(A/N: Parts of this story come straight from the Harry Potter books by J K Rowling and I do not take credit for them.)

The Greatness of Being Free

Harry woke at five o'clock the morning he would be going to Hogwarts for the first time and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk to the station in his wizard's robes- he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursley's car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry and they had set off.

They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk on to a trolley and wheeled it into the station for him. Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.

"Well, there you are. Platform nine- platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"

He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number ten over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all. However, Harry wasn't worried since Hagrid had told him how to get to the platform. He would have to walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing. Harry turned and started running. He was running straight at the barrier, and closed his eyes waiting for the crash to come. But it didn't come and Harry opened his eyes to see a scarlet steam engine. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. He had made it onto the platform.

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of a rather small crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to each other in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks. He was still early but decided to go onboard the train to find an empty compartment.

Meanwhile, a plump woman with flaming red hair was speaking to her four boys outside of the barrier. She looked around for a boy with a scar on his forehead. She couldn't find him anywhere, but spoke loudly and hoped the poor boy could hear her.

"-packed with muggles, of course," she said loudly, hoping a certain boy named Harry Potter would appear. When he didn't, she decided to try again. "Now, what's the platform number?" she asked her kids, overly loudly. Her daughter spoke up,

"Nine and three-quarters!" said the little girl. Then she started whining but Molly wasn't listening. The boy was not there and she decided to write a letter to Dumbledore when she got home.

A bushy haired girl was saying goodbye to her parents and bumped into Harry as he got on the train.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you a first-year too?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," Harry answered shyly. He had never had friends and was hoping this girl would like to be his friend.

"Would you like to sit in the same compartment? I don't know anyone here since I'm a muggle-born," she said. She hoped he didn't have anyone he wanted to sit with because he looked rather nice and she wanted to be his friend.

"Sure," Harry answered. Together, they found an empty compartment at the back of the train where not many people would disturb them.

"My name is Hermione Granger. What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter," he replied.

"Are you really? I know all about you, of course- I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century," said Hermione.

"Am I?" asked Harry, feeling dazed.

"Goodness, didn't you know? I would've found out everything I could if it was me," she said. "But, I guess I'm the only one who's learnt our set books off by heart. That comes with being a bookworm, I guess," she said. As they were talking, the train had carried them out of London. They continued to chat about muggle electronics, Wizarding stuff and other things. Soon, they knew quite a lot about each other.

They were interrupted by a red- haired boy with freckles.

"Hi, my name's Ron Weasley. All the other compartments are full. I was wondering whether I could sit here," he said. Hermione looked outside the carriage.

"There's an empty one over there," she said, pointing.

"Yeah, but I'd rather sit with others than by myself. Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I'm a muggleborn," she answered. Ron turned to Harry.

"You're Harry Potter, right? Come with me, you don't have to sit with that mudblood," Ron said holding out his hand.

"What did you call Hermione?" Harry asked Ron angrily. Ron didn't seem to notice Harry's anger.

"A mudblood. That's we call people like her. She's not like us because her parents are muggles. I can help you with learning this kind of stuff," Ron said, keeping his hand out.

Harry stood up. Ron smirked at Hermione who had tears falling down her face.

"Get out," Harry said softly but Hermione could hear the danger in his voice.

"Yeah, mudblood. Get out. You heard him," Ron said viciously. Hermione's face crumpled.

"Actually, Ron. You heard wrong," Harry said.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, oblivious to what Harry was implying.

"I was talking to you, Weasley. Get out!" Harry shouted. Ron left, not wanting to face the wrath of the Boy who lived. Hermione immediately hugged Harry without thinking.

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione sobbed.

"It's okay, Hermione. I won't let anyone call you that horrible name."

No one, except Ron Weasley saw a small glow around Harry and Hermione appear the moment Hermione touched Harry.

At around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet. Hermione told him she already had something packed. Harry went out into the corridor.

He never had any money for sweets with the Dursleys and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars he could carry- but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bertie Bott's every flavoured beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, Harry took a little bit of everything and ended up paying the woman eleven sickles and seven bronze knuts. Harry brought it back to the compartment and tipped it on to an empty seat. Hermione watched him with an amused smile on her face.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Starving," Harry answered, taking a big bite from a Pumpkin Pasty. "Take some; I'll never be able to eat all of this by myself. Hermione reached for a chocolate frog.

"What kind of sweets are these? In the muggle world, you'll never get any of these sweets!" Hermione exclaimed. She looked in the box holding the chocolate frog. The frog hopped up and Hermione grabbed it before it could bounce away. There as a card inside.

"Oh look! It's a card with information of Dumbledore on it!" Hermione told Harry and passed him the card. Harry saw a picture of Dumbledore on the front. He turned it over and read:

Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the great wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Harry turned the card over, and saw to his astonishment, Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"He's gone!" Harry exclaimed.

"Well, in the Wizarding world, pictures move. I saw some in a few of the books I was reading," Hermione explained.

Hermione was telling Harry about her life at home when the compartment door slid open again, but it wasn't Ron.

Three boys entered and Harry recognised the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madame Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing either side of the pale boy made them look like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the boy carelessly. "And my name's Draco Malfoy."

Hermione giggled into her hand. Draco Malfoy looked at her.

"You think my name's funny, do you? I've never heard or seen you before, so it's pretty clear that you're a muggleborn." He turned to Harry. "You'll soon learn that purebloods are better than that filth. You don't want to be making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort is for myself, thanks," Harry said coolly.

Draco Malfoy whipped his wand out, but Hermione's wand was out quicker. She sent some bluebell flames to the end of his robe.

"Go ask an older student to get rid of it for you. Goodbye." Hermione shut the door in his face as he ran away screaming.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and Hermione passed the time by asking Harry questions.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Err… Can you explain the different houses?" Harry asked.

"Well, Gryffindors are brave, Ravenclaws are clever, Hufflepuffs are loyal, and Slytherins are cunning and sly. I think I'm probably going to be in Ravenclaw, seeing as I'm smart for my age," Hermione said.

"I hope we'll be in the same house," Harry said.

"Me too. I used to want to be in Gryffindor, but I've changed my mind. I don't want to be in the same house as him," Hermione jerked her head towards Ron, who was writing a letter in a nearby compartment. "Apparently, almost all of his ancestors have been in Gryffindor. Anyway, we should get changed; I expect we'll be arriving soon." Harry took his clothes from his trunk and headed for the bathroom.

Soon they were changed and sitting in their compartment. A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to school separately."

The train slowed down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" shouted Hagrid. "Follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path.

"Yeh'll get your firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud 'Oooooh!'.

The narrow path had opened suddenly on the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

Hermione and Harry were stunned at their first sight of the castle. It was beautiful. They walked to a boat. Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley followed into their boat behind them. The fleet of little boats moved off al at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. They reached Hogwarts and clambered out on to the rocks and pebbles. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. Hagrid raised his gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.