Chapter 4: First Impressions
King's Cross, (Sept. 1 st )...
"Really, Mum, we'll be fine," Harry placated his mother for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"My boys have grown up," Lily said with a teasing smile on her face.
"Come on Lily, they're going to miss the train if we keep standing here outside the platform," James said.
"I know that, James, but it's not every day that Harry and Nathan start Hogwarts, and you're the one who said we should arrive late to avoid being mobbed."
"They won't be able to go to Hogwarts if they miss the train," James muttered. "I doubt we'll get mobbed now. Nathan has his hat on, and most of the kids are probably already on the train."
"Fine. Let's go, boys. You remember how to get onto the platform?" Lily asked.
"Just walk through the barrier, Mum. I've been waiting for years to go to Hogwarts, and we've seen at least eight families already go ahead of us," Harry said somewhat impatiently.
"Yeah, let's go before Harry goes crazy at the thought of not seeing the Hogwarts library," Nathan teased.
"It's funny that you're laughing now, Nathan," Harry smirked, "because I didn't see you laughing after we got our wands and you couldn't stop a single one of my jinxes from hitting you."
"I'm sorry that I actually have a life and don't just practice wand movements and spells for hours on end," Nathan shot back.
"Oh, that's right, I'm sorry," Harry said sarcastically, "I forgot that your ability to lose to Dad at Quidditch means you have a life and I don't."
"Enough! Now boys, let's go one at a time," Lily said, gesturing towards the barrier.
Harry quickly grabbed his trunk and made his way to the other side of the barrier, and a few moments later he was joined by his brother and parents.
"I just don't understand how none of the Muggles ever notice," Nathan commented.
Rolling his eyes, Harry said, "It's called a Notice-Me-Not charm for a reason, genius."
"OK, that's enough," James snapped as Nathan opened his mouth to respond to Harry's taunt. "You boys are going to have to watch out for each other at Hogwarts, so don't start off on a bad foot."
"Sorry Dad."
"Yeah, sorry."
"Good. Now both of you have a good term, and we'll see you at Christmas," James said before hugging both of his children.
"Yes, and don't you dare forget to write," Lily said tearfully as she gathered her sons into a large hug. "I want to know how your first day goes, what house you are sorted into, and everything else that happens to you."
After a few more goodbyes, Harry and Nathan finally were able to get away from their teary-eyed parents and made their way onto the Hogwarts Express.
"That took forever," Harry said as he struggled to lift his trunk onto the train before helping his brother with his.
"Yeah, you'd think they would never see us again or something," Nathan complained. "Let's find a compartment close by, I don't want to lug this trunk all over the train."
"I know what you mea…wait, what's wrong with us," Harry said, shaking his head and then tapping both of their trunks with his wand.
Nathan's eyes widened as he was now able to lift his trunk without any problem. "How?"
"Feather-Light Charm," Harry explained. When his brother continued to look at him, he said, "It's in the seventh chapter of our Charms book."
"Is there anything you don't know already? Why are you even going to Hogwarts?" Nathan teased.
"Prat," Harry said with a smile as the two boys made their way down the train looking for an empty compartment.
"Oi, Fred, look! Lost firsties!"
"They seem to be getting smaller every year, don't they?"
Harry and Nathan turned around to see two grinning redheads approaching them. Nathan instinctively lowered his hat to cover his scar.
"We're not lost," Harry told the twins. "You'd have to be pretty dumb to get lost on a train."
"George, he's a smart one. Let's introduce him to our dearest brother," the first twin said.
"Oh yes, Fred, a capital idea. Ronald could use some smarting up anyway," George replied before grabbing Harry and his trunk. The redhead looked a little surprised at the weight of the trunk before ignoring it and practically dragging Harry down the hallway. After a brief walk, he opened a door and guided Harry into the compartment. A moment later, Fred appeared tugging Nathan into the compartment that, Harry noticed, had another red haired boy sitting in it.
"Ronald, we brought you some company!"
"Yes, now you don't have to sit all by your lonesome."
"Now play nice boys, and don't make us come back here for any trouble."
"Gits," Ron yelled at his brothers as they left and closed the compartment door behind them. "Um, I'm sorry about them. Fred and George can be a real pain."
"Yeah don't worry about it, I know how brothers can be," Nathan smirked.
"Funny," Harry said dryly as he levitated his trunk next to Ron's.
"Wow," Ron said as he watched Harry levitate his trunk effortlessly, "Are you a second year?"
"No, we're both first years," Nathan commented when he saw that his brother wasn't about to respond. "Harry just has had nothing better to do for the past few years than study magic"
Ron's eyes widened. "Your parents let you learn magic already? You're so lucky. Oh, I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley."
