She couldn't see it, but Mattheo was next to her, not even bothered by the castle, he was looking at her, a lot softer than the other times before.

James and Gwendolyn looked at each other, worried.

"No more'n six to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville, Hermione and two other boys. The three girls were in a boat with the three boys, Chloe somehow ended up sitting next to Mattheo, Clemensia next to her cousin and Catherine was next to Lorenzo.

'They are always with those boys,' Arabella said, concerned.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then -- FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

'It's amazing isn't it,' Mattheo whispered to Chloe.

'It definately is,' Chloe whispered back.

Mattheo looked at her, confused. 'Are you not scared by me?'

'I would be,' Frank said.

'No, you aren't your father,' she said, looking at him suddenly.

Before Mattheo could respond, a voice boomed. "Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands.

'At least the boy got his toad back,' Alice said.

Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, Oak front door. "Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

'That's the chapter,' Pandora announced.

'Thank you, Miss Wesia,' Dumbledore announced.

'I can't wait to see what house they are!' Gwendolyn said.

'Well we will move straight on, and find out now,' Dumbledore tells her.

#chloeandharrypotterandthephilosophersstone #marauders fanfiction #mattheo riddle #theodore nott #lorenzo berkshire

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