Chapter 3 - Philosopher's Stone

After Harry and I had gotten all of our supplies, Hagrid took us to get something to eat for dinner. We sat at the end of a long table and ate soup. However, Harry and I had been constantly thinking about what Ollivander had told us about the man that had given us our scars. After some silence, Hagrid kindly questioned us,

"You all right, Harry and Ella? You both seem very quiet."

Harry and I glanced at one another before Harry answered with a question of our own,

"He killed our parents, didn't he?" Harry gestured to both of our scars, "The one who gave us these."

Hagrid was silent for a moment, causing me to speak up softly,

"You know, Hagrid, we know you do."

With a sigh, Hagrid pushed his bowl away before turning to us,

"First, and understand this, Ella and Harry, 'cause it's very important. Not all wizards are good. Some of them go bad. A few years ago, there was one wizard who went as bad as you can go. And his name was V-... his name was V-..." Hagrid couldn't say the name, as though he was afraid to.

"Maybe if you wrote it down?" I offered, but Hagrid shook his head,

"No, I can't spell it. All right. Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" Harry repeated quite loudly, causing Hagrid to instantly shush my brother,

"Shh!"

Harry and I looked around worriedly to see if anyone had heard him until Hagrid started speaking again, "It was dark times, Harry and Ella, dark times. Voldemort started to gather some followers, brought 'em over to the dark side. Anyone that stood up to him ended up dead. Your parents fought against him, but nobody lived once he decided to kill 'em. Nobody... not one. Except you two."

"Us?" I asked in surprise, and Harry joined,

"Voldemort tried to kill... us?"

"Yes," Hagrid nodded, "That ain't no ordinary cut on your forehead, Harry. Or on your forearm, Ella. Marks like those only come from being touched by a curse... and an evil curse at that."

"What happened to Vo-... to You-Know-Who?"

"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Nope, I reckon he's out there, still, too tired to go on. But one thing's absolutely certain. Something about you two stumped him that night. That's why you're famous, Harry and Ella. That's why everybody knows your names. You're the twins who lived."

I turned to my brother with a mix of emotions etched onto my face. It was a lot to take in one day. But as soon as Harry took my hand in his, I felt better. We had each other, always had and always will.

The next day, Hagrid took me and Harry to Kings Cross Station so we could catch the train to Hogwarts: The Hogwarts Express. As we were crossing a bridge, with Harry pushing the trolly carrying our trunks and our owl, Hedwig, a couple passed us. The two of them looked at Hagrid weirdly, causing Hagrid to stop and ask,

"What're you looking at?"

The couple looked away and carried on as Hagrid looked at his watch. "Blimey, is that the time? Sorry, you two, I'm going to have to leave you. Dumbledore'll be wanting his..." Hagrid gently pat his jacket pocket before changing his sentence, "Well, he'll be wanting to see me. Now, uh, your train leaves in 10 minutes. Here're your tickets. Stick to them, Harry and Ella, that's very important. Stick to your tickets."

Harry and I looked at the tickets that Hagrid had handed to each of us when I noticed something strange and mumbled the question,

"Platform 9 ¾?"

"But Hagrid," Harry spoke while we both curiously stared at our tickets, "There must be a mistake. This says Platform 9 ¾. There's no such thing..."

"Is there?" I went to look up at Hagrid, along with Harry, only to see that the giant man had vanished. With a shrug from Harry, the two of us made our way to where we thought we might find Platform 9 ¾. As we walked down the lane between trains, Harry and I struggled to find the right platform. A man accidentally rushed by and slightly bumped into us, saying a quick apology as he continued, but Harry and I paid no mind when we spotted a train master. Harry and I pushed the cart toward the man, hoping he could help us.

"Excuse us, excuse us," Harry said, trying to gain the train master's attention as he was speaking to a woman,

"Right on your left, madam."

"Excuse us, sir." Harry asked politely once the train master focused on the two of us, "Can you tell us where we might find Platform 9 ¾?"

"9 ¾? Think you're being funny, do ya?" the man questioned with a scoff before walking away. Feeling frustrated, Harry and I both frowned when, all of a sudden, a woman with her daughter and four boys rushed by.

"It's the same every year," the woman spoke, "Always packed with Muggles, of course."

"Muggles?" Harry and I repeated simultaneously, remembering that Hagrid had used that word to describe 'non-magic people.'

"Come on. Platform 9 ¾ this way!" the woman urged her children, causing Harry and I to glance at one another swiftly before making our way to follow the family. They had all stopped in front of one of the brick walls in the lane between the trains, and I turned to Harry with confusion written on my face. "All right, Percy, you first."

A tall boy with red hair stepped forward as his mother instructed before he started running toward the brick wall. I grew very concerned until, amazingly, the boy disappeared right into it. My eyes grew wide, and when I turned to look at Harry, I saw that he had turned to me with the same expression. "Fred, you next," the woman said, gesturing to one of the boys that looked like he was an identical twin.

