GO, Harry! GO! GO!

"What should we do now?" Harry asked nervously, looking at the people milling around them.

"Don't worry." Glenn pointed toward the wall in the middle of the platforms.

"See that wall between Platforms 9 and 10?"

"I see it."

"Good. Just do as I say. When I tell you to charge, push your trolley straight into it."

"And then?"

"I don't know, but we should end up on the platform."

Harry couldn't help taking a step back.

Glenn made it sound so easy, but if that really was a wall, wouldn't they end up in pieces?

"Uh... is there a safer way?"

"Hm? Isn't this safe?" Glenn said matter-of-factly.

When Professor Figg had taken him to school for the first time, they'd flown through the sky in a carriage.

And there had been dragons up there, along with the birds.

The Ministry of Magic officials who had traveled with them had been unlucky enough to fall into a dragon's mouth. There hadn't been enough left of them to put back together.

Compared to that, this way of getting to Hogwarts really was safe and gentle.

Harry was at a loss for words.

After hearing Hagrid's description of the Wizarding World, he'd yearned to see this magical place for himself and had thought Uncle Vernon was prejudiced against wizards.

But at that moment, for the first time, he found himself agreeing with Uncle Vernon: wizards were all freaks.

At that thought, Harry apologized to Hagrid and the Wizarding World in his heart.

Maybe he just hadn't really become a wizard yet, which was why Glenn's suggestion seemed so extreme.

Maybe once he became a wizard, he'd understand.

"All right, I'll do what you say." Harry took a deep breath and made up his mind.

Not far away, the Red-Haired Family was chatting as they prepared for the parting that was soon to come.

"Right, what platform is it?" the children's mother asked.

"Nine!" squealed the little red-haired girl, holding her mother's hand. "Mum, can I go too?"

"You're too young, Ginny. Now, be quiet. Percy, you go first."

The oldest-looking boy headed toward the wall between Platforms 9 and 10.

Just then, a large crowd of travelers the wizards called Muggles happened to be boarding the train.

To avoid drawing attention, the children's mother told the others to stand aside until the travelers had boarded.

Once the last large trunk had been loaded into the carriage, the mother turned and said quietly, "Fred, your turn."

But the boy called Fred made no move.

His mother frowned and was about to urge him on again.

"Sorry, Mum, I don't want to get knocked flying..."

At the little girl's gasp, a figure was reflected in her eyes.

Harry Potter gritted his teeth, bent over his trolley, and charged forward, his legs pumping faster and faster.

He looked like a train from the next platform, going full steam ahead.

"Oh, my goodness!" the mother cried out too.

"Go, Harry, go!" Glenn's voice seemed to echo in his ears. But as the barrier loomed closer, Harry was sure he'd gone mad.

But he couldn't stop now. The trolley was out of control, so he shut his eyes and braced for impact—

To the Red-Haired Family's utter astonishment, Harry hurtled straight through the wall with his trolley and vanished.

"I don't think I can go to school today, Mum. I just saw someone racing a trolley." Another boy who looked exactly like Fred said. They were twins.

"Don't be silly, George. Maybe our eyes are playing tricks on us."

"Mum! Here comes another one!" Ginny cried.

When their mother spun around, she saw Glenn charging toward the wall between Platforms 9 and 10, pushing his trolley at astonishing speed.

Perhaps sensing their stares, Glenn turned his head and waved at the red-haired family, who stood there open-mouthed, unable to say a word.

Before they could make out his face, he became a blur and shot straight through the wall, disappearing from sight.

"Oh, George, perhaps you were right. After I've seen you off, I'll have to check whether any of the food at home has gone bad," the mother muttered.

When Glenn opened his eyes again, the ticket barrier had become a wrought-iron archway with "Platform 9¾" written across it.

A scarlet steam engine stood beside the crowded platform, and the sign on the train read: Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock.

It was obvious they'd made it.

"How was that, Harry? My directions were spot-on, weren't they?" Glenn asked with a grin, seeing Harry's strange expression.

"But I just knocked someone flying..."

"Oh, I saw. You knocked him right into the front of my trolley."

"Where is he now?"

"No idea. Maybe he flew a little farther ahead." Glenn shrugged.

"Do you think he's dead?"

"Who knows? There's still a chance he survived."

"..."

Of course, that was all a joke. The unfortunate wizard was perfectly fine.

Before Harry set off, Glenn had already cast a triggered Depulso charm on both trolleys.

It only activated on contact with someone, and the force was gentle. Other than being thrown, briefly blacking out, and feeling as if they'd been hit by a car, it caused no actual harm.

Ignoring Harry, who was looking around for the unlucky man, Glenn turned his attention to what lay ahead.

"Revelio." His lips moved, and the world turned gray.

But unlike everywhere else, many things here hadn't completely lost their color.

The people bustling back and forth, the ones leaning out of train windows to talk to their families, and the children playing in their seats all shone with the same bright blue.

This was Platform 9¾.

The first stop for every British wizard.

Thick steam from the engine curled above the chattering crowd. Cats of every color wove between people's feet. Amid the hum of conversation and the clatter of heavy luggage being dragged along, owls screeched back and forth to one another.

Glenn let out a breath and pushed his trolley forward.

"Come on, Harry. We need to get our luggage put away first."