The weeks flew by. Before anyone knew it, two whole months had passed.
September 1st had finally arrived.
To see Richie off, both Harlands had taken the day off work. His mom and dad were driving him to the station, and of course Aunt Annabelle tagged along.
The car rolled smoothly through London traffic until they pulled up outside King's Cross Station.
All four of them climbed out.
"Got everything?" Mrs. Harland asked, fussing with Richie's collar for the tenth time. "School robes, books, all those… tools?"
"At school, remember to eat breakfast, listen to your teachers, and please—please—don't do anything dangerous…"
"Everything's packed, Mom."
Saying goodbye always hit in September. Richie felt a little lump in his throat. No more waking up to Mom's voice yelling at him to get out of bed. No more of her rock-hard toast for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. No more of those bone-crushing "love" pinches…
Huh.
Actually… that all sounded pretty great.
"Oh, Mrs. Harland—is that you?"
A blue sedan pulled up beside them. Mrs. Harland turned, and her face lit up with surprise.
"Mr. Granger? Mrs. Granger?"
The car door opened and a family of three stepped out, walking straight over to the Harlands.
"We never expected to run into you here!"
Mrs. Harland quickly introduced everyone.
"This is my husband, Denton Harland, my son Richie, and my sister Annabelle Godwin."
She turned to Denton. "These are the owners of the dental clinic where I work—my boss and his wife, the Grangers."
"Hello!" The two dads shook hands.
"What an adorable little boy! Oh, this is our daughter." Mrs. Granger waved her over. "Hermione, say hi to Richie."
Richie looked at the bushy-haired girl standing a few feet away and searched his memory.
Hermione… yeah, she was a pretty big character in those bedtime stories. His son used to complain about having a know-it-all classmate just like her who corrected everyone on everything.
Hermione marched right up and stuck out her hand like a tiny adult.
"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger."
Richie shook it. "Hi, I'm Richie Harland."
Hermione glanced past him at the owl cage on the luggage cart.
"You're going to Hogwarts too, right? I noticed the owl in your things."
"Same time of year, owl, huge pile of luggage… you must be a first-year as well?"
It was phrased like a question, but her tone said she already knew the answer.
"Yeah, you too?" Richie asked, even though he already knew.
Hermione beamed, clearly proud of her detective work.
"Of course!"
The two moms had been watching the kids with matching grins, but now they turned to each other in shock.
"Richie (Hermione) is a wizard/witch too?!"
"Oh my goodness, what a coincidence!"
Mrs. Granger looked at Mrs. Harland curiously.
"So… Mrs. Harland, does that mean you…"
"Neither my husband nor I are magical. My father and sister are."
Mrs. Harland nodded toward Annabelle, who gave a cheerful little wave.
"That's wonderful!" Mrs. Granger said. "We're both Muggles, and we've been so worried about Hermione going off alone."
"Mrs. Harland, I hate to impose, but could I ask a favor…"
Mrs. Harland already knew where this was going and smiled.
"You'd like Hermione to stick with our Richie? Of course! Not a problem at all."
"They can look out for each other at school."
"Oh, that would be perfect!" Mrs. Granger's face lit up. "Once the kids are on the train, how about the four of us grab a coffee? There's a lovely little place nearby."
Mrs. Harland finally relaxed into a real smile.
"I'd love that!"
They unloaded the luggage, grabbed station carts, and the two families headed into King's Cross together.
The station was huge, with signs everywhere.
But according to the acceptance letter, they needed Platform 9¾—and that one wasn't on any of the boards.
Luckily, Annabelle was there. She led everyone straight to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10.
"See that wall? Just run straight at it. Don't worry—you won't crash. Young witches and wizards walk right through."
The two kids stood in front of the solid-looking brick wall, staring at each other.
Their parents watched with that bittersweet look parents get, but they'd already said everything they needed to say. Now they just stood back quietly.
"You first or me?" Richie asked.
Hermione lifted her chin. "Me, thanks."
She took a deep breath, gripped her cart, and ran full speed at the wall.
In a blink—she was gone.
Richie turned, gave his mom, dad, and aunt one last wave, then lowered his head and charged.
A second later he was through too.
"Well then, Mrs. Harland—oh, and Miss Godwin, would you like to join us?"
"No, I've got things to do. You two enjoy your coffee!"
"And the gentlemen?"
"Actually, we already planned to catch the football match on TV at a pub nearby."
"Fantastic! How about we all meet back here in two hours?"
"Perfect."
With the kids safely on their way, the two pairs of parents split off. Annabelle slipped into a quiet corner and vanished with a soft pop.
Just then, a loud, red-haired wizarding family arrived at the same barrier.
"Alright, kids—line up, one at a time…"
---
The second Richie stepped through the wall, he looked up and froze.
A gleaming scarlet steam engine stood waiting on the platform, round boiler shining, brass whistle gleaming, and a golden sign on the front that read:
Hogwarts Express
A few other kids in normal clothes—like him—were clustered together, buzzing with excitement. Clearly first-years too.
The older students, already in their robes, were heading toward the train cars.
"Attention, young witches and wizards! The Hogwarts Express will depart promptly at eleven o'clock!"
"Please board the train and do not linger on the platform."
The announcement echoed across the platform.
"Harland!"
A hand tapped his shoulder. Richie turned—Hermione was already there, grinning.
"Come on, let's get on board."
She flipped her bushy hair back, grabbed her cart, and marched off.
Richie swallowed the huge rush of excitement in his chest and hurried after her.