Harry and Nathan shared a brief look before Harry nodded slightly, they'd have to admit who they were eventually. "Harry Potter, and did you know you've got a smudge on your nose?"
Ron blushed and tried to rub his nose a little before Harry's words seemed to hit him. "Wait, did you say Potter?"
"Yes, hi, I'm Nathan Potter," Nathan said hesitantly as he took off his hat, revealing his lightning bolt scar.
"Wow," Ron said reverently as he shamelessly stared at Nathan's scar.
Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes in annoyance at Ron. If he was indicative of how the Hogwarts population was going to treat his brother…well, it was going to be a long year.
"So, Ron," Nathan said a little awkwardly. "You play Quidditch at all?"
That seemed to snap Ron out of his daze. "Do I! I love Quidditch, I've been a Cannons supporter for my entire life…"
Harry couldn't help but shake his head as Ron began singing the praises of the Chudley Cannons while Nathan began arguing for the Pride of Portree. Harry could tell that the two would be obsessing about Quidditch for a while so he levitated his trunk down, removed a book on transfiguration, and ignored any attempt by Nathan or Ron to bring him into their Quidditch conversation.
As the countryside began to pass, there was a knock on the compartment, and the door opened revealing a bushy-haired girl. "Excuse me, but have you seen a toad?" the girl asked as she practically dragged another boy into the compartment with her. "Neville lost his."
Nathan looked up from his conversation with Ron. "No, sorry, haven't seen one."
The girl seemed oblivious to Nathan's response, though, as her eyes were locked onto Harry, who was waving his wand in a circle and making the occasional jabbing motion.
"Ooooo are you doing magic?" she asked before sitting down across from Harry. "Well let's see it!"
Harry looked at the slightly rude girl before a smirk crossed his face. Turning to face Ron, Harry jabbed his wand at the boy. "Pingo Orange." The spell shot out of his wand and struck Ron, turning his skin bright orange. "There now you look like a true Cannons supporter."
Ron looked horrified at his now-orange skin and angrily took out his wand."Turn me back," he demanded.
"Harry, turn him back," Nathan said seriously, "that's not funny."
"Fine, but only if you two promise to cut out the Quidditch babble, it's been hours already, and Ron, the Cannons are horrible, everyone knows that," Harry said as he raised his wand. "Finite."
Ron immediately turned back to normal and looked ready to explode in anger. Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the jinx or because he had mocked the Cannons – probably both.
Before Ron could launch into a tirade, however, the girl spoke up. "I've never seen that spell before. I've tried a few spells at home and they've all worked for me. I'm Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger."
"Harry Potter."
"Are you really?" asked Hermione. "Any relation to Nathan Potter, The Boy Who Lived?"
Harry jabbed his thumb at Nathan. "That would be the illustrious savior right there."
Nathan scowled at Harry before saying hello to Hermione and a completely stunned Neville.
"You're really Nathan Potter! Did you know you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts?"
Once again Harry found himself tuning out the banter. He'd read both books the girl was talking about and found them to be lacking in any sort of validity. Honestly, they didn't even mention that Nathan had a brother.
Neville and Hermione left to go looking for Neville's toad again after a brief conversation about the Hogwarts houses. Harry was actually going to contribute to that conversation before Nathan had jumped in and proclaimed him to be a future Ravenclaw without giving him a chance to offer his opinion. He had glowered at his brother, but refrained from commenting on Nathan's insightful comments.
As the train ride continued and it began to get dark, the door once again opened. It took Harry one look between the pale faced boy that had just entered and his brother to let him know that nothing good was going to come of this meeting. With a jab of his wand, Harry sent a stream of sparks at the boy causing him to jump backwards into the hallway, knocking over the two other boys who were apparently planning on following him into the compartment. Harry then quickly stood up, closed the door, and locked it with a quick Colloportus.
"Know him already?" Harry asked his clearly upset brother.
"Yeah," Nathan said angrily, "I met the ponce in Diagon Alley."
"Who is he?" Ron asked.
"Draco Malfoy. I was in disguise, and he kept going on and on about how superior he was because of his family."
"I know that name," Ron growled. "My dad doesn't like Mr. Malfoy at all."
As Ron and Nathan began talking about how they couldn't wait to learn how to curse Draco, Harry shook his head and went back to reading. It wasn't like he needed a class to learn how to curse people; he'd been subtlety cursing Nathan since he got his wand –not that his brother noticed a lot, Nathan probably just assumed he'd been extremely accident-prone or unlucky during the month of August.
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