At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.

　　"-- packed with Muggles, of course --"

　　Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him -- and they had an owl.

　　Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.

　　"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.

　　"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go... "

　　"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."

　　What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it -- but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.

　　"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

　　"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? CarA you tell I'm George?"

　　"Sorry, George, dear."

　　"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone -- but how had he done it?

　　Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there -- and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.

　　There was nothing else for it.

　　"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.

　　"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."

　　She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.

　　"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is -- the thing is, I don't know how to --"

　　"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.

　　"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

　　"Er -- okay," said Harry.

　　He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.

　　He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble -- leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run -- the barrier was coming nearer and nearer -- he wouldn't be able to stop -- the cart was out of control -- he was a foot away -- he closed his eyes ready for the crash --

　　It didn't come... he kept on running... he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it, He had done it.

　　正巧，一群人从他身后走过，他听见了些只言片语："——当然，和马格人捆在一起——"哈利转过身，发现刚才说话的是一个肥胖的女人。她正和四个长着火焰般红发的小男孩讲着什么。男孩们每个人都在推着他们前面一个和哈利的皮箱一模一样的箱子，而且他们都有一只猫头鹰。

　　哈利推着小轮车紧跟着他们，心里七上八下。每当他们停下，哈利也跟着停在近得刚好可以听清他们间对话内容的地方。

　　"现在，站台的号码是多少了？"孩子们的母亲问。

　　"九又四分之三！"一个牵着她的手的同样是红头发的女孩尖声说道，"妈，我能不能去……""你还不够年纪。金妮，听话，安静点啊。来，伯希，你先上。"较年长的一个孩于朝着第九、十站台大步走去。哈利瞪大眼睛看着，生怕一眨眼便错过了好戏。就在那男孩刚好走到两个站台的分界线时，一大群游客突然蜂拥地出现在他面前，就在最后一个旅行背包被运走之前，男孩已经消失了。

　　"弗来德，你跟上。"胖女人说。

　　"我不是弗来德，我是乔治。"其中一个男孩说道，"夫人，老实说吧，还说自己是我们的妈妈呢，难道你连我乔治都认不出来？""哦，乔治——对不起！我的心肝宝贝。"

　　"我开玩笑罢了，我确实是弗来德。"男孩说着上路了，他的孪生兄弟在身后催促他快点，而他确实很快，一瞬间便消失了，可究竟他是怎么做到的呢？

　　轮到第三个孩子了。他轻快地朝检票栏走去，快到了，突然间，不见了。

　　"对不起！我想问个问题。"哈利对胖女人说。

　　"哦，你好，可爱的孩子，"她笑着说，"第一次来霍格瓦彻吧？

　　罗恩也是新来的。"她指指她那剩下的也是最小的儿子。那孩子又高又瘦又弱，长长的鼻子两旁的面颊长满雀斑，手掌和脚掌都很粗大。

　　"没错，我第一次来这儿。这……我……我不知道怎样……""怎样到站台上去？"她和蔼地问道。哈利点点头。

　　"别担心，你只要径朝第九、十站台的中间的检票栏走过去就行了，别停下来也别怕会撞上它。这点很重要。如果你感到紧张的话，最好小跑过去。好，你先去吧，罗恩会跟着你去的。""嗯，——好吧。"

　　哈利将他的手推车掉转头来，眼睛瞪着检票栏，它看上去是那样牢不可破。

　　他开始向它走去。走向第九站台和第十站台的人群推挤着他。

　　他走得更快了。他把车票箱撞得粉碎，接着才是最棘手的一关——他将身体前倾，几乎倚在了手推车上，飞快地跑了起来——检票栏越来越近了，他已经不能停住脚步了，小车也已失控，只有咫尺之遥了，他闭上了眼睛就要撞上了……

　　他什么也没碰到……他仍在飞跑着……他慢慢睁开眼睛……

　　一辆鲜红的蒸汽机车正在一个人山人海的站台静待启程。车头正中一块标志鲜明地写着"霍格瓦彻号特快列车，十一点正发车"几个大字。哈利回过头去，发现原本放置车票箱的位置，现在是一个铁栏门，上面标着"九又四分之三站台"，他成功了！