Ned thanked the girl almost silently, whispering "Thank you" with an effort. How could he have missed the free seat, he had no idea, but he was more than happy to find one such place. He sat there nodded at the direction of everyone else in the compartment and then started to stare from the window. 
He heard their voices, a number of other 11 and 12-year-olds speaking of magic, of food, of whatever. He couldn't concentrate. Was this really happening to him? Ned's brains were going crazy with all the information. 

Then, little spark of dread lit up in his heart... What if this was all just another orphanage and the old Headmistress had just given up on him, leaving him to this who-knows-what place to do who-knows-what things with who-knows-what kind of people.

'Excuse me,' he said. 'Do you know where are we going? Where is this Hogwarts school and what are we going to do there? I don't know anywhere by the name of Hogsmeade either...'
He was still trying to make sense out of the Hogsmeade, magic and stuff he heard last in the compartment.

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