"He's not Fred, I am!" the other boy exclaimed, causing his brother to follow along,

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, George," the boys' mother apologized before urging them to step forward. Before Fred started his run, he revealed,

"I'm only joking. I am Fred."

The twins then both ran at the wall, also disappearing into it just as their brother, Percy, had. Harry and I looked at each other again in order to make sure that we weren't seeing things before we decided to make our way over and ask for help.

"Excuse us!" Harry called as we pushed our trolly together. Once the woman looked at the two of us, I shyly asked, gesturing to the wall,

"C-could you tell us... how to..."

"How to get on the platform?" the woman kindly laughed as she finished my sentence. "Yes, not to worry, dears. It's Ron's first time to Hogwarts as well."

Turning to where the woman had gestured, I saw a boy with the same red hair as his brothers, mother and sister, smiling at us. I returned the smile with a small wave before listening to his mother's instructions. "Now, all you've got to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous."

"Good luck," the small girl that stood beside her mother smiled. I returned it once again before Harry and I moved to where the three boys had started their run. With a deep breath and my hand in Harry's on the bar of the trolly, the two of us ran at the wall together. I shut my eyes right before we hit the wall, but when I didn't feel anything as we slowed down to a stop, I opened them to see we had come to a magnificent station with a red train and bundles of people. As we heard a whistle being blown, I glanced at my brother with a relieved smile before we both let out a breath of air and moved to board the train. All of our things were packed in the storage cars of the train, allowing Harry and I to step on ourselves and find a compartment to sit in. The two of us were lucky enough to find an empty one and sat together while looking out the window as the train started moving. Suddenly, we turned at the sound of the door opening, only to see the boy from before, Ron.

"Excuse me, do you mind?" Ron shyly asked, "Everywhere else is full."

"No, not at all," my brother and I replied at once. The red-headed boy smiled before sitting across from us.

"I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley."

"We're Harry and Ella," I smiled, gesturing between my brother and myself until Harry specified,

"Harry and Ella Potter."

Ron's eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open in what I assumed to be shock and amazement.

"So-so it's true?! I mean, do you really have the...the..." Ron was hesitant to ask his question aloud, so I urged him on,

"The what?"

The boy leaned closer before he whispered,

"Scars...?"

Harry simply chuckled,

"Oh, yeah."

While my brother lifted up his hair to reveal his scar, I moved to lift my sleeve to reveal mine.

"Wicked," Ron stated at the sight until a woman with a trolley full of sweets stopped in front of our compartment,

"Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Before Harry or I could answer, Ron spoke first, glumly pulling out mushed sandwiches,

"No, thanks, I'm all set."

I looked at my brother with a small frown that he matched as we shared a thought. Without more hesitation, Harry pulled some coins from his pocket as we both turned to the woman,

"We'll take the lot!"

"Whoa!" Ron gaped before helping us take the sweets from the trolley. We had picked out a lot, and Ron had moved over to the same seat as us, leaving space for the pile of candies and chocolates. As we ate, Harry picked up a package,

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?"

"They mean every flavour!" Ron stated as Harry placed one of the beans in his mouth. "There's chocolate and peppermint, and there's also spinach, liver and tripe. George swears he got a bogey-flavoured one once!"

I watched my brother quickly take the bean that he started chewing out of his mouth and slightly giggled at his disgusted face before moving to pick up a blue and gold package.

"These aren't real frogs, are they?" I asked hesitantly, looking over at my new friend.

"It's just a spell. Besides, it's the cards you want. Each pack's got a famous witch or wizard. I got about 500 myself."

I nodded then started to open the package. Once the lid was off, a chocolate frog ribbitted and jumped onto the window that I was sitting beside. "Watch it!"

The three of us watched as the frog climbed up before it leapt through the opening in the window and was blown away. "Oh, that's rotten luck. They've only got one good jump in them, to begin with."

I slightly frowned, disappointed about losing the treat but moved to see which card I had gotten.

"Hey, I got Dumbledore!" I happily exclaimed, admiring the shiny image of an old wizard, recognizing his name as the man who Hagrid said to be the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"I got about 6 of him."

As Ron spoke, I looked up at him, but when I looked back down at the card, the image of the wizard had disappeared.

"Hey, he's gone!"

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day, can you?"

Confused, Harry and I glanced at each other until we heard a squeak. "This is Scabbers, by the way. Pitiful, isn't he?" Ron gestured to the rat that was sitting on his knee.

"Just a little bit," Harry shrugged as I smiled sympathetically.

"Fred gave me a spell as to turn him yellow. Want to see?"

"Yeah!" I said with my brother, urging Ron to take out his wand and clear his throat,

"Ahem. Sun-"

Before Ron could start the spell, a girl with bushy brown hair, wearing plain robes, suddenly appeared at the doorway of our compartment,

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one."

