Harry was quite convinced his stomach was going to evacuate itself through his mouth. Vernon and Petunia Dursley, punctual and loving guardians they were, had just dropped the now eleven-year-old Harry Potter off at Kings Cross Station at precisely nine in the morning, and told him in no uncertain terms, that he is to never return to their home.
So now here Harry stands, having just watched their car depart, and thinks about what on Earth he is supposed to do. Harry is aware that his concern now should be finding the mythical platform Nine and Three Quarters, but this is the start of a new opportunity for him.
Having learned he was a wizard on his eleventh birthday had been quite a shock, after all the man who had told him that was shocking enough in his appearance as it is. Harry had used to believe that Vernon Dursley was about as big as a man could be, given that he was roughly 2 meters tall and nearly one hundred ninety kilograms but the giant of a man who had introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid made even Vernon seem small.
Hagrid had been quite unlike Vernon in every other way though, where Vernon was very mean, and liked to bully those around him, Hagrid seemed to be almost too gentle. Hagrid even with his low gruff voice seemed to speak in such a soft and caring way to Harry, that it wasn't very hard for him to accept his offer to come with him and discover the world of the wizards anyway.
That had been an experience in and of itself, the trip that Hagrid had taken Harry on to what was supposedly called Diagon Alley had been very interesting. Their first stop was at a bank run by goblins of all things, which were mildly different from the green creatures he overheard some of his classmates slaying in video games. They had been short in stature, and had large ears and pointed noses, but otherwise seemed just like anyone else, if perhaps a little untrusting. That had just been a small handful of goblins that he had met, perhaps others were more welcoming. From there, Harry had done some shopping with Hagrid for his necessary school supplies. Hagrid's suggestion of getting a cauldron first to carry his other supplies in had been a very good idea, but had worn him out quickly, being unused to carrying such heavy loads. Hagrid had even purchased him what he believed was his first ever birthday present a beautiful snowy owl named Hedwig who was currently sitting in her cage staring at her new owner as he dumbfoundedly thinks of the events of the past month and a half. Her gentle hoot reminds Harry of where, and when he is, and he shakes his head and looks around.
In front of him is Kings Cross Station, one of the busiest train stations in London, although thankfully it was early on Sunday morning, so the crowds were thinner than they would normally be. Harry is exceedingly glad for that, large crowds had always been very uncomfortable for him; the many sights and sounds and smells that flooded through crowds had a tendency to overwhelm him, which is why Harry tended to spend his free time in as isolated as spots as he could manage. Mustering up what courage he had and knowing that even if he had any desire to return to living with his adopted family the Dursleys he was entirely unable to, Harry pushed himself into the station, and began to look for his platform.
Harry had never been on a train platform like this and was immediately becoming overwhelmed by the various stimuli that flooded through the air in the station. From the smells of the food and the people, to the sounds of luggage, conversations and trains echoing through the stone and brickworks of the station. Harry re-centers himself by grabbing onto his luggage cart and tapping his fingers one at a time on the handle, trying to drown out every sensation from that one. Re-centered, Harry looks around once more and finds a station worker. Harry asks him where the location of this platform nine and three quarters is, and the worker laughs off Harry's supposed joke.
"I don't know anything about a nine and three quarters kid, but platform nine and ten are down that way." The officer says, pointing down deeper into the depths of the station. Harry thanks the worker and begins moving himself in that direction. The Dursleys would have staunchly prevented Harry from ever speaking to someone, so asking for directions was the first in what Harry hopes will be many acts of rebellion against his tormentors now that he is no longer under their thumb.
Making his way to the midpoint between platforms nine and ten Harry sets himself down on a nearby bench and begins to scan the crowd. Hagrid had tried his best to be informative whenever Harry asked him any questions during their brief time together, but Hagrid's apparent lack of understanding of what a non-magical person would need to know about entering Hogwarts, and Harry's lack of knowledge of what questions to properly ask had led to a bit of an impasse. Harry is aware that he is to go to platform nine and three quarters at Kings Cross Station, to board the train to head to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn how to become a wizard, like his mother and father supposedly did when they were his age. His problem is that Hagrid had neglected to mention how to get to said platform.
Harry was however a reasonably clever and intelligent young man, or so he thought at least. Given that Hagrid had said that ALL Hogwarts students had to board this train at this station to get to school, that meant that he was likely to see at least one other person trying to find the platforms themselves. He hoped that they might have received some better instruction or have had family who had gone through this before.