4 Chapter-4: Planning and Express

Ronan came back to the orphanage by 7:00 pm that night, towing a very heavy trunk with him, as he entered the building, he was congratulated by everyone that he came across. Apparently, every one of them thought that he had been adopted by a very wealthy family from Scotland, and he would be moving to their place on 1st September. Some of the children of the orphanage were happy for him, especially his friends. While most of them were a little bit envious of him.

People dont tend to adopt older kids than five, and only in some cases, one could find parents that are willing to adopt kids that are older than seven. That is why most of the children in the place had given up hope of ever being adopted, and that was the case with him as well. Luckily, his Hogwarts letter came along.

He was also surprised to see that none of the children or adults asked him about the enormous trunk that he had been carrying. It was like, they didnt notice it. He was sure someone had either bewitched these guys, or some sort of magic had been performed on the trunk itself. Whatever the case might have been, as people could not notice the thing, he had to drag it by himself to the first floor, and then he slid in under the bed and finally flopped down on his bed.

Matron soon called everyone for supper, and after he had his fill, he returned to his bed, opened his notebook, and started doing the most important thing he would ever do. And that is to write down what he remembers about the movies of Harry Potter Universe…

'Well let's see, the first movie was about a snake. The second one was about the black flying soul-sucking monsters. The third one was about the stone. I remember that the fourth one was about the competition. Can't remember the fifth one, the sixth one was the one where the old headmaster dies. And the seventh one was the one in which the pink goblin called Tommy dies. The last one was about the war that takes place in Hogwarts.' He wrote down as he muttered.

Ronan had never read the books of the Universe, so his knowledge was only limited to the movies. But he does remember the beautiful creatures of the movies, the spells, the castle, the games, and all the adventurous stuff that the protagonist trio went through in those movies. This also made him realize that the tidbit of information he had might not be very sufficient to survive in this world.

But he was sure of one thing, as a muggle-born wizard, this world would be very dangerous for him. So he needed to arm himself and become a wizard who was not only good at survival but also good at fighting.

'First, I need to gather information, I need to learn the art of magic. Then with trial and error, then try to find a way to become deadly'

It was then he remembered that there was room in Hogwarts that could help him. He remembered that this room was invisible to normal students and was used by Harry and his gang to practice magic, away from the prying eyes of the pink fat woman.

'Who was that woman again?'

The more he tried to remember, the more vague the image of the woman became in his mind. Pushing his thoughts aside, he started writing down the events that would transpire every year, to the best of his abilities. It is then he started seeing flaws in his ways, he doesn't every detail of the movies. And this could be a problem. 

Then he realizes one another thing, he does not even remember when Harry starts his Hogwarts journey, he remembers that the story takes place in the 1990s, but other than that he had no idea when the cannon starts. Only the gods know what he might do if he enters the school during the sixth or seventh year of canon because those were the most dangerous years of the canon.

From what he understands, if he wants to make it and graduate from Hogwarts he needs to evade every death flag heading his way. And that was the problem, he didn't know what kind of death flag would hinder him. The other problem that he might face in this world is the lack of funds, if he wants to go into hiding when things get difficult then he would need some funds to fall on, which he didnt have.

The only good thing about his situation was his innate talent for absorbing knowledge, if he could absorb all the knowledge that Hogwarts had to offer, by the time he graduates, he would at least be able to survive.

***

On the morning of 1 September, all the people living in the orphanage came down early in the morning to send Ronan off. They all thought that he was going to his adopted parents, who would pick him up at London Railway Station, but in reality, he would be heading to Hogwarts instead. The interesting part was that Matron nor any of the kids even voiced out their opinions on how they were letting a child go to the station on their own. But he figured that this must have been the work of magic the folks of the ministry performed on these guys.

After saying goodbye, he took a taxi that Matron called for him, she paid the cab fare as a goodbye gift, and off he went. By 10:40 he reached the station, pulling his heavy trunk, he found a cart that he pushed to platform number nine. Professor Sprout when gave him the ticket to the train, she had been kind enough to tell him that he needed to enter the solid barrier between platform 9 and platform 10 to get access to platform 9 ¾.

But as he got to the platform, the first problem that he faced was that he didnt know which solid barrier should be the gate. There were several columns of bricks between platforms 9 and 10, and he didnt know which one to choose. There were so many of them. He decided to wait around for a bit, Hogwarts students are practically very easy to spot with heavy trunks. So he figured that he would just follow one of them. 

He didnt have to wait for a very long time, and soon a kid went past him, he was around his age pushing a trolley with a very heavy trunk on it.

Ronan smiled and went to the kid, "Hey!" he called out, the kid stopped and turned around, making Ronan stop for a second.

With the round spectacles on the boy's face with the oversized clothes on his body, he recognized the boy immediately. It was Harry Potter. And from the looks of it, they were of the same age.

"Hi." Harry greeted awkwardly, he waved his hand, "Hi. My name is Ronan, Ronan Johanson." The boy put his hand forward, "My name is Harry Potter."

"Nice to meet you, Harry." He smiled, then the spectacle boy asked with hesitation, "Are you here…" The boy looked at his trunk, to which he nodded, "Yeah. I am going to Hogwarts.. You are as well, right?" Harry grinned and nodded.

"So do you know how can we get to the platform?" Harry shook his head, and with an awkward smile, he spoke, "I am sorry. It is my first as well. I dont where to go. I asked the conductor, and he thought that I was.. Wasting his time."

"Oh."

At that moment a group of people passed just behind them and they caught a few words of what they were saying.

"…packed with Muggles, of course…" They 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 theirs in front of him. And they had an owl. Heart hammering, they both smiled and pushed their trolley after them. They stopped and so did they, just near enough to hear what they were saying.

The small girl holding the plump woman's hand, also red-headed, asked her mother in a pleading voice, "Mum, 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 towards platforms nine and ten. They watched, careful not to blink in case they missed it. Just as the boy reached the divide between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of them, and by the time the last rucksack 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, 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. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done, because a second later, he had gone – but how had he done it?

Now the third brother was walking briskly towards the ticket barrier… he was almost there… and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere. There was nothing else for it.

Ronan had enough of the suspense by that time, he moved forward in order to ask the secret to the platform, "Excuse me"

"Hello, dear," she said. She took a look at them both, and asked, "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," they both replied.

Then Harry came forward, "The thing is – the thing is, we don't know how to…"

"How to get on to the platform?" she said kindly, and they both 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,"

"Er… OK," said Ronan.

He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid. He started to walk towards it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. He walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that ticket box and then he'd be in trouble – leaning forward on his trolley he broke into a heavy run – the barrier was coming nearer and nearer – he wouldn't be able to stop – the trolley 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, 11 o'clock. Ronan looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three Quarters on it. He had done it.