Chapter - 6.3

September 1st,

The day they when going to start their new journey. Nicole woke up at five o'clock in the morning. And though the train was at eleven, she was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep.

Alex, on the other hand, had only one bad habit. What Alex loved to do the most when he had nothing to do was sleep and laze around. So even though he was wide awake due to the disturbance Nicole caused in the room, he still decided to lay back and rest until it was time to leave.

At eight in the morning, Alex finally left the bed, and by this time, Nicole had gone through the list twice and made sure they had everything they needed. Her cat and Alex's weird-looking pet were in their cages, and Nicole was ready to move out at a moment's notice.

An hour later, the siblings were standing at the gates of the orphanage with their luggage while the nuns, along with the children of the orphanage, came to see them off with the head nun in the lead.

"Take care of yourself," the head nun said to the siblings, "And Nicole, try not to cause any trouble for your brother," the head nun specifically instructed Nicole, stroking her hair. Though she said those words, her eyes were moist. She was going to miss the little troublemaker.

"Don't you worry, Reverend mother. I will make sure that my new school remembers my name for centuries to come," Though her voice was heavy, Nicole said with determination on her face.

Smiling at the proclamation from Nicole, the head nun then looked at Alex. She didn't say a word, and Alex just nodded at her. This was more than enough, considering how much the head nun understood him. And that was it. It was time to say goodbye. Alex held Nicole's hand, and the two of them entered the taxi that was there for them.

It was half-past ten by the time they reached King's Cross, the busiest train station in London. The entrance of the station was bustling with people, going in and coming out in large numbers. Since it was her first time at a railway station, she was in awe. She was looking around at the majestic building in front of her when her eyes fell on a humongous man, pushing the same type of box they got from the Diagon Alley. And closely behind the giant followed a rather skinny boy almost a head shorter than her brother.

"Brother, let's follow them," as soon as Alex was done unloading the luggage, Nicole said, pointing at the giant man. Alex, on the other hand, could only nod in agreement.

"It's odd. I don't see any platform like nine and three quarters," Closely following behind the giant and the skinny boy, Nicole asked as she looked at the ticket from Professor McGonagall, turning it over from every angle and then at the numbers designated to each platform.

"You will see when we arrive there, and I guarantee you will be amazed," Alex said to Nicole with a mysterious smile.

"Ohh..." nodding her head, Nicole started to look around. It was her first time coming to the station, and it was so grand and magnificent that she could not take her eyes off it.

As they reached platform nine, the boy who came with the giant was all alone talking to a plump, red-haired woman.

"Where to now? I only see the numbers nine and ten here, " Nicole said, looking at the numbers hung along the wall. She stretched her neck to look far ahead in both directions, but there was no sign of platform nine and three-quarters.

"Look over there," Alex said, pointing towards the plum lady.

When Nicole looked in their direction, she saw the skinny boy and the red-haired boy running towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten in succession and vanishing from sight.

"What the..." Nicole was genuinely amazed this time.

"Language..." Alex interrupted her.

But Nicole hardly cared. To have a secret passage under the eyes of so many people was nothing short of marvellous.

"Let's go now. The passage will disappear after eleven o'clock," When the plum lady and everyone with her had entered the passage, Alex said. He pointed towards the watch that struck five to eleven and wheeled his cart towards the barrier. Nicole followed after him.

As they passed the passage, a scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. The sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Nicole looked behind and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the numbers Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on 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.

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