Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The whistling of the train was almost deafening.

Lucas closed his ears, but a heavy and stinging sound still rang in his ears, as if he had never closed them at all. He stood on the ninth platform, hesitant to move any closer to the barrier. For other people, it was a standard, brick-walled barrier with metal plates on it, meant to be dividing platforms nine and ten from each other, but for people like Lucas, it was special. A large group of children was standing with heavy carts full of different luggage, waiting for their turn to run into the barrier. But instead of hitting a brick wall and hurting themselves, they disappeared inside the barrier; silently and almost unseen. Definitely weird and an unusual thing to witness, but Lucas was the one to see it for himself.

“Are you ready champ?” his mother asked, hands on her hips.

“Not really.” Lucas answered, with his voice, much like his knees, resembling a soft pudding. “It’s almost hard to believe that I go to the same place with all of these kids.”

“Not going to lie, me too buddy.” She placed her hand on Lucas's shoulder. “It’s a very weird thing to look at and I can’t even imagine what’s on the other side. I would have taken you there myself no problem, but no, I had to help them with our project.” She spat on the ground. “I simply wanted to say goodbye to my son, but no, Alister Queen just had to give me more work to worry about. That idiot can’t work a day's worth a damn at his job and still manages to hold his place as my manager. And half of my team bailed as well; It’s like I’m the only one who can handle this stupid weather project. I mean, come on, to extract salt from the ocean water should be a piece of cake, if you got your brains in the right place. Although, we would get much more salt from our janitor, plus additional vinegar on the side.”

Hiding a chuckle, Lucas continued looking at the barrier. One kid had a mother run right behind him to the barrier, and they both disappeared behind it. There were tons of parents who could go with their children to the train, just to see them for the last time before it will separate them for almost a year. Some parents stayed on the platform, some kids went on their own in the first place, but everyone was excited to go and had very hard times containing their happiness.

Lucas gulped. He shredded a bit when his mom placed her arm on his shoulder.

“Lucas, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” Lucas was at a loss for words, but not of amazement. “I always thought this type of stuff was possible only in books or movies, that it was just a fantasy. And to see it here and to be a part of it myself…”

He went silent. There were no words that he could use to describe what he felt and how scared he was. It was the same feeling he had when a school representative visited him and his mother in their little house at Wimbledon. It was scary, almost crazy to hear... and yet so exciting.

“You know, when we were walking down that wizard street for shopping, what was it? Dragon Alley?”

“Diagon Alley, mum.”

“Ah, yes, that one. What a charming place, truly stuff of magic, not something you see every day in your life. It was kinda weird to be there on my own; I think we were the only non-magical individuals there. Although, I think so, anyway; we looked almost unidentifiable and you can never guess it. But it’s like they never interfere with each other's lives at all. Everyone, there was looking at me like I was a bloody elephant, even though we were just looking for the books, much like everyone else. One of them even asked me if I even went to school, if I can’t do magic. And it wasn’t as weird as that guy that asked me how planes could fly. Remember his face when I gave him a scientific explanation; his eyes almost left his sockets. Hilarious! It's like almost none of them ever left the thirteenth century.” She scratched her head. “Heh, so similar, yet so different. It’s almost poetic, don’t you think so, Lucas?”

Lucas looked at the crowd again. His mum was right; these people seemed just like every other person he would have met on the street or at his local shop. At Diagon Alley people wore mostly robes of every color with matching hats and types of clothing you could see only in history books. But here all of them were wearing normal clothing, and if you were to pass near them, you would have never guessed that they were witches or wizards. People, capable of doing magic of all types and sorts and able to kill you with just one simple movement.

Most of them looked... fairly normal, so to speak. Nothing out of the ordinary: normal clothes, classic shoes, no inhuman body features, the works. It would have been really hard to determine a non-magical from a magical person, but he was too nervous to determine one person from another anyway. However, one family that was standing about two feet away from the barrier caught Lucas’s attention a bit more than the others.

Lucas could have sworn that these people weren’t there a second ago; it seemed like they appeared straight out of thin air. Lucas caught himself staring at them for a solid ten seconds before turning away. Staring wasn’t polite, no matter how off-putting or unusual people might seem at first glance. But… Something, however, was telling Lucas that it was okay for him to take another peek. If that family wanted to be unseen, they would have worn casual clothes, just like everyone else. So Lucas took a small breath and leaned to the right, just to take a bit more time to look at them more. Not a lot, just a split second.

The family comprised a man and a woman, maybe in their fifties, and two girls standing near to them. One looked fifteen and the other one about eleven, the same age as Lucas. There wasn’t anything particularly unusual about the parents, except maybe that their father had great, puffy heaps of blond hair, which made him resemble a lion, and their mother seemed to float above the ground. The fifteen-year-old listened to her parents. Her long, slim face had a stern and a rather smug look, which made her look older than she actually was. She was a teenager, which made Lucas instinctively wary of her. He met some of his classmates’ teenage siblings and he knew for a fact that if you see them talking to you; it meant serious business. When he had the misfortune of encountering one, he usually divided them into two categories, so he knew how to communicate with them in the future. The first group comprised ones who acted as kids throughout their entire lives, treating everything around them with ease, much like his mother. And the others acted independently at a relatively young age and couldn’t care less about anyone but themselves. And the smug-looking girl was definitely the latter.

Although, no matter how they looked, their clothing definitely was drawing the most attention. Their clothing was nothing that usually considered “normal”: all three of them were wearing long, colorful robes, ornamented with beautiful and neatly sewn silhouettes of plants and vines. Hundreds of jewels decorated the entire dress from top to bottom and seemed to be woven even into the fabric itself, making it shimmer like in a broken kaleidoscope. If Lucas thought people at Diagon Alley were fancy, these three could easily beat them by sheer numbers and blind them. Both parents wore ridiculously bright yellow robes with loose sleeves and visible pockets, decorated with various types of brightly colored precious stones and quilling, shining with their every movement. The teen girl wore similarly posh, shorter robes, dyed in rich, azure colors, and he couldn’t quite make out the robes on the other girl. Lucas couldn’t help but feel a tad bit jealous - their clothing was really a work of art, especially compared to his simple, worn-up clothing.

“Wow, look at those bigwigs. And here goes all that inconspicuous dilemma.” Lucas’s mom leaned on the luggage cart.

“But they don’t wear wigs, mum.” Lucas exclaimed.

“I know sweetie, it’s just another funny word.” Lucas’s mum, Ariana, always had a great vocabulary, and she inserted as many difficult and unknown words in her talks as she could. Either to remind herself of the existence of said words or just to show off, Lucas didn’t know. But by doing so she only ended up confusing her neighbors or colleagues, so they talked to him and his mom less. Lucas still read her dictionaries from time to time and any time he got confused, his mum would explain any difficult or, as she called them, “funny” words to Lucas. After some time he gave up remembering them all; his mum was always one word ahead of him.

She sighed and turned to Lucas. “It means that they are some very important people in the wizarding world. Probably very rich too.”

“Yeah.” Lucas continued to stare at the family. “Very rich.”

There was truth to his mother’s words - even from afar, Lucas could feel an aura of wealth around them. Only a sleeve of such prestige clothing could have guaranteed both of them at least ten years of comfort. Lucas could only wonder how many times in a row he could attend college or what type of house it will guarantee them.

“Well, it looks so from the style of rugs they wear.” Ariana grumbled, lazily leaning on the cart. “Seriously, is that always what wizards wear? They look like they had escaped a fantasy convention from London's downtown. They only need some pointy ears to finish the look and bring on the first prize.”

“Mom, our school uniforms are literally just black robes - you saw for yourself how my measurements were being taken. And I think I’ll have to wear something like that to any grand event which might occur at the school. If there will be any, that is.”

“Well, you would look much better than those three in any robes. Even in bathroom ones.” She laughed, seeing Lucas’s annoyed expression, and patted his head. “You are much more handsome than all the wizards combined, for sure.”

Lucas couldn’t help but smile and continued looking at those strange individuals, but, as he realized, the appearance of this strange family drew not only him alone. All the looks were directed right at them, not only from normal people but from witches and wizards as well. Both of the groups were laughing when they weren’t looking, or frowning and sighing loudly. They paid little to no attention to those around them and were more interested in their second kid.

The youngest, unlike her parents and elder sibling, was wearing a simple, matte black robe, which closely resembled the ones they picked out for school. However, unlike those, it seemed to be made of a much lighter and somewhat fancier material. Lucas thought it was some kind of acrylic or velvet clothing. He would read various sewing magazines anytime he was with grandma and even helped her sew and buy fabrics. Her pedantic character and lack of any other books in the house helped him remember this stuff a lot easier.

Her parents alongside her sister were vivaciously explaining something to her. But judging by her quick nods and a blank stare, she couldn’t make out a single word they were saying. She was barely listening to them and was more interested in picking out small pieces of red licorice that were stuck in her teeth. Her heap of curly, wild blonde hair, similar to her father’s, was whirling slightly as the trains went by. Even from a distance, it was obvious that her parents did not bother to give this girl a haircut in a while. And yet, somehow - probably with magic or a ton of hair lotion- she put them in a tight bun on her head, resembling a bird’s nest. Lucas glanced at her cart. On it he saw probably the most bygone and frilly ornamented luggage that he had ever seen. This stuff should collect dust in his grandmother’s attic and be brought up only on Christmas, with a funny story to share.

“Well, I can say for sure there are some big shots out there for sure. And act like that too. My God, look at the bird! Why would you give a bloody vulture to an eleven-year-old?”

In a big, golden cage on top of the luggage cart was sitting a thin, dull-looking bird that definitely resembled a small, underfed vulture. Lucas suddenly felt pity for the poor thing: it was so small and so sheepish-looking, they definitely forgot to feed it on time. Its feathers were a gross, greenish-grey color with hints of blue, which were disheveled and looked like an unwashed and uncombed head. Its watery blue eyes were flouncing from one person to the other, almost looking out for people which would want to touch him. Not that Lucas was that much of an animal lover, but he at least remembered to feed Persimmon on time.

“I wonder if they barely let it out of its cage.” Lucas thought to himself, “What kind of bird is this, anyway?”

