Lavender arrived at King's Cross with her parents. 
"Did you see that?  That girl just walked through the wall" Mom nudged Lavender and giggled nervously. "Guess we're next."
"You go first, we'll follow together." Lavender smiled and nodded when her Dad suggested this. They had been watching people walk onto platform 9 3/4 for a while, and this seemed to be the right way to do it, if there even was one.
Lavender hesitated, she was a little nervous still. Then, she saw a man shove a hesitant boy through the wall. Realising she'd rather make it through on her own, somehow feeling like that would set the tone for the new year or something, Lavender took a deep breath, smiled at her parents, and pushed her trolley through the wall. She resisted the urge to close her eyes when she expected to hit the wall and walked straight in to her new life.

The platform was crowding with students. Most students were getting on the trains, but some of the younger ones were still on the platform, talking to their parents. Lavender looked around for the head mistress, but didn't see her. Just as her parents emerged onto the platform, she spotted the hesitant boy from before. He was getting on the train. She considered following him, but something about his body language made her change her mind.

"Go on, honey, get yourself settled up there." Her parents gave her a hug and nudged her towards the train. They didn't hover, and Lavender appreciated that. Her dad helped her get her trolley on board, and then got back off, as her mom handed her the bird cage. 
"Go have a blast!" Her mother said. "And don't forget to send us lots of news! April can handle the exercise."

Standing on the train, Lavender bent down to give her mom one last hug. Her dad ruffled her hair, "dad, please", and with a sigh and a smile, Lavender went looking for a compartment. She passed the boy she'd seen on the station, he was reading a book. Lavender moved on and came to a compartment with two girls in it. One of them had what looked like a sloth with a cute hat.

She hesitated for a moment, and then opened the door. "Hello ladies, is there room for one more?"