History Literature / TheSecretOfPlatform13

* EnfantTerrible: Narration from Nanny Brown's POV reveals Larina Trottel to have been one (namely, deliberately tipping over a fish bowl and [[KidsAreMonsters gleefully watching her goldfish suffocate]]). Are we really surprised that she hasn't grown out of it?

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* SelfPunishmentOverFailure: [[SameSexTriplets Lily, Rose and Violet]] defy orders by taking the infant Prince through the [[PortalDoor gump]]; he winds up getting kidnapped, and he can't be recovered until the gump opens again in nine years. The King and Queen are too nice to punish the nurses, so they move into a cove and punish themselves by eating nothing but rotting food, sleeping on hard rocks and constantly dipping their body parts in freezing water. When the rescue part finally goes to retrieve the Prince they wait right by the gump with a big box of bananas, desperately waiting for when their punishment can end.

** As horrible as Mrs. Trottle is, she gets subjected to this trope when she finds out that a group of strange people have been secretly meeting her son and trying to convince him to run away with them. Her first assumption - which is not unreasonable - is that they were planning to kidnap him.

* NeverMessWithGranny: One of Raymond's bodyguards is a little old woman who spends most of her time sewing. With very long, sharp needles, and she knows exactly what points on the body they'd be most effective.

* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The mistmakers!

* ExactWords: Odge has been instructed not to ill-wish Raymond and as angry as she is with him, she complies. So how does he end up with a knickerbocker glory literally cartwheeling itself all over him? She ill-wished it.

** At the end, [[spoiler:Ben]] is this as well. [[spoiler:He sets up a guest room for Odge, so she can live in the mansion with him, fixing it up with bat-themed wallpaper and a door for the pet mistmaker she gave him.]]

* FamilyFriendlyStripper: The complicated plan involves Gurkintrude replacing a dancing girl, in order to distract the people. The usual dance number is a striptease where the light is switched off exactly when the last veil could fall. The very prim and proper fey consents to the plan, but insists on wearing her very long, very decent underwear under the seven veils, just in case there's a problem with the light switch. Hilarity ensues.

* ModestRoyalty: The royal king and queen of the Island. Their mansion is even open to any guests who want to stay a night or two.
** At the end, [[spoiler:Ben]] is this as well. [[spoiler: He sets up a guest room for Odge, so she can live in the mansion with him, fixing it up with bat-themed wallpaper and a door for the pet mistmaker she gave him.]]

* CuteWitch: Subverted in name only. Odge is a hag with powers such as making people go bald, but unlike her sisters, she's considered pretty.

* {{Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today}}: Melisande is a water nymph, not a mermaid. She keeps pointing to her feet to prove it.

''The Secret of Platform 13'' is a children's book by Eva Ibbotson. Inside the abandoned Platform 13 in King's Cross Railway Station lies the Gump, an ancient and magical secret passage. Every nine years it opens to take those who wish to leave the world behind for the mythical island known as...The Island. The Queen gives birth to a son the year the Gump opens again and after the Prince's three nannies are overcome with homesickness, she allows them to take the Prince with them for a brief visit to our world.

Nine years later, a young hag named Odge learns about the rescue mission being planned by the King to bring home his son, who has been raised by Mrs. Trottle as her son, Raymond. After much convincing she joins the appointed rescuers--Cornelius, Gerkintrude and Hans--in their journey to London. Their task will not be as easy as they thought however, as Raymond is not only constantly protected, but is also an extreme Royal Brat. Though they find immeasurable help from Ben, the grandson of Raymond's former nanny, and the many magical creatures in hiding, will it be enough to bring the Prince back to the Island before time runs out?

* AdaptationalVillainy: Inverted in the case of the Nuckelavee, who seems to be benign or at least fairly harmless [[spoiler:(and is driven away when Raymond insults it)]]. In the original folklore that the creature appears in, [[TheFairFolk it]] [[OmnicidalManiac is]] [[EldritchAbomination much]] [[PlagueMaster more]] [[NightmareFuel nightmarish]].

* GoodIsNotNice: The harpies and other monsters on the Island, who serve as terrifying law enforcers.

* MagicalSeventhSon: Odge is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. To her mother's disappointment, she wound out being the least hag-like of her children.

* TheyHaveTheScent: Not said word for word, though. [[spoiler:How the Islanders find Mrs. Trottle--through the powerful smell of her perfume, Maneater, in the sewers.]]

* AmbiguouslyHuman: Many of the Island's unusual creatures, which is why they can move or travel around London without being noticed. The rescuers were specificially chosen with this in mind.

* {{Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today}}: Melisande is a water nymph, not a mermaid. She keeps pointing to her feet to prove it.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Inverted in the case of the Nuckelavee, who seems to be benign or at least fairly harmless [[spoiler:(and is driven away when Raymond insults it)]]. In the original folklore that the creature appears in, [[TheFairFolk it]] [[OmnicidalManiac is]] [[EldritchAbomination much]] [[PlagueMaster more]] [[NightmareFuel malicious]].

* AdaptationalVillainy: Inverted in the case of the Nuckelavee, who seems to be benign or at least fairly harmless [[spoiler:(and is driven away when Raymond insults it)]]. In the original folklore that the creature appears in, it is [[EldritchAbomination much]] [[PlagueMaster more]] [[NightmareFuel malicious]].

* AdaptationalVillainy: Inverted in the case of the Nuckelavee, who seems to be fairly benign or at least fairly harmless [[spoiler:(and is driven away when Raymond insults it)]]. In the original folklore that the creature appears in, it is [[EldritchAbomination much]] [[PlagueMaster more]] [[NightmareFuel malicious]].

* MismatchedEyes: Odge has one brown eye and one green eye.

Nine years later, a young hag named Odge learns about the rescue mission being planned by the King to bring home his son, who has been raised by Mrs. Trottle as her son, Raymond. After much convincing she joins the appointed rescuers--Cornelius, Gerkintrude and Hans--in their journey to London. Their task will not be as easy as they thought however, as Raymond is not only constantly protected, but is also an extreme Royal Brat. Though they find immeasurable help from Ben, the grandson of Raymond and his mother's former nanny, and the many magical creatures in hiding, will it be enough to bring the Prince back to the Island before time runs out?