As if she could read his thoughts, the girl in the black robe turned to Lucas. He quickly shifted his eyes to the side, hoping that she didn’t see him staring at her and her family. Even though people never actually talked to Lucas or even bothered to acknowledge his existence, he always felt guilty for listening or staring at other people. Although, this time it was different; it felt as if that family wanted for others to look at them, like at the big, exotic birds in the zoo. It was tempting to look at them, but Lucas tried to stay humble. He turned his head to them, just to get a little peak and his heart skipped a beat. The girl was already holding onto the luggage cart, with her bird fast asleep inside a small cage. But unlike Lucas, she didn’t turn her gaze away from him. She still looked at him with a keen, fixed gaze, shimmering brown eyes filled with curiosity and intrigue. Against his better judgment, Lucas continued to stare at the girl, as if trying to capture every detail on her face, in those eyes of hers. Witchling didn’t say a word, still locked her eyes with Lucas, but suddenly she smiled. A wide, cheerful smile spread across her face, filling Lucas with warmth and a strange, giddy feeling. He felt his cheeks getting warmer with every second he was looking at her and, most importantly, he liked it.

SWEEEEEEEEE

Lucas jumped in surprise as another whistle signaled to the others at the station. He hated those things, especially how loud and unexpected they were. He turned his head to see the girl again, but she wasn’t there. She had disappeared alongside her parents, almost as if they have never been here at all.

“Alright Lucas, it’s the second whistle. It’s probably for the best if you hurry with the others.” His mum took him by the shoulders and began straightening his hair and clothing. “Don’t forget, phones will be useless in that school, so you have to send me letters. Just be sure to write at least once a month, so I won’t lose the plot or if you want something that doesn’t reek of magic.”

“Okay mum.”

“And be sure to study hard.”

“I will mum.”

“And eat the scones I made for you. I made them with lemon jam this time.”

“I will, mum, geez!”

She kissed Lucas on the forehead and gave him a big bear hug. She was a rather slim and lanky woman, but her hugs were so tight that Lucas would nearly lose his breath several times from them. When she finally let go of him, she took his face in her own hands.

“Now, Lucas, be very cautious about what I am about to say.” She was speaking quietly and softly, and Lucas had to get closer so he could actually hear something. “I don’t know what is going to happen at your school. I don’t know what teachers and kids were going to be there. But I want you to know that whatever happens, you always need to be on your best self at all times.”

“On my best self?” Lucas asked as if he didn’t hear what she said.

“Exactly.” She lifted his chin a bit so now he could look into her face. “Do you remember an old saying? Careful how you treat those people below on your way up because you're going to see the same people on your way down. I want you to remember it. Whatever happens, keep your head high and never turn around on those in need. Be humble, but know that these kids are neither better nor worse than you. They are kids, just like you, with their own secrets and desires. And, who knows, when you are going to need it the most, those who you once defended, might defend you in return.”

Lucas nodded and kissed his mum in return.

“I’ll make sure to write two times a month.”

His mother smiled and shuffled his hair, making it messy again.

Lucas took his cart, which had only one old suitcase on it, and stood before the barrier. Most of the students have already left to the other side and Lucas was one of the few kids who were still standing near the barrier for whatever reason. On platforms nine and ten where there were almost no humans and the ones that were there paid almost no attention to the strange group of kids around the barrier. Lucas turned around to see his mom: a tall, slender woman, who had just turned thirty this year and could have easily passed as a lanky teenager. She was standing there in a tatty, worn sweater made from tweed and dirty, weather-stained jeans, the look that contrasted greatest with her long, smooth face and her rich black hair. She was smiling, looking at her son with great pride and joy in her eyes.

“Go get ‘em, tiger!”

Lucas gave her the thumb up and ran towards the barrier.

— — —

People usually portray things to look or sound more colorful and great than they are for real. However, they were not kidding when describing platforms nine and three-quarters.

Tall, well-aged brick walls and a bright scarlet steam engine blew the minds of every eleven-year-old that was looking at them. It was almost like watching an eighth Wonder of the World or an ancient case in a museum, except you are allowed - no, obligated even - to touch and ride them. Lucas was standing very close to the engine. The bright, scarlet red coating of the engine was so shiny that he glanced at his own reflection like in a big, red mirror. Lucas shuffled his hair a bit; thick, ebony black strings were falling onto his eyes and shoulders like a thick blanket and made it hard to see. They were really worsening his vision, and he almost had to get glasses because of that. He braided his hair in a small ponytail every once in a while, but they also covered his pale, thin face, so there was some help from them. Although his mother always said that he had beautiful eyes and it was a shame that he wanted to hide them.

“Oi, kid!” someone yelled from behind. “Don’t step too close t’ the engine. Might get yer nose chopped off.”

Lucas knew that wasn’t true, since the train wasn’t moving at all, but there was truth in these words, so he stepped away. He was planning on going inside, anyway.

“Sorry!” He yelled to the invisible person. He didn’t know why though - probably just to be polite.

Lucas looked at the platform. There were too many people on it, and Lucas was feeling a bit off without his mother. She wasn't a witch like him, and even though Lucas heard that, she could go with him. She had to stay on the other side, although he knew she was still on the barrier of the King’s Cross station, almost as if she was waiting for him to come back. And Lucas wanted to do so. He wanted to run away so badly, run to his mum on the Station, get back home and never remember his powers for all eternity. But he stayed on the platform. He didn’t run or tried to walk away. He was standing between these unknown people, unsure of what to do next.

Then It woke up.

Lucas placed his hand at his heart like old people do when a heart attack strikes. His breathing became labored and shallow, Lucas felt himself slowly rocking from left to right - it felt as if his brain just became a heavy rock. The floor spun and blurred as a silent, thick fog slowly crippled at the edges of his vision.

“Oh no. No, no, no, no, no! Not now!” Fear slowly made its way towards Lucas. And he didn’t know what to do.

His sight quickly shifted at a small empty bench not too far off from the train. It was tiny and barely noticeable, so people didn’t sit or even stand near it. Not that they wanted to sit anyway - they were so concentrated on the train anyway and the destination it will lead them to. Lucas ran towards the bench and sat down. He placed his suitcase to the side of the bench and covered his face in his palms while taking slow, deep breaths, as his doctor suggested. His breath was sharp, like if he was running to the station on his own two legs. His palms were sweaty and made the air smell like calzones as Lucas breathed through them.

He couldn't go, he didn't want to go. Endless crowds of people, his mum who had to stay away from him, and a completely new, unknown school he had to go to all by himself. All of that was more than enough for one day and more than enough for It to start growling. Lucas put his feet up on the bench and curled up in a small ball, as It was moving around inside of him. Its growl was silent for others to hear, but for Lucas it was ear-piercing. Sickening, sibilating, and mocking, almost like a peal of quiet laughter. Slowly, but surely It was awakening inside of Lucas. He had to calm down quickly or else It will start screeching not only on the inside.

“Okay, Lucas, calm down.” he whispered, even though he was the only one around the bench and the entire station was noisy enough to muffle him out more than enough. “It’s just a school, just a normal school. You have been to one before you will be to another one again. Sure, it’s far from my home, far away in the middle of nowhere and there is no literal way of me contacting my mum from the phone or calling her and I haven’t got an owl to get her any letters and I’m alone again- wait, no, stop! Goddammit Lucas, stop making it worse. Remember what mum said, be on your best self, Lucas. Don't let the others get to you and don’t let yourself get to you as well.”

Lucas hit himself on the head, trying to get these thoughts away, but that only made It laugh louder. His chest hurt, it was hard to breathe; it felt like air itself had long escaped his lungs. Lucas landed another pounce on his head, harder this time. Tears started flowing from his eyes.

“It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay. Be on your best self, be on your best self. Be. On. Your. Best. Self goddammit!”

Lucas hit himself, again and again, his hand trembling and tears flowing down his cheeks, but the thoughts were only getting worse and worse. Everyone will leave him alone at the station and then they will go to Hogwarts without him. He will try to get home again, but the spell will wear off and he will get stuck inside the barrier, halfway to the station. His mom will be long gone by that point and in the morning people will wonder “Why is there a child inside on a brick wall? Is he stupid enough to not know not to get inside a brick wall?” and they had to get them out and the platform will get revealed and he will reveal the entire world of magic. Everyone will be in danger because of him. Lucas curled up even tighter, his head wrapped around in his arms. It was laughing and laughing inside, and Lucas already could feel the inside of his chest getting heavier and heavier. Like a supernova, it was getting ready to blow up, to burst in a wave of light and destruction. Lucas closed his eyes to prepare himself for the inevitable break.

“Why are you hitting yourself on the head?”

Startled, Lucas looked up. It was the same girl from the station, standing right in front of him. Her beautiful robe, despite being made of an opaque material, was shining in the light against all laws of physics. It was glimmering with all colors of the rainbow, like a crow’s feather or black opal. The golden heap of wheat that was her hair was still a curly mess, and it was unusual to see it contrasting with her black robes. Her bangs were neatly and meticulously brushed, detached by a black headband from the other part, which looked like she pulled it straight from the blender. She was holding two long licorice ropes, one she was eating and the other one she was holding in her other hand.

“Shouldn’t you be going on the train as the others?”

Lucas wiped off the tears from his face and he felt It growl again in anger.

“And shouldn’t you be minding your own business like the others?”

The girl raised her eyebrow. Lucas quietly cursed himself and put his head down. At these times, he never could keep his mouth shut. Now she will tell him off and will say all the mean stuff to him. How he is so rude, how she was just trying to help, how he is this and that and that.

“You were the one who was staring at me a while ago, right?”

Surprised, Lucas lifted his head up. He was less surprised to know that the girl noticed or even more remembered him, but because he hadn't been told off. The girl was standing right in front of him, halfway through her licorice rope. She wasn’t frowning or seemed even a tad bit angry. Like at the station, she was grinning ear to ear and looked at Lucas with pure curiosity in her eyes. Just curiosity, nothing more. Lucas felt his cheeks getting warmer as his face lit up like a traffic light. He put his head down even lower, covering him in his hair and shame.

Strange girl continued to eat her candy, still gazing at Lucas. “Are your parents here? Or did you come here by yourself?”

Strangely, her words were like a soothing balsam, and It had stopped growling almost entirely. Feeling brave, Lucas uncurled and sat on the bench normally.

