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thomasharrisonfoxtf — Tails Potter and the Philosophers stone Chapter 6
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CHAPTER SIX
THE JOURNEY FROM PLATFORM NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS
Tails' last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun. True, Dudley was now so scared of Tails he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Tails in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him -- in fact, they didn't speak to him at all.
Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Tails
in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.
Tails kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in A History of Magic. His school books were very interesting. He lay on his bed reading late into the
night, 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 he went to sleep, Tails ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.
On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.
"Er -- Uncle Vernon?"
Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.
"Er -- I 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 me a lift?" Grunt. Tails supposed that meant yes. "Thank you."
He was 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?"
Tails didn't say anything. "Where is this school, anyway?"
"I don't know," said Tails, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Big had given him out of his pocket.
"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.
His aunt and uncle stared. "Platform what?"
"Nine and three-quarters."
"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?" Tails asked, trying to keep things friendly.
"Taking Dudley to Smeltings," growled Uncle Vernon, if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “and someone seemed to have given back his real tail”
Tails woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes -- he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Tails' huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to
Tails, and they had set off.
They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Tails' trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. Tails thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.
"Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine -- platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"
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. Tails turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing. Tails' mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny
looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone.
He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Tails couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Tails was being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Tails asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but
the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Tails was 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; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly
lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl.
Big must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.
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 --"
Tails swung round. The speaker was a plump hedgehog woman who was talking to four boys, (all but one are hedgehogs (a girl peach rabbit)), with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like
Tails' in front of him -- and they had an owl.
Heart hammering, Tails pushed his cart 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 the peach rabbit, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go... "
"You're not old enough, Cream, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go
first."
What looked like the oldest boy, a purple hedgehog, marched toward platforms nine and ten.
Tails 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 Manic," said a green hedgehog. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Cant you tell I'm Manic?"
"Sorry, Manic, dear."
"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. 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," Tails said to the plump woman.
"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Sonic's new, too."
She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was blue, tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.
"Yes," said Tails. "The thing is -- the thing is, I don't know how to
--"
"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Tails nodded.
"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, go now before Sonic."
"Er -- okay," said Tails.
He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.
He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to
platforms nine and ten. Tails walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble -- leaning forward
on his cart, he broke into a heavy run -- the barrier was coming nearer and nearer -- he wouldn't be able to stop -- the cart was out of control
-- he was a foot away -- he closed his 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. Tails looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it, He had done it.
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.
Tails pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced red echidna who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."
"Oh, Knuckles," he heard the old woman sigh.
A green hawk with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd. "Give us a look, Jet, go on."
The hawk 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.
Tails pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started
to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he 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," Tails panted. "Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"
With the twins' help, Tails's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.
"Thanks," said Tails, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.
"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Tails's lightning scar.
"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you
"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Tails. "What?" said Tails.
"Tails Potter, "chorused the twins.
"Oh, him," said Tails. "I mean, yes, I am."
The two boys gawked at him, and Tails felt himself turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.
"Fred? Manic? Are you there?" "Coming, Mom."
With a last look at Tails, the twins hopped off the train.
Tails 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. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.
"Sonic, 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 Soninie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.
"Shut up," said Sonic.
"Where's Percy?" said their mother. "He's coming now."
The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Tails 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.
"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."
"Great idea though, thanks, Mom." "It's not funny. And look after Sonic."
"Don't worry, ickle Soniciekins is safe with us."
"Shut up," said Sonic 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?" Tails leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.
"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"
"Who?"
"Tails Potter!"
Tails heard the little girl's voice.
"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, eh please...."
"You've already seen him, Cream, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"
"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there - like lightning."
"Poor dear - no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."
"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"
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 clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.
"Don't, Cream, we'll send you loads of owls."
"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat." "Manic!"
"Only joking, Mom."
The train began to move. Tails 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.
Tails watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Tails felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.
The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.
"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Tails. "Everywhere else is full."
Tails shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Tails and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Tails saw he still had a black mark on his nose.
"Hey, Sonic."
The twins were back.
"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train -- Jet Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."
"Right," mumbled Sonic.
"Tails," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and Manic Weasley. And this is Sonic, our brother. See you later, then.
"Bye," said Tails and Sonic. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.
"Are you really Tails Potter?" Sonic blurted out. Tails nodded.
"Oh -well, I thought it might be one of Fred and Manic's jokes," said Sonic. "And have you really got -- you know..."
He pointed at Tails's forehead.
Tails pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Sonic stared. "So that's where You-Know-Who
"Yes," said Tails, "but I can't remember it." "Nothing?" said Sonic eagerly.