Harry and I shook our heads as Ron answered her,

"No."

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see then."

Turning back toward Scabbers, Ron cleared his throat and raised his wand,

"Aghhhemm. Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!"

With a wave of his wand, there was a small zap, but nothing had really happened. Ron shrugged at Harry and I, not knowing what went wrong when the girl questioned,

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? Of course, I've only tried a few simple spells myself, and they've all worked for me. For example..." The bushy brunette made her way over to sit across from me and Harry, then took out her wand, pointing it toward my twin's glasses and causing him to tense. "Oculus Reparo." With a swish, the noseband of Harry's glasses was repaired, and my mouth fell open in shock as Harry took them off his face to stare at them. Both of us were amazed. "That's better, isn't it?"

Harry, Ron and I had our mouths open in shock as we looked at one another when the girl seemed to recognise me and Harry, "Holy Cricket, you're Harry and Ella Potter. I'm Hermione Granger and... you are...?" The girl, Hermione, turned to Ron, who answered with his mouth full,

"I'm... Ron Weasley."

"Pleasure," Hermione replied with a mildly disgusted expression before she stood to walk back to the door. "You three better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon."

Harry, Ron and I looked down at our current clothes as Hermione turned to leave. But before she walked away, the girl turned around to Ron, "You've got dirt, on your nose, by the way, did you know? Just there." Hermione pointed to the spot on her nose where Ron's held dirt, allowing the redhead to wipe his nose with his sleeve. After a moment, the three of us got up to do as Hermione had suggested and changed into our plain robes.

It was dark outside by the time the train had come to a stop, pulling into an outdoor station. As Ron, Harry and I stepped off the train, I heard the familiar voice of Hagrid,

"Right, then! First years! This way, please! Come on, now, don't be shy! Come on now, hurry up!"

Harry and I shared a smile before guiding Ron to follow us as we walked to where Hagrid stood on the platform with a lantern in his hand. "Hello, Harry and Ella," Hagrid smiled, and I happily returned the expression,

"Hey, Hagrid."

"Whoaa!" Ron gaped from beside me at the size of my giant friend, causing me and Harry to giggle. Once a few more students had joined the group we were standing in, Hagrid instructed us to follow him,

"Right then. This way to the boats! Come on, now, follow me."

Hagrid led all of us to a number of small boats and guided small groups of first-years into each boat. I was placed at the front of one of the boats in between Harry and Ron. As the numerous boats sailed across the vast lake, with a lantern at the end of a staff in my hand, I looked up at the huge castle that was up ahead, beautifully lit up. I was in awe at the sight and said aloud,

"It's beautiful."

"Wicked," Ron added. After everyone exited, we were all guided into the castle and up a few staircases. I admired everything that we walked past before the group stopped in front of a woman wearing robes and a witch hat, rapping her fingers on the stone railing. The woman, who I assumed to be a professor, stepped forward and greeted us,

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule-breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."

As the professor talked about the houses, I couldn't help but think about what would happen if Harry and I were to be sorted into different houses. We were never separated. All of a sudden, a scared-looking boy jumped forward toward the professor and shouted as he grabbed his toad,

"Trevor!"

I remembered Hermione saying that the boy looking for his toad was named Neville as the professor looked down at him. Neville started to back away as he shyly looked down, "Sorry."

"The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily," the professor stated before leaving through the doors that she had gestured to earlier. Not a moment after the professor had left, a blond boy spoke up,

"It's true, then, what they're saying on the train. Harry and Ella Potter have come to Hogwarts."

I looked around as a bunch of the students started whispering to their friends. Our names coming out as questions. When I turned back to look at the blond boy, I noticed that he was the same boy that I had seen at Diagon Alley with his parents. "This is Crabbe and Goyle." He gestured to the boys beside him before making his way over to us. "And I'm Malfoy... Draco Malfoy."

Ron snickered at Draco's name, causing Draco to turn and glare, "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask yours. Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley."

Ron frowned with disappointment and slight shame, causing me to feel the need to hold his hand and smile at him until Draco spoke to me and my brother, "You'll soon find that some wizarding families are better than others, Potters. Don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." Draco extended a hand to Harry, who simply frowned at it before answering,

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks."

Draco's smirk, once again, turned into a glare until he turned to me and his expression softened just a tad,

"And you? What do you say? Or do you just copy whatever your brother does?"

"Actually, I make my own decisions all the time," I defended. "Although my brother and I do tend to agree on most things. This being one of them. But thank you for the offer." I gave Malfoy a small smile, not wanting to be too rude, but the boy's glare hardened again until the professor from before returned and tapped his shoulder with her scroll of paper. Once Malfoy retreated to where he had stood before, the professor spoke,

"We're ready for you now. Follow me."