“Um, my mum is not a witch, so, uh…” Barely whispering, Lucas was struggling to come up with better-sounding words. His thoughts were still a mess, just like his face. It quite surprised him to see someone so close to him at all, since he never intended on talking to another person today. Or until he has graduated. “She has some urgent work to do, so, yeah, I am here by myself. Although I can tell, she is still on the other side.” He said, louder this time.

“Eh, it’s still better off without them. Or they will look for you every single second; my parents have already left, so I'm here by myself. If not counting my sister, of course, but she doesn’t count as a person, anyway.” The girl tilted her head to the side, like a peeping cat. “Is she waiting for someone?”

“Well, no, she just wants to make sure I will arrive safely at school. Or that I decide to quit on my first day, I guess.” Lucas slightly smiled, but the girl looked genuinely surprised.

“Why do you want to quit? This school is one of the best magic schools in the world!” She spread her arms with both sweets in her hands, trying to represent this said world. “You get the chance to study magic and you want to quit on your first day?”

Lucas put his head down again. Just like the girl’s, it was the same reaction he got from the school representative when he said the same thing. It laughed again, but only quietly this time.

“I don’t like when people stare at me.”

The girl sighed. This whole thing scared this boy to the brim. Others were not exactly that brave either, and thinking about the future made her scared as well. Her parents’ warnings were running in her head like annoying little pests. But the boy was beyond terrified. He curled himself like a little ball, almost like he wanted to become unseen by the others. And he was unseen. But not to her, at least.

Lucas stared at the girl again, meeting eyes with her third time this day. In her eyes, he could easily see surprise, interest, curiosity, but, most importantly, kindness. And as he looked into her brown, chocolate eyes that feeling of warmth returned to Lucas. There were comforting waves all around her, making the fog from his head start slowly fading away.

“Here, take this.” The girl reached inside her pocket and took out the whole licorice rope. She gave it to Lucas, and he took it almost hesitantly, looking at her with his eyes, puffy from the tears and full of disbelief. She placed the rope in his hand and he was staring at it as if she gave him an entire fortune. “You know, if you want to go home, no one will stop you, and I sure won’t. But if you go away, you will miss probably one of the greatest opportunities in your life. And when can you say that there will be one just like that?”

She smiled widely at Lucas and started walking away. He looked at the rope that the girl gave to him; it was bright red, like the train’s steam engine. Its sticker had a small girl jumping around the rope. Funnily enough, the girl was actually jumping, animated on the sticker itself. Suddenly Lucas stood up from the bench and ran to the girl with a heavy suitcase in his arm, almost bending him over to the side.

“Wait!”

As she heard Lucas, the girl turned around, with leftover rope sticking from her mouth. She was almost surprised to hear him again, but seeing him returned her smile back to her face. Lucas was staring right at her and almost had forgotten why he called her out.

“I, uh, heard that the library there was the biggest one in the world.” Because he was running, or because he was standing so close to this girl, Lucas closely resembled a small tomato. “It-it would be a shame for me not t-to see it a-at least once in-in my life.”

The girl smirked.

“Well, it is big, but I’m not sure if it’s the biggest one. Don’t worry about it though, you can find many books there about anything and everything.”

“Even science fiction?” Lucas’ eyes brightened up at the idea.

“What’s science fiction?”

“So, not everything.” And just like that, his hopes crashed right against the platform “I’m Lucas, by the way.”

The girl, without breaking her smile, took his hand and shook it. Lucas could see her teeth, in which there were small pieces of licorice in them. The whistle sounded off again and other students rushed inside the train. The girl took Lucas’s hand and led him back to the train, almost running.

“My name is Velandi. Vela for short. Now come on, they are going to take all the best spots!”

— — —

“Wooooooooohoo! Holy cheese sticks, that’s so wicked! Woohoo!”

Sticking the head out of the moving train’s open window might not seem like the safest and sanest idea to do, but it was surely one of the best ways to enjoy nature's scenery.

Tall, ancient trees were mixing themselves with little village houses, until they had completely dominated over them. Green, sweeping fields were flashing in the sun, presenting to every passerby in its vicinity a great variety of wildflowers, which made them seem like broad, shiny green lakes. And at some point, the train was passing by an actual lake, shining with bright blue waters and beautiful lily pads.

Vela considered Lucas’s words, and for that, she chose the farthest cabin on the train. It was pretty far from the exits and sweets that were brought by a lady with a trolley, so naturally, no one really wanted to sit there. So the two had the car fully for themselves. They bought some sweets from the cart lady, so they still had some food for the ride, plus Vela had some leftover licorice rope and something that resembled ice blue mice. Lucas threw away Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans as soon as the taste of an old sock hit his tongue. It was nasty, but the sweet flavor of Drooble’s bubblegum quickly overpowered the stinking, tear-inducing aroma. Lucas enjoyed blowing light blue bubbles and watching them fly lazily around in the cabin. Vela had some Fizzing Whizbees on herself and after taking some red sour candies, they joined the bubbles above the ceiling. They spent a whole twenty minutes playing hot potato with the bubbles and when they got down, with slight dizziness in their heads, they opened the window to let the bubbles escape the room. And seconds later, Vela decided to follow them.

“My god, it’s so cool!” Vela stuck half of her body out of the window, her hair still flowing from the train’s speed. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful in your life, Lucius?”

“It’s Lucas.” Sitting next to the window in case he had to catch Vela if she lost her balance, Lucas was casually eating taffies that his mother gave him. He was reading one of the school books - The Standard Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk - to refresh memory, so he knows what to expect when he gets there. Vela’s sad vulture was sitting on top of his cage, making very delighted sounds while munching on some taffies that Lucas was passing to him using a levitation charm. “Don’t lean out the window, you can fall. And, yes, I have seen this type of imagery lots of times.”

Vela turned around, still halfway out of the window, with the most dramatic expression she could muster, which was almost unseen beneath her heaps of hair, flying onto her face.

“And why in the name of Merlin have you never told me that?!” she jumped away from the window and now was mere inches from Lucas’s face. “Have you seen this place? Where did you see it? How was it? When was it? When?!”

Sudden change in Vela’s place and demeanor was more than enough to startle Lucas and almost made him choke on another taffy. He squished himself into the chair as if his body instinctively tried to get away from this jolly and energetic irritator. He gulped the candy down his throat and put the book down.

“Well, I and my mom used to visit Scotland every spring, to visit my grandma in a small town. No one really goes there, so the train is usually empty and the scenery is just as beautiful.”

“And you are used to this kind of beauty?” Vela placed her hand on the chest and snobbishly turned her head away from Lucas. “And you have never told me that. I can’t even tell how disappointed and offended I am for your attitude toward your friend. Disappointed, I say.”

“Well, I didn’t think it mattered that much. Nature is always beautiful outside the big cities, away from people.” Lucas stood up on the chair and reached out to his suitcase, which was sitting half-opened on the shelf above him. “I just thought you are always this cheerful about everything you see. And what about you calling me your friend?”

“I’m cheerful only about the things that I see for the first time.” Vela plopped down in Lucas’s place, ignoring the last sentence like a muffled noise. She took a handful of taffies and started eating them one by one, without even chewing them. “My parents never let me wander outside of the house for too long and I have seen none of my neighbors. Well, I’m not even sure if I have any. But this is my first time actually going somewhere that is not a crappy Christmas party and I am just…” she let out a cheerful squeak and curled up as she was being tickled by a hundred kittens. “I am just so excited! Aren’t you always excited to see something for the first time?”

“Well, it depends on what things you see.” Lucas shrugged. “Personally, I enjoy not the destination itself, but the emotions that come with an adventure to one.”

“Sure, whatever you say, pal.” Vela smirked but immediately choked on a taffy. After a few good blows to the chest, it flew all the way to the carpet. “Say, these are good. I need to get the recipe.”

While trying to maintain balance on a soft and cushy seat, Lucas opened his suitcase and examined its contents. Everything was in place, just like it was a couple of hours ago. His clothes and school utilities were neatly and carefully folded into two separate parts of the suitcase. Lucas wrapped his belongings as tightly as possible and yet it was stuffed almost to the brim. It was impressive that he managed to fit inside so much stuff inside - back in July he and his mom bought a whole new set of clothing just for the first year of school. And only that was enough to make it heavy, not even mentioning the books and other school utilities. Lucas grabbed one of his new robes, examining it in his hands, inhaling a fresh washing powder scent. Placing the school book in its place instead, Lucas put the robe beside himself on a cushion to change later when they will be reaching Hogwarts and turned back to his stuff.

Sitting on top of his clothes was a small, pink lunch box with small flowers drawn all over it. Lucas reached for it and after a bit of hesitation, took out his notebook as well. It was a blue, office-style notebook with Lucas’s wand stuck inside its spring-like a very long triangular pencil. He sat back down on his seat and opened the box. The sweet, warm and somewhat sour smell of lemon instantly filled the room. The lunch box comprised a small pink thermos and a couple of glazed scones, all still warm and steaming. He really had no necessity of buying sweets from the trolley, however, Vela bought a whole fortune full of sweets and demanded that he had some. So, naturally, he felt a bit guilty and somewhat obligated to share some of his own food with her. Everything had a price and if his payment is a set of mediocre lemon scones, then so be it.

Lucas gave one scone to Vela and took one for himself.

“Say, just want to ask.” Lucas said while taking a bite of his scone. “Why did your parents give you a vulture as a pet? I know it’s allowed to bring one to school and some people have vultures as pets, but this seems extra, don’t you think?”

Vela gave Lucas a confused look and then turned to look at her bird. She giggled while the bird disapprovingly shook its head. Possibly because of Lucas or Vela, or because of them both, Lucas couldn’t figure it out.

“It’s not a vulture, silly. It’s an augurey.”

Lucas thought that either he had gone deaf or that Vela just answered him with a mouthful of taffies.

“I’m sorry. What was that? A-augorey?”

“Augurey, it’s a type of magical bird. Also known as an Irish Phoenix.”

“Phoenix?” Lucas looked at the augurey; it was cleaning himself in the weirdest pose a bird could muster. “Now I am even more surprised. But shouldn’t phoenixes be a bit more... um, majestic?”