"Well -- I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."
"Wow," said Sonic. He sat and stared at Tails for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.
"Are all your family wizards?" asked Tails, who found Sonic just as interesting as Sonic found him.
"Er -- Yes, I think so," said Sonic. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."
"So you must know loads of magic already."
The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the green hedgehog in Diagon Alley had talked about.
"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Sonic. "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."
"Five," said Sonic. 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 Manic 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."
Sonic 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."
Sonic's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.
Tails 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 Sonic so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Sonic up.
"... and until Big told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort"
Sonic gasped. "What?" said Tails.
"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Sonic, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people --"
"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Tails, 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."
"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."
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 weasel slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"
Tails, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Sonic's ears
went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Tails went out into the corridor.
He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry -- but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. 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 Tails had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid
the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.
Sonic stared as Tails brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.
"Hungry, are you?"
"Starving," said Tails, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.
Sonic 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 Tails, holding up a pasty. "Go on --"
"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Sonic. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."
"Go on, have a pasty," said Tails, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling,
sitting there with Sonic, eating their way through all Tails's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten).
"What are these?" Tails asked Sonic, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that
nothing would surprise him.
"No," said Sonic. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa." "What?"
"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."
Tails 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 Silver Dumbledore.
"So this is Dumbledore!" said Tails.
"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Sonic. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa -- thanks
Tails turned over his card and read:
SILVER 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 in 1945, 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.
Tails 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 Sonic. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her... do you want it? You can start collecting."
Sonic's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.
"Help yourself," said Tails. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."
"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Sonic sounded amazed. "weird!"
Tails stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Sonic was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Tails 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, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"You want to be careful with those," Sonic warned Tails. "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. Manic reckons he had a booger- flavored one once."
Sonic 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 Flavor Beans. Tails got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Sonic wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.
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 red echidna Tails 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!"
"He'll turn up," said Tails.
"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..." He left.
"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Sonic. "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 Sonic's lap.
"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Sonic 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 echidna was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Knuckles's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, she was a pink hedgehog with lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Sonic, 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. Sonic looked taken aback.
"Er -- all right."
He cleared his throat.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.
"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, 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 Amy Granger, by the way, who are you.
She said all this very fast.
Tails looked at Sonic, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.
"I'm Sonic Weasley," Sonic muttered. "Tails Potter," said Tails.
"Are you really?" said Amy. "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.
"Am I?" said Tails, feeling dazed.
"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Amy. "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, and I don’t mind being in Hufflepuff.... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Knuckles'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 Sonic. He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell -- Manic gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."
"What house are your brothers in?" asked Tails.
"Gryffindor," said Sonic. 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, Hufflepuff would be nice, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."
"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"
"Yeah," said Sonic. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.
"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Tails, trying to take Sonic's mind off houses. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"
Tails was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.
"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Sonic. "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."
Tails stared.
"Really? What happened to them?"
"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."
Tails turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a
prickle of fear every time You- Know-Who was mentioned. He 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?" Sonic asked.
"Er -- I don't know any," Tails confessed.
"What!" Sonic 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 Tails through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Knuckles the toadless boy, or Amy Granger this time.
Three boys entered, and Tails recognized the middle one at once: it was
the green hedgehog from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Tails with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.
"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Tails Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," said Tails. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were wolves, 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 Tails was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Scourge Malfoy."
Sonic gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Scourge 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."
He turned back to Tails. "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 to shake Tails', but Tails didn't take it.
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.
Scourge 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. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the
Weasleys and that Big, and it'll rub off on you." Both Tails and Sonic stood up.
"Say that again," Sonic 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 Tails, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Sonic.
"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 Sonic - Sonic 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. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Amy Granger had come in.
"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Sonic picking up Scabbers by his tail.
I think he's been knocked out," Sonic said to Tails. 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?"
Tails explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.
"I've heard of his family," said Sonic 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." He turned to Amy. "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 Sonic, 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 Amy in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"
Sonic glared at her as she left. Tails peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.
He and Sonic took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Sonic's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.
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."
Tails' stomach lurched with nerves and Sonic, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. 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. Tails shivered in
the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Tails heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Tails?"
Big'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 Big down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Tails thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Knuckles, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.
"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Big 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.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Big called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Tails and Sonic were followed
into their boat by Knuckles and Amy. "Everyone in?" shouted Big, 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.
"Heads down!" yelled Big 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 harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Big, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.
"Trevor!" cried Knuckles blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Big'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?"
Big raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
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