Hagrid cooks them both dinner that night, and most nights over the next month, though every so often he takes them both out to a wizarding restaurant in Diagon Alley, somewhere he likes or somewhere that caught her eye. August passes in relative peace, with smiles and sightseeing.
"Tomorrow's the big day," Hagrid says, the evening of 31 August after they've eaten. "Feeling okay?"
“It’ll be great,” Hagrid says. “Now, this,” he says, and produces a slip of golden paper from one of his many pockets, “is your train ticket. I can hold onto it for you for now, but you’ll have to keep it with you once you’re on the platform.”
She grins back. "Yeah. We're getting there early, right? So you have time to floo to Hogwarts?"
"Good plan," he says, and stretches. "Well, it's getting late, and I've got some knitting I oughta get done before bed."
They're up bright and early the next morning. As Hagrid helps her pack, he asks, "Now, we could take Tom's Floo to King's Cross - Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters has a floo station as well as a train station. But we've got plenty of time if you'd prefer to go the muggle way."
"It takes some getting used to, that's for sure."
They do have plenty of time, for a leisurely walk and a ride on the Underground to muggle King's Cross.
"That's right," he says. "Now, to get to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, what you've got to do is walk straight at the barrier between Nine and Ten." He points. "Muggles can't get through it, but you and I can."
"Well, you shouldn't try to get someone's attention while you're going through, but if you're quick-like and not too loud about it you'll be okay."
He takes a step back, so he's beside the barrier, and bows extravagantly, and extends an arm toward the barrier in invitation.
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