“What are you talking about? He is very majestic.” The bird started flapping his wings and started coughing, or rather expectorating, trying to get something out of his throat. With a loud, splashy noise, phoenix coughed up a hefty chunk of god-knows-what on the floor of the cage. It was covered in hair, leaves, and something that was probably beetle wings. Vela took the lump and threw it away in the opened window. “Yeah, I get what you mean. Augureys are the closest relatives of the actual phoenixes, but they are at the same time the exact opposite. If phoenixes are brave and resemble fire, augureys are skittish and resemble storms and rains. My family had owned several nests of these birds for centuries and even domesticated them. It even became a tradition that every child of our family has to raise an augurey themselves.”

“So it’s your own bird, not anyone else’s?” Vela nodded and Lucas turned to the bird again; it was blinking slowly and had the most fed up expression Lucas has ever seen on a bird. “What’s his name then?”

“His name is Audrey.” Vela started scratching Audrey’s neck, moving her hand whenever he turned it. “Now don’t give me that look. I know that it’s not the best, original, or even slightly good name for a bird. But I had him when I was seven and phoenixes have one name for their entire lifetime, so no changing that. Do you have a pet of your own?” Vela tilted her head and Audrey followed her motions.

“Uh, yeah, a cat. His name is Persimmon.” A big, orange ball of fur appeared in Lucas’s mind, right on his imaginary couch. “He’s not exactly my cat, he is my mum’s. She found him on the streets and took pity on the guy. He isn’t as old as Audrey, a lot younger, but is just as big as him. I bet he could have fit inside the cage just nicely.” Lucas giggled a bit.

“Well, we actually exterminated all the cats in the area near my house.” Vela looked at Audrey, her eyes serious and kinda sad. “Cats kill a lot of our youngest chicks, foxes steal eggs and we even had a hippogriff attacking one of our biggest nests. So, naturally, my dad wanted to get rid of the pests.”

“I-I see.” Lucas shifted his gaze. Vela either didn’t understand jokes, or he was that bad of a comedian. “So, Audrey. He is like your pet or a familiar?”

“Something like that, yeah, but I guess he thinks he looks after me rather than the other way around. But phoenixes live a long life, for five hundred years before actually kicking a bucket, so in human years, Audrey is about forty. No wonder he treats me like a child.”

“Well, aren’t you a child? If he is really that old, then maybe he sees you not as an owner but as his own offspring. He just wants you to stay safe and that’s all.” Lucas gave Audrey another taffy. He carefully sniffed it and then in a split second snatched it from Lucas’s hand, swallowed it, and then got back to his interrupted birdy dreams.

“Yeah, I s’pose. Although he can be pretty tiring from time to time. Good thing I can’t understand birds, otherwise I would not hear the end from him.” Audrey yawned and shook himself off, scattering lots of greenish-grey feathers across the cabin. “Don’t mind him; he sleeps most of the time, anyway. And he seems to like you, so you are out of the trilling zone. Oh, scones.” Vela grabbed the sweet pastry from Lucas’s box and stuffed it whole into her mouth. “Thefe a gud. Murfinf berth, Mur mum muft fe a pfetti goo vifch ferfelf.”

“Don’t forget to swallow, it can get stuck in your throat.” Lucas giggled while opening the thermos and pouring the hot, steaming tea into a cap. “Not to mention, I can’t understand a word you are saying.”

Vela carefully, so as not to splash a hot tea onto herself, took a cup and started slowly sipping the tea. Slowly, but surely, she could drink without constantly cooling down her tongue. It felt like five minutes before Vela finished up the whole cup and she spoke again.

“I said, your mum must be a witch herself. My mum would have never made scones that delicious, much less my dad or my sister. To make such amazing scones it’s great magic in itself. What kind of recipe did she use, by the way? Was it in “Honeybees’ Diaries” or in the “Sibyl Siclis’ Sunday Scrumptious”? Mum always picks out the best recipes from there, although there isn’t much to choose from lately.”

Lucas took the cup back from her and filled it again for himself.

“It’s actually her own recipe. She made it together with my gran and recently I got the privilege of helping her in the kitchen. I didn’t make them on the first try, that’s for sure, but I got the hang of it at some point. But I still hate to clean my hands after finishing the dough.” He took a scone and took a small bite, to savor; the scones were amazing as usual. “To be honest, with a bit of practice you can achieve almost anything, don’t you think?”

“I mean, I guess. That’s how you practice spells and other stuff.” Vela scratched her cheek, looking quite pondering. “We don’t really have much to practice with; our dad doesn’t let us go into the kitchens, since he thinks cooking is “unworthy of a great witches’ time.” Not to mention if I ever try to speak about cooking in front of Edra she might have a heart attack.” Vela smirked as if she said something funny. “Well, I suppose your mother’s family is a lot different from mine. Not a lot of magical families prefer to work with their hands and hey, I’m guilty of that as well. But I’m sure she is a great witch, nonetheless.”

“Oh, my mom is not a witch. She cant do magic.”

“Really? I could have never guessed.” A small blue mouse ran around in Vela’s palm before she promptly put it in her mouth. “Well, I’m sure your dad is a fine wizard himself.”

“Vela.”

“What?” Vela asked.

“My dad cant do magic too.”

There was a silence between them for a second. And in this silence, Lucas could hear the gears slowly turning inside Vela’s mind, as if comprehending what he said.

“What?” she finally mustered.

“Neither of my parents can do magic. I’m the only one who can do so.”

“What?!”

Vela jumped in her seat and took Lucas by the shoulders. He dropped the cup in surprise and a hot, steaming liquid started dripping from the cushions onto the red carpet. Audrey, after being woken up yet again, started aggressively flapping his wings, as he let out a crying screech, just as surprised as Lucas.

“You mean your mother is a muggle! A real muggle?!” Vela asked that question, so surprised as if Lucas just told her he saw an alien ship in his backyard. “And your dad too?!”

“Uh, um, yeah, I guess so? At least that’s what my mom told me.”

Vela let out another squeal and started shaking Lucas so violently that he could see the ceiling of the train without moving his head. He made it in all his willpower not to barf out the sweets he ate on the carpet. “You are a muggleborn! A real muggleborn right in front of my very eyes!!! You should have told me sooner about that! Why didn't you tell me sooner, you bloody wanker?!”

“Because I didn’t think it mattered!” saying a sentence word by word, Lucas was trying to get a hold of Vela’s grip, but with no luck. “Why are you even surprised to hear about it? It’s like you've never seen a muggle in your life. Most of the witches and wizards nowadays are either half-bloods or muggleborns, anyway.”

“Yes, I know, but I never thought that you would be one as well. I actually thought you were a pureblood, like me.” Vela finally let Lucas go, while his shoulders were still tingling with a very nasty itch. “Jeez, I never thought that you were a muggleborn. Ursa always told me that muggleborns were nasty, smelly, gruesome-looking brutes, who can’t even hold their quills straight, let alone a wand. And that they were smelly, didn't know how to read and write and some even were creeping on students in their sleep to steal their magic. But, I think the last one is a bit of a stretch.”

And just as Lucas thought he had reached his limit of mental load for today, this girl had just beaten his expectations by sheer numbers. He suddenly felt a wave of vexation coming over him, and he shook it off. Even with his little noodle-like arms, he could crack a punch, but he surely wasn’t a brute or gruesome looking. His clothes, although worn-down and shabby, were fresh as the first summer rain. And in his previous school, he had top grades in all the classes, not even mentioning all the medals from various contests and science fairs. And the ability to steal magic? Lucas doesn't know much about the world of wizardry, but even he knew it was complete and utter bollocks, at least for an eleven-year-old, who can’t even properly cook himself breakfast in the morning. If instead of Vela, Lucas was talking to a classmate in his school, he would have been really offended, or at the least, very confused and worried about the state of their mental well-being.

Although, as she was telling this, Vela looked at Lucas with nothing but sheer amazement in her eyes. Almost just as much as he did when his mom bought him a chemistry set for Christmas. Whatever this so-called Ursa told her, she seemed to take those facts at face value. Lucas only sighed in relief that his mom didn't hear all of this stuff. Otherwise, Ursa and Vela’s parents would have gone straight to her death list, alongside her work colleagues and his notoriously obstinate math teacher.

“Well, I surely can’t steal magic, although I do have insomnia, so don’t freak out when I will sit on my bed late at night.” Lucas chuckled. “And where did this... Ursa heard this stuff? Is he your brother or something?”

Vela waved “Nah, he’s just an old friend of mine. But we have known each other for a while and I can say, we’re pretty close.”

“So, how does he know this stuff? Is he already attending Hogwarts and tells you all about it or did he hear it on the grapevine? Because rest assured, I’m not going to steal your breath or kill you when you decide to blink.”

Unsure how to react, Vela just chuckled, but to Lucas’s amusement, she began eying him intensively, almost without blinking, as if she expected him to jump at her with the first chance he gets.

“Well, it's a pretty common fact that there are certain types of people that go to different houses. Gryffindors are brave, determined, and courageous, Ravenclaws-”

“Are intelligent, creative, and witty. Hufflepuffs are valuing hardworking, loyal and fair and Slytherins are ambitious, cunning and prideful.” Lucas finished for Vela. “Don’t worry about me, I’ve read the books.”

Vela scratched her head simultaneously with Audrey. “Heh, well, at least you know about this stuff. Now you see, why was I so surprised to hear that you are a muggleborn, right?”

“Not exactly. You just told me the types of people that go into each house, not about the superstitions or white lies about peoples’ bloodlines.” Lucas leaned against the back of the seat and crossed his arms like a stern teacher. “You never told me where you got that information in the first place. About the muggles, that is.”

“Oh, my dad works in the Ministry of Magic and my mom is a professional healer, who sometimes has to take in muggles as well. They know a lot of stuff about muggles and how to deal with them, so I guess they took part in it as well.” Vela took another scone right before her bird could grab it, receiving an annoyed screech and a death glare. “But my sister is already in her fifth year and she tells me all the gossip from the school. She is smart, although she can be kinda annoying and cocky on the side, even though she is a Ravenclaw. And they always tell me that depending on your blood, you get chosen into a certain house. In Slytherin there are mostly purebloods, half-bloods prevail in Ravenclaw and all the muggleborns go straight to Gryffindor, with the other nut jobs as they are.”

“And the Hufflepuffs?”

“Well, they take everyone; if you don’t get chosen into any of the other houses, Hufflepuff is your goal. And people there are nicer as well.”

Lucas nodded and opened his notebook on the last, mostly clean page.

“I see. Say, can you tell me more about this stuff? It’s good to be prepared for what might occur, don’t you think?”

Vela smiled widely and began.

This talk kept on for hours. Every time Vela finished one sentence, it took her a while to start talking again. She was talking fast, easily getting lost in her own words and excitement. Luckily, Lucas could easily make out most of the words just to get the basics of the information. He was able not only to freshen up his memories about what he heard from a school representative in the summer but also to learn something new as well. Nodding slowly and occasionally putting honey taffies and fudge flies in his mouth, Lucas tried to take as much information from Velandi as possible. As she was telling him this, he made sure to write all the stuff in his notebook and to make notes. The Ministry of Magic - the wizard equivalent to human government and just as effective - seems to control basically every witch and wizard who had ever been and will be born, what they can and can’t do and how to treat muggles - a word, which represents normal humans, who cannot do magic of any kind. Healers is basically just a fancy word for wizard doctors and Vela’s mom was one of the best healers of her kind and the head of a department in a St Mungo's Hospital.

Although, after what Vela had told him about muggleborns, he was taking almost every word of hers with a grain of salt; she seemed to have a very good opinion about muggles, although from her parents and her “friend” Ursa she got completely in the wrong direction. She barely understood how any of scientific inventions worked and was completely oblivious to any sort of modern human culture and any historical events that ever occurred unless they had wizards interfering in them as well. And the stuff about muggleborns was really close to the stuff other people had to deal with for ages. And he had to endure it himself on a daily basis in relation to his upbringing. Sidelong glances of neighbors down the lane, belittling talks of classmates behind his back, condescending attitude from teachers at school - all of that spoiled the rest of his day and made his mother’s blood boil. Lucas sighed; Wizards and muggles are not so different from each other after all.

After Lucas found out the bare minimum that Vela had about the world without magic, he made a mental - and physical - note to teach her about the Muggle world later and smoothly rotated his talk in a different direction and started asking some questions about the school itself. Vela took off - she unleashed so many facts and rumors about the school she heard all over the years that would make the most famous gossipers in Lucas’s school start taking notes. She talked about every subject, activity, room, and even the smallest quirks that this school had as if she was studying there for a good six years. She seemed to pay great attention to the seventies and the nineties - times of The Marauders and The Golden Trio, as they were called.

More than a couple of times, she also mentioned her family as well.

“Most of my family members were elected in Hufflepuff. We even have a running joke in our family, that we might be the descendants of Helga Hufflepuff, the founder of the house herself. And for a good reason - my ancestors took helping others with great pride and some even made it their own personal goal in life. This is also a reason why every member of our family has a strong intuition and never lacked empathy; we were usually the ones to detect if a person was grieving or suffering.”

“Doesn’t seem to work much with animals though.” Lucas murmured to himself as he was giving the vulture tiny pieces of his scone. The bird gobbled them up with great speed and was making sure to munch as loud as possible. Lucas thought of it as a gesture of gratitude. “So, why Hufflepuff? Not that I have any concerns or disliking towards the houses, but I’m just curious.”

“Among the other houses Hufflepuffs are the most caring and respectful of them all; they will never let the others be alone or unhappy. Even if a student doesn’t have any qualities for any other houses, we always welcome them at Hufflepuff. And it’s so unfair that they always give us a reputation of the most useless and overlooked house in the school when there are so many great witches and wizards that came out from that house, that it will surprise you. And they were the first ones to help during the Battle for Hogwarts, alongside Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. But it’s a surprise that the last ones stayed at all, considering that none of them are fighters at all. I am not sure about all the Ravenclaws, but this house defines the whole being about being a smartass. I am not even sure that these are good for anything but thinking. The good counterpart for Gryffindors though; all brawl and no brain, these Gryffindors, always looking for troubles on their backsides. And where there are no troubles they will start one themselves.”

“Well, I can guarantee that I won’t get selected into Gryffindor for sure.” Lucas ate the last piece of a scone himself. “Well, at least I have a pretty good chance of becoming a Ravenclaw, right bud?” he looked at Audrey, and even though birds didn’t have shoulders, Audrey only shrugged in response. “Say, in what house do you think I will get selected? I want to know how to present myself to my peers for the next seven years of my life.”

“Well, I can’t tell for sure. Any person can get selected into any house no matter how they can look or act. Although, you seem to have a soft spot for the Slytherin House,” Vela pointed at his jacket. “I can’t understand why you even want to be around them at all, but you do you, I guess.”

Lucas looked down at his jacket. It was a bright green varsity hoodie with a silver hood and sleeves. It had a stylish purple-green logo of two crossed rackets and a tennis ball on the front which stated “The Championships, Wimbledon”. He got it secondhand from his mother, who once attended such a championship and got the jacket as a souvenir. Grandma once said that she had a dream of playing in the championship herself, but she tossed away this dream for science - and Lucas.

He defensively started shaking his head.

“What? Oh, no no no, it’s not that. It’s just the color of my jacket, it has nothing to do with being or wanting to be a Slytherin.”

“It doesn’t?” Vela tilted her head in a cat-like manner.

“No, of course not! It doesn’t even have a house emblem, there is no snake on it at all. And why do you hate Slytherins so much, anyway? What’s the big deal?”

“What’s the big deal?! The deal is that this house has more dark wizards and witches than any of the other houses combined! It’s like a hive for them. It has become a bad omen at this point to be elected at Slytherin. My cousin got elected in Slytherin and my uncle kicked him out of the house.” Velandi was eating more and more scones with every sentence she said, barely finding any time to chew. Her bird was looking sadly at every piece of bakery she was putting in her mouth and with each one he was signing more and more deeply. “No one should be accepted in Slytherin. My parents always say: if in Slytherin you'll go in a row - only by a dark road in life shall you go. Voldemort was a descendant of Slytherin as well and look where it got him. Dead, obliterated, tossed in the ocean! And do you know what happened to his soul?! No one would want a fate like that in a lifetime.”

“Maybe so, but have you thought that people choose these paths because no one else believes they are able to do overwise?” Lucas leaned in towards Vela. “All I heard from you about the Slytherins is how bad they are and how people berate them. Only because there were some bad eggs from there, does it automatically mean that everyone will be just as evil? Even the first-years? Eleven-year-olds, kids just like you and me? Are they all bad?”

“Well, no, not all of them.” Vela turned red and shrunk in her seat. “But you can’t deny the fact that kids can be particularly cruel to others, sometimes for no reason. And my sister told me that all the rumors about them are truthful; she experienced them herself. Slytherins are destined to be evil. Even Salazar Slytherin was no fluffy bunny as well. Did you know he let a giant basilisk freely slither inside the Hogwarts’ walls just to get rid of all the students, who weren’t purebloods?”

“That is pretty evil, no objections here. But just because the founder was a racist, idealistic bastard doesn’t mean that everyone in the house thinks the same. There can be people just like Salazar in any other houses, Hufflepuff included. No, there are, and don’t try to tell me otherwise.” Lucas continued before Vela could place even one word in his lecture. “Not to mention, you never even been inside the school yourself; you only heard what everybody tells you and didn’t see it for yourself. You are prejudiced against others depending on their blood and what kind of color they wear, which is something that can be found amongst muggles as well.“

“Really?” Vela gasped.

“Really, although it’s not much about the blood, more about the color of the skin. People like these judge only how others around them look on the outside, not once stopping to think about how that person was raised or what kind of mess they are going through right now. And that on itself sounds kinda... evil.”

Vela’s eyes became round and full of fury.

“I’m not evil! Is it evil to take precautions?” She folded her arms “And it’s not like I believe everything without question; I question things like those all the time. But it’s just a common fact, otherwise why even bother with houses at all. At my manor, we sometimes host a family in which all the members are Slytherins. And let me tell you - they are not happy and jolly all over there. Their old man looks at me like I’m a speck of dust on the floor and I am a pureblood, just like he is! And his talking demeanor - it’s like our family to him consists only of house elves. I have nothing against people, but just looking at him gives me chills.”

Lucas nodded and put his opened notebook on a cushion next to him.

“Vela, listen.” Lucas started talking quietly, just like his mother did at the station. He leaned in towards Vela and she did the same; there were mere inches between their faces. “You look like a good girl, and talking to you was actually enjoyable during this ride. And yet you are being biased towards me and other people, which can cause problems in the future. At this point, you have all the possibilities of confusing and turning people against you, in the worst-case scenario even becoming a bully, wherever you like it or not. It’s good that you don’t believe everything that people say to you - from what I’ve gathered, more than half of it sounds like fairytales and not the good kind. However, it’s one thing to talk about good and actually being good. You believe you will do good in this world, just like Helga, but this belief has to be proven on the others as well.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“For example, what will you do if I become a member of a Slytherin house?”

If she was a bird, just like Audrey, Vela would have puffed up.

“But you are not in Slytherin!” Staring at that argument, she sounded as if she was defending Lucas - or herself - in trial.

“Not yet, and you are not in Hufflepuff yet as well. But let’s play it out: what will you do if I become a Slytherin? Will you continue talking to me or you’ll start avoiding me, judging by your beliefs?”

“I... I'm going to continue talking to you.” Looking down, Vela’s words sounded weak and unsure. Lucas was looking straight onto her with an intense, calculating gaze. When they would occasionally meet eyes, Vela would quickly turn her head away, but there was something that Lucas was able to pick up in those occasional glances. Embarrassment, shame, and uncertainty lingered in Vela’s mind, fully exposed to Lucas.

Lucas smirked and leaned back in his seat. “We will see about that as well.” He whispered to himself and looked back at Vela. “Or what will you do, if I - for example - will reveal a secret to you?”

“A secret?” Her eyes instantly filled with curiosity.

“Yeah, what if I had a terrible, dark secret that only a few people know and I decided to share it with you?”

Vela thought for a second.

“Well, it will depend on what kind of secret we are talking about. If it’s private or not too serious, then I will protect it as my own.” She placed her hand on her heart as if making an oath of a knight. Lucas' smile became wider.

“But what if it was serious?” Audrey’s eyes opened up a bit as if he was listening up to their conversation. “What if this secret was affecting not only me but the others as well? What if this secret was so common and so dark, that it had centuries’ worth of beliefs and superstitions about it?” Lucas leaned in again. He caught his reflection in the window at the corner of his eye. He resembled a protagonist from his favorite novel; an old detective who comes from a powerful and influential mob family. Lucas liked how he looked. “What if I was... bad, as you say? What would you do?”

Vela tilted her head.

“Like that you are a werewolf or a parselmouth or something like that?”

Lucas thought for a moment. “Something along those lines, yes.”

Vela reaches out to Audrey and started scratching him. He started cooing in his sleep and almost fell completely into Vela’s palm. Lucas deducted that she did that to help herself concentrate as if Audrey helped her keep her mind steady. She looked again at Lucas, his eyes still locked on the girl with a warm, but unwavering gaze, as if looking right through her. Vela blushed and looked down, still feeling the heaviness of Lucas’s gaze on her.

“Well, I can't say for sure, because you never actually told me that secret.” She looked at Lucas and met his eyes again. Her blush came back, but this time she did not look away. “But whoever you may be or whatever secret you have, you are not that bad. And… I enjoy talking to you too. You seem like a pleasant fellow and that’s not something I can say about many people in my entourage. I… would really like to have you as a friend. But, you better be sure that I will get your head straight in its place if you decide to start some funny business.”

“And I will do the same to you as well.” Lucas smiled for the first time in a while. He reached out his palm to Vela. “So, it’s a promise, then?”

Beaming from ear to ear, Vela took his hand and shook it.

“You bet it is!”

When they broke off their handshake, Lucas sighed and fell into his chair once again. He felt like an entire load of bricks escaped his chest. It was one of the greatest moments for Lucas; he made his first official friend today. But there was something that was bugging him this whole time, something that got his attention in their chat and demanded the following answer.

“Say, Vela?”

“Mm?”

“This friend of yours, Ursa, is he coming to Hogwarts as well?”

Seemed confused by his question at first, Vela snapped her fingers in an “Ah-ha!” motion.

“Oh right, he does! I remember his parents talked about wanting to bring him to school themselves, so I guess he is with them now.” She smiled lightly, comforting as if trying to reassure Lucas. “Don’t worry, I know you probably think that he is a major jerk, but he isn’t all that bad. I’m sure you will like him.”

“If you say so.” He got his answer, but the feeling of wrongness didn’t go away. Quite the opposite. It only became stronger, even after Vela’s reassuring words. But Lucas shook it off, planning on dealing with it later.

The darkness outside thickened by the minute and proceeded to cover the landscapes with its blanket. A quiet, drumming-like sound was heard outside of the train, as small droplets of rain started falling down on the window’s glass. At first, they fell slowly, unhurriedly, but as the train went on they began to accelerate their pace and soon the drumming sound muffled all other sounds outside. As soon as the last tree hidden in the emptiness, the lights in the train turned on, creating the feeling that nothing outside the train ever existed.

Lucas thought of a movie he watched with mom this winter. It was just as dark, even though the clock barely hit five o’clock. Mom let him pick a movie for that evening and he picked “The Third Man”. An ultimate choice, approved by all members of the Montgomery family - by Lucas, because it’s a classic and a detective, by Ariana because it’s an old black and white noir film and by Persimmon, because it allowed him to nap freely on the couch. They sat on the couch in the living room under a thick blanket that they still had from grandma, listening to the sounds of postwar Vienna and Persimmon purring. And at this moment nothing else existed for Lucas then. It was as if somebody turned off the entire outside world, leaving them completely alone and happy. Heavy, antique grandfather's clock had finally hit nine only to let its echo be left unheard in the dark. Lucas imagined himself, snuggled against his mom’s shoulder and Persimmon lying on her knees, in the place where nothing else existed, but the couch, the blanket, and this movie.

The train suddenly jolted, ripping Lucas out of the depths of his mind. Looking around, nothing much has changed, only Vela was staring outside her window with a sleepy look on her face. Lucas took a scone from the lunch box and started rotating it in his hand, without the intention of eating it. He started surveying this cold, stiff piece of pastry in his hand as if it was a relic from another lifetime or an ancient artifact. Sweet, sugary syrup easily stuck to his hands, leaving drops of syrup with small crumbs in it and a faint lemony scent.

“Say, what is a parselmouth?”

“Eh?” The suddenness of the question ripped Vela out of her thoughts - or, rather lack of such.

“You mentioned earlier this word, parselmouth. What does it mean?”

All of a sudden, Vela’s face became pale and sleepiness was completely gone from her face.

“You mean...you don’t know what it is?”

“What’s why I’m asking.” Lucas put down the scone next to his school robes. Small crumbs instantaneously covered the small radius around it, being an eyesore on a scarlet red cushion and matte black cloth.

“Um, ugh, okay. You see, the parselmouth is a person- no, a wizard, who has this feature, no, an ability, which is very rare. Although I can’t really say how rare it is, because I never met a parselmouth, so I don't actually know if it’s rare or not.” Vela continued to rumble nonsense, and Lucas stopped listening after a while. He stared at the scone, almost expecting it to grow legs and walk away, like some kind of wonky, triangular beetle.

Random and relatively unwanted thoughts started flowing up inside Lucas’s mind completely on their own, making him tracing away from reality. At the back of his head, Lucas wondered who would clean the stain or will it be cleaned at all. How does this train operate? Does it have staff, like cleaning or a conductor? It will probably take an enormous amount of magic to keep this thing going on its own, so the conductor is a must. But it can’t be only the conductor and the sweets lady, can it? Trains always come with some sort of staff that gives it fuel or mechanics always ready to fix a malfunction. How do people know when the train will be arriving? Do wizards operate on it or some other kind of creatures, like the house-elves, that Vela mentioned? But house-elves live in houses, not in the trains, so they must work under a certain family or another employer. So, this train must be just a normal train that is still operated manually.

“So, not everything in this world is magic.” Lucas said to himself, looking at a knitting pattern on the carpet below.

“You said something?” A sudden noise made Lucas shift his gaze to Vela. Her palm was resting on Audrey’s head, feathers pointing to every direction from his head.

Lucas shook his head. “It’s nothing. Just some funny thoughts.” He beamed at Vela. “So, back to our topic. Can you tell me what a parselmouth is? Briefly.”

Vela folded her palms together, forefingers touching her chin.

“Well, it’s a certain quirk, a feature - no, an ability that some wizards have. It’s usually associated with evil and wrongdoing - that the person who is a parselmouth will always turn out to be a rotten apple, of sorts. That’s why people don’t talk about it as much.”

“Vela.” Lucas cooed. “What did I say about prejudice and being biased?”

“I kno-o-ow, but I can’t say that I’ve ever met a good parselmouth or a parselmouth at all. They are taught to hide that ability because of the bad rep and that’s just how things are. I don’t say I agree with it though.” Vela jumped in before Lucas could say a word. “I actually would love to meet a parselmouth, although I don’t think this will happen soon enough.”

“So you don’t treat them like villains? How nice of you.” Lucas teased, smirking.

Vela went bright red and turned her head with a humpf. Still in his sleep, Audrey let out a soft chuckle.

Lucas laughed. “I was just kidding, I’m sorry. So, a certain feature, huh? And what does that feature involve, specifically.”

Vela shrugged. Even a blind man could see that talking about this topic caused Vela to become uncertain and nauseous. It seemed as if just thinking about this was indecent.

“It involves being able to talk to snakes.”

Cold, icky goosebumps crawled on Lucas’s back, followed by little drops of sweat and an unpleasant wave of heat. Lucas felt his face involuntarily flinch, and his heart made a double somersault. The side of his neck started to pang and twinge, like an icy hand made of needles pulled and twisted it, causing him some amount of pain.

Lucas was afraid of snakes. Or, rather, his body was afraid and he had to deal with the symptoms. For as long as he could remember, he had this irrational fear of snakes and it was really making his life hell until this point in life. Every time he saw one of these creatures outside, or even in a book or a movie, his neck suddenly began itching and his body refused any commands until the blasted thing went away. Definitely didn’t help with his panic attacks too.

He understood that most of the snakes, just like bees and spiders, were mainly docile creatures, and if you stood still, they quickly left you alone. But Lucas would rather hold a bee or a spider in his hands than a snake. His classmates would often pick on him by placing realistic snakes on his desk or backpack and few presents he received on holidays (like there were many) always had a drawn snake or snake puns on them. One day some pea-brained classmates of his thought it would be funny to hide a real grass snake in his coat during recess. Needless to say, they got suspended for their mischief and Lucas got trauma and weekly visits to the psychiatrist plus an entire week off school.

“So... that’s it?” Lucas scratched the itching place to make it more numb. “Then I don’t understand what the big deal is. A person can talk to snakes, well, kudos to him. Why is that so scary, anyway; personally, I think it’s actually pretty neat. Although, it’s weird that they can talk to snakes at all, since snakes can’t hear a thing and can only feel the vibrations of the ground.”

“Look, I don’t even know where people got this idea.” Vela sat down in a lotus pose, leaning back on her hands. “Probably some nut job thought it would be funny to set a snake on another person and the joke went south. And it’s actually one of many reasons why Slytherin isn’t popular - Salazar was a parselmouth himself.”

“Well, I guess you have to be able to talk to snakes if you want one of them creeping inside Hogwarts’ walls.” The image of a giant basilisk appeared in Lucas’s head and he felt a fresh wave of goosebumps on his back, now powerful enough to make him shudder. “Personally, I’m glad I’m not a parselmouth. It would be awkward to understand the only thing that you are afraid of.”

“You are afraid of snakes? But they are adorable!” These weren’t the words Lucas expected to hear from Vela. “I have some non-venomous sorts living near my house. I could even see their babies hatch from the eggs. They are so cute! Such tiny button eyes, little noodle bodies, smooth round noses. Oh, I just want to boop their snoots so badly.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, they are cute, scaly little angels.” Feeling his lunch gathering down his throat, Lucas quickly cut Vela off. “It’s just I can’t help it. This fear is mostly irrational and I can’t control it. Snakes are not really threatening unless you provoke them, but anytime I see one it’s just…” The neck started itching again, and he rubbed it, feeling the heat from his palms mixing together with the icing from the scones. “I just stop thinking straight. I can’t even move an inch before someone takes care of it for me. It’s not like I want to be afraid of them.”

“Yeah, you don’t need to tell me. Some of these baddies are so frightening, that even I have the jeebies and I’m used to having snakes in our gardens. You know, one of them turned out to look just like our old butler, Melvet. So ugly that it could-” Cutting off suddenly, Vela made a face. A face that stated something was wrong. “You say that you can’t handle snakes at all, right?”

“No, I can’t. Even seeing those things in books or movies makes me shiver.” Lucas saw Vela’s eyes slowly were shifting from the floor to the side and her face became even more crooked. Although he couldn’t see much with his weak peripheral vision. “Some people have these as pets and this whole idea is complete madness to me.”

“So, that’s a no-go for you?”

“So, that’s a no-go for me, yeah.”

“Well, in this case, you better not look down.” Contrasting her words, Vela pointed down, somewhere near Lucas’s right arm, right where he shouldn’t look.

Driven mostly by curiosity, Lucas touched the cushion to his right. Next to the airy, still crumbs of the scone he left earlier, he felt something much colder and silkier, as if he was touching the surface of a smooth, wet eraser. His heart dropped as he looked down. There, slowly crawling on his hand, was a small, round head of a snowy white snake.

The shriek of pure horror found its path all the way back to the first train cabins. Some kids in the back were either talking, reading or starting to doze off and just were spending their time relaxing, but this horrifying scream woke them up instantly, leaving them confused and searching for the supposedly dying person.

“Lucas, calm down!” Vela jumped from her seat, closing into Lucas. “Relax, it’s a corn snake. It will not harm you, they are one of the friendliest snakes in the world!” Vela quickly scooped the little white noodle in her hands and stood in the farthest corner, so Lucas could calm down. The snake looked at the girl with pleasant surprise and raised her head a bit, as a gesture of gratitude.

“You think I don’t know that?!” Driven purely by fear, Lucas was almost hysterical. He jumped from his seat to the cushion near the door in a piss poor attempt of leaving the room, screaming bloody murder as he watched the snake with eyes wide in horror. “I read all about those slimy bastards to know which ones I should get rid of first and foremost!”

“It’s not even that slimy.” Vela looked at the curled-up snake and mumbled these words as if it was her own. “As I was saying, it’s friendly and NOT venomous. Although they don’t exactly live in this climate; someone must have brought it with them.” Vela looked around the cabin as if trying to find someone to who this snake could belong.

“Well, if someone actually brought a snake here, we better see this thing off as fast as possible.” Lucas barked, breathing heavily. “I have a couple of nice words to say to the owner when I see them face to face.”

“Blimey!” a very annoying, reedy voice rang out somewhere near the floor.

Two of them turned their heads to the source of the voice. There, standing in the middle of the doorway, was a weasel. It was one of the biggest ones Lucas had ever seen, - not that he saw that many weasels in his life anyway - it easily could have passed as a stray cat or a small dog. Its stubby, dark-grey fur might have looked nice if it wasn’t peeling in some places, leaving bald spots here and there. The weasel was standing on all fours, widely spread and he had a look on his face as if he embraced the face of madness.

“Did... did someone let a stray weasel on a train or am I tripping?” Seeing this small, crazy fur ball calmed Lucas a bit, and he got down from the cushion, legs still shaking.

“Well, if you do, you won’t be the only one. And I think he is looking at me.” Slowly moving away from the unwanted guest, Vela was throwing quick glances at the door. The weasel was closing in on her, drool falling on the carpet. “Lucas, can you go out there and call someone who can help us? I think this one is rabid.”

“What? Why me?” Lucas asked, baffled.

“You are closer to the door and I have a snake in my hands, which could be someone’s pet.” Vela felt her back against the cabin’s corner. “Look, just get out of here quickly, so we could-“

“Stand from under!” With a screeching war cry, the weasel jumped and hang on Vela’s right sleeve, long talons keeping himself hooked on it.

“What the- Get away from me!” Vela started shaking her sleeve, trying to shake the weasel off, but it was desperate to keep itself hanging. He started slowly making his way to the snake and Vela quickly shifted it to the other hand “He wants to eat the snake! Lucas, help me!”

This entire scene could be described only as complete chaos. Screaming and shouting were heard from every point on the train. Students were peeking out of their cabins, scared and confused, searching for the source of the noise and wondering if they should call the machinist or deal with the problem themselves. All this commotion had woken up Audrey as well and in a half-asleep state, he was screeching and jumping in his cage, shrieking just as loud as the weasel. The latter was scratching and biting Vela in a valiant attempt to get closer to the snake, throwing swear words in the process. Trying to protect the snake at both costs, Vela was wriggling and squirming her body strangely, as if she tried to dance to modern pop music while keeping the snake away from the weasel. Lucas tried desperately to calm them down and grab the weasel as quickly as possible, yet he made no luck in doing any of these things, especially when each time he looked at the snake made him gag. The only creature in this room which was more or less quiet was the snake itself, but even it backed up in fear and was looking around with the same surprised expression on their face and occasionally hissing at the weasel.

“Get it away from me! Get it away from me now!” Her voice rising as high as the cabin’s ceiling, Vela was standing on her toes, desperately trying to hold her balance on the floor of the moving train, weasel hanging desperately on her skirt. Once he pulled it a bit too hard and Vela fell on the floor with a loud thump. “For Merlin’s sake, has everyone gone deaf on this train? Can someone get a hold of this thing or what?!”

“Excuse me, and what do you think I’m trying to do?!” Lucas yelled, tired from running in circles around Vela, looking for an unstopping weasel.

Quick, loud footsteps were heard down the train’s corridor. Lucas thought that someone must have brought an ox on the train as well; he could not only hear but even feel the trembling coming from them. Suddenly the same ox appeared at the train car’s door. Although, it wasn’t an ox, but a girl, panting and gasping for air. Her big, bulgy glasses were sitting unevenly on her nose, which did little to no help in actually seeing anything, due to long, strings of hair blocking the view. She looked like a ghost from a horror movie "Ring", that ran all the way from his apartment in Wimbledon to his cabin, panting and gasping for breath.

“Oh, you found them. Thank the Gods you found them!” Surprised at first, the girl beamed and turned to someone outside the cabin. “Filbert! Aiden! Come here, I think I’ve found them!”

Another two pairs of quick footsteps followed, and two boys both quickly accompanied the girl, equally concerned.

When Lucas shifted his gaze on one of them, he instantly thought: what a brute! That boy was bulky. Not fat, but his physique of a Siberian hunter was more than visible through his clothes, one size smaller. His dark, thin hair was shaped in a bowl cut and his bangs were almost touching his potato-like nose. He contrasted with the other boy, who was standing up in the front: runty, slim squirt body was completely invisible from the oversized shirt with an image of a fallen angel on it. His pale, weasel-like face was almost completely white because of his thick eyeshadows, making him resemble a member of a certain rock group. His bleached hair was put in a mohawk haircut, which ended in a tiny rattail. From top to bottom, he looked like a stereotypical punk and a trickster.

“Hey, hey, hey would you look at that! Nice one Lin, I owe you a sickle.” The punk kid chuckled. He had a wide smile on his face that seemed to never fade, and in his dark brown eyes, Lucas could see a bright flame burning with mischief. “I told you we would find her. You had nothing to worry about.” He turned to Vela “Thanks for keeping her safe. This dude couldn’t sit straight, he was so worried.”

“Marble!” the brute exclaimed with a young, silvery voice, which was completely out of place, contrasting with his physique. He carefully took the snake from Vela’s hands and rubbed her on his cheek, as if hugging her. “I was so worried - you left so suddenly I didn’t even see you. Don’t do this again, alright?”

Marble flickered her tongue a bit and Vela could have sworn she saw her mouth form a smile.

“Well, what’s well that ends well.” The punk kid patted the brute on the shoulder, almost fully straightening his arm. “Now let’s get back to our cabin; we still have a poker game to finish and I’m not planning to lose.”

“Hey! How about you lend me a hand as well?” Sounding rather annoyed, Vela raised her leg with a weasel clinging onto it.

“Oh right, sorry, love.” He took out of his pocket a small, silver whistle and lightly blew in it. As soon as he heard it, the weasel let go of Vela’s leg and quickly climbed into the punk kid’s arms. He started petting the vile thing as a common cat, except the said cat was mumbling the word wanker every time it breathed. “Yeah, my bad guys, It's really hard to keep an eye on the bastard; he barely listens to me when he’s hungry.”

“Why would you keep a rabid weasel that’s not even listening to you?” Lucas helped Vela stand up and placed her on the cushion. The weasel made quite the job on Vela’s arms and legs. Bite marks and scratches were almost everywhere, and some wounds were bleeding. Lucas took a small roll of bandages from a small pocket and began carefully wrapping his friend’s leg. “And I thought that only owls, cats, and frogs were allowed into Hogwarts. Not weasels or snakes.”

“Correction: he doesn’t listen to me when he’s hungry, any other time he’s like an angel. I guess he followed the scent of Filbert’s snake and kinda went frenzy.” The kid reached into his back pocket and gave the weasel some dog biscuits. He took one and started loudly munching it, swearing as he hobbled the biscuit right away. “And haven’t you heard - the principal now allows more pets into Hogwarts. Within reasonable measures of course, but still, an improvement, don’t you think? Too bad we can’t get electricity or Wi-Fi there as well.”

“I... I think we let that one slide.” Lucas could have sworn he heard nothing about this rule. He thought that the school representative would have informed him about any sudden changes. However, it seemed that this rule was relatively new, so not a lot of students must have heard about it. And, judging by her face, it was new to Vela as well.

“Well, now you know. But let’s get back to proper introductions. My name is Aiden and you’ve already met Flint, my pet jarvey.” He took both Lucas’ and Vela’s hands and started shaking them simultaneously. “Pleased to meet you.”

"Can't say that much for me. Your weasel did quite the first impression." Vela grumbled, throwing daggers at Aiden's jarvey, but quickly composed herself. "My name is Vela and this is Lucas."

Before he could say a word, the girl that got here first jabbed Aiden between the ribs. "Lin Dilshard, nice to meet cha. And it's Dil with one L, I have no relation to a garden herb."

"You got asked that a lot of times, don't you?" Vela said, sympathetically.

"Far too many. Thank this one for taking it too far." Lin shook her head towards curling Aiden and brushed the hair out of the way with her fingers. "Nice to see someone who actually gets it."

“Nice to meet you too?” Lucas sat back down on his seat and took his scone in his hand. It was cold and half-flattened. Lin sat on the other side of Lucas's couch and Filbert sat in between them, Marble hanging from his massive shoulders. They were pretty close to each other, much to Lucas’s demise. Aiden sat with Vela on the opposite couch. “So, what’s a jarvey? I’m learning so much about magical creatures already and we haven’t even left the train yet.” The last sentence Lucas mumbled mostly to himself.

“Imagine a common weasel, but much bigger and able to talk - although, mostly in insults. That’s what a jarvey is.” Filbert’s speech was soft and quiet as if he was a teacher explaining something to a five-year-old. Despite his minacious appearance, Lucas had to admit that talking to him was more pleasant than with Aiden. “I’m Filbert Maligrow. And you are?”

“Oh, my name is Lucas. Lucas Montgomery.” Lucas quickly shook Filbert’s hand, looking anxiously at the snake on his shoulders. “So, where did you get Flint, anyway? I suppose not a lot of stores have free jarveys lying around.”

“It’s true, not a lot, but I got lucky.” Aiden scratched Flint’s chin. “I bought him from an old sailor at Diagon Alley. He is pretty old, even by weasel standards, so the old man gave him away for peanuts. Literally, might I add - I saw him eating them from the bag on the way out. Flint immediately took a liking to me, but he was pretty ruthless to my stepdad. He managed to tear his wig with a surprising amount of professionalism. Made quite a scene.” Aiden shrugged, his grin as malicious as ever. “Not that I complain. It was hilarious.”

“Well, it looks like you got a pretty good deal.” Vela was still examining Flint, who was looking at her with the same, unblinking eyes. “Just be sure to keep him fed more often - next time I’ll lock him up in my suitcase.” She carefully reached her hand towards the weasel, but he hissed at her and yelled hay-wigged snotter, so she backed away.

“Rela-a-ax, it's going to be fine. I’m not going to take him to whatever class we will have. And it’s not like you will get to see him often, anyway. Well, unless we end up in the same house, that is.” Aiden's grin went even wider.

“Right, you mentioned you wanted to be in Gryffindor, eh Aiden?” Lin was sitting back to back - or rather, back to shoulder - with Lucas and was shamelessly leaning against him. “Oh, that reminds me, I should write your names down.” She took out a small notepad, and a gnawed pencil. She started writing something so meticulously as if she was spelling their names by letter. Lucas took a second to look at Lin’s notes and instantly thought that she could be a good doctor in the near future. Her shorthand was impressively unreadable.

“Why Gryffindor though? Other houses are just as good as well.” Filbert sighed, stroking Marble on her head like a small cat. “Every single boy I met - and most of the girls too as well - wanted to be in Gryffindor. It’s almost as if other houses don’t exist at all.”

“Well, people naturally want to pick the best options from the get-go.” Aiden picked up his legs on the cushion, and Flint instantly curled up in between his legs. “And it’s not like I want to be in Ravenclaw - I’m not an egghead.”

“Hey!” Lin glared at Aiden from her notes.

“Sorry love, mean no disrespect to an actual egghead. But I’m not the smartest one around here for sure.”

“Well, I think Ravenclaw is quite nice as a house.” Vela exclaimed. “Being in that house isn’t about being smart, it’s about wanting to learn and observing the world around you. It’s all about finding new things that may let you help others or save you from certain situations.”

Lucas made a grimace. “Hypocrite.”

“Well, so is Slytherin and there is no way I’m going in there.” Aiden looked at Filbert. “Say, big guy, what house did you choose? You look like you can be in Gryffindor as well. It would be pretty funny if we ended up in the same house, don't you think?”

“I see nothing particularly funny ending up in the same house with such a mercurial little drewgi such as yourself.” With displeasure on his face, Filbert whispered mostly to the floor. Vela snorted but quickly hid her snickering behind her palm.

“Are you calling me short!?” Aiden screeched, half-wondering what this “drewgi” word actually meant. “I will let you know that I am a healthy 4’5’’ thank you very much. And what in the gobblygook is this drewgi anyway? Would you stop laughing for Christ’s sake?!“ He yelled at Vela, still trying to hide her snickers, but his yell came out more like a squeak at the end, made her lost it and she started laughing full voice.

Aiden turned away from her, crossing his arms. ”Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. I’m gonna return you the favor in this year, just you wait.”

“Don’t make this worse for yourself, pal.” Lin advised, a small smirk playing on her face as she looked at laughing Vela. “So, why do you wanna be in Hufflepuff?” She turned to Filbert. “Aiden is right, you know - don’t you dare - I think you can find some friends in Gryffindor or other two houses as well.”

“I don’t deny that some people might be nice in these houses. But still, I would prefer to end up in Hufflepuff; fewer chances that I will get into trouble. And I can’t let Marble get into trouble, can I?” Filbert softly cooed, lovingly scratching Marble’s head. “People always assume I am this stoic, brave guy, but honestly, I’m the one who needs most of the protecting.” Thinking about his words, Filbert blushed and put his head down in shame, trying to look smaller.

“Well, maybe you will have time to meet someone more favorable to your liking.” Vela extended her hand to Filbert, much to his surprise. “Vela Dullean, nice to meet a fellow—future —Hufflepuff on the train.”

“Pleasure to meet you, lady Dullean.” Filbert took Vela’s hand and slightly bowed his head as an introduction. Much to his amusement, Lucas noticed that Marble did so as well. “I’ve heard a lot about your family. Some people say you have the most beautiful garden on the Isles.”

“Oooh, really?” Lin exclaimed, reaching over to Vela. “I didn’t know that both you and Filbert like plants. Is it really that outstanding?”

“Well, that’s what people say. Granted, there are many more majestic magical gardens out there, but ours definitely has its charm.” Vela said as if trying to pose it as not-such-a-big-but-totally-a-big-deal, but it was noticeable that she appreciated the kind words. “My family is really into horticulture - we made quite a fortune on plants and their uses. And Maligrows are…”

“Animals. Zoology. Magical and not.” Filbert said, bowing his head yet again. “We take our pride in our talent as animal whisperers and try to put it to use as much as possible.”

“Oh yeah, zoology. Flora and fauna - the greatest sides of nature.” Vela widened her arms. “We don’t operate with animals that much, but my family kinda has to thank your contribution to the case as well.” Her words ended in a wide smile, which made Filbert fluster.

“I don’t -” he began, but Vela interrupted him.

“Don’t act so flustered. My family has heard of the Maligrows as well. The greatest animal whisperers of the seven centuries, isn’t that all true?”

Filbert shifted his gaze to the window, his face bright red with embarrassment. “Of nine centuries, actually.”

Vela chuckled. “Nine! Even better.” She turned her head to Lucas and Lin. “My dad said that his great-great-whatever uncle helped my ancestor to take care of the augureys, when we discovered their nests near our mansion. That’s how I got this handsome fella right here.” Vela tapped into her cage and Audrey crustily croaked.

Unlike Lucas, who was mainly listening, Lin had been scrupulously weighing everything down. After another look at her notes, Lucas stopped trying to understand that horrendous attempt at handwriting.

“Interesting. So, for how long your families have been operating together? You seem to derive from great families of the magical world. Say, is ‘The Greatest Green Book of Life’ by Dalbergia A. Dullean comes from your family, doesn't it?”

“Uh, no, not exactly. Dalbergia is my aunt and a hitwitch. My mom’s name is Devera.” Now it was Vela’s turn to blush. Her comically tomato-ish red face almost made Lucas laugh and he could have sworn that he heard Filbert snicker.

“Devera? Devera, Devera…Oh yes, that’s it!” Lin closed her book as if solving a mystery. “That’s right, I remember that book! I saw it in the bookshop at the Alley, on the best-sellers stand. Never seen a plant book so detailed in my life. And realistic as well. Did you really never think about telling us that?” Lin jumped in again, her glasses tilting over more and more.

Vela’s ears now were just as red as the train cushions he was sitting on. “It’s not that popular. We have much better books than that one.”

“Hey, what are you blushing for?” Lin lightly tapped him on the shoulder. “You just said that your family knows each other and appreciates the gesture presented. And the books your mother writes are great, and that is a fact - her book is one of our school textbooks. It’s like we’re basically in the presence of a celebrity!”

“Yeah, if you count speaking about plants all the time, like little nerds-Ow!” Rubbing the back of his head, Aiden glared at Vela, before finally turning his attention to Lucas. “And what about you, pal? You have been pretty quiet ever since we came here?”

“Well, I just didn’t want to disturb any of you. You seemed like you were having fun.” Lucas leaned on the couch, but quickly straightened himself up as Marble was now closing in on him. “And besides, we have even reached the school itself yet. We don’t know what’s going to happen there and in what houses we might end up in. Personally, whatever happens happens and I will try to make the most of it.”

Just like my mum told me.

“Really?” Aiden cackled. “Even if you end up not in the house you want to be?”

“I don’t have a preference about Hogwarts' houses. And yes, even then I will be on my best self, no matter what house I will get.”

“Even in Slytherin?” Aiden was still smiling, but there was something more to that smile. Something warm and respectful.

“Even in Slytherin.” Lucas looked out the window. Not that he planned on seeing much out there, anyway. “Though the course may change sometimes, rivers will always lead to the sea.”

Suddenly, there was a spark in Aiden’s eyes.

“Ten Years Gone by Led Zeppelin?”

“Uh, yeah, it is.” Lucas answered, a small smirk appearing on his face.

As if by a flick of the switch, Aiden’s face lit up.

“Flying skies of fortune, each a separate way.” Aiden sang, spreading arms at the last two words.

Lucas beamed.

“On the wings of maybe, downing birds of prey.” He continued the verse, making Aiden smile even wider than ever. Lin was watching the boys with joy, whilst Vela and Filbert were looking rather confused.

Aiden rose from his seat and Lucas did so as well.

“Kind of makes me feel sometimes, didn’t have to go” Aiden sang another verse. With each word he was coming closer to Lucas.
“But as the eagle leaves the nest, got so far to go” Lucas smirked, closing in on Aiden as well.

“Changes fill my time, baby, that's alright with me~
In the midst, I think of you, and how it used to be.”

The boys went through the last lines together, lengthening the last note for the greater effect, making Flint produce at the end a high-pitched sound of his own. Before they finished singing, Lin started cheering, clapping, and whistling loudly as if she was at an actual concert. Vela and Filbert barely understood what these two were doing, but they clapped for them nonetheless.

“Hell yeah!” Feeling his spirits lifted, Aiden made an air guitar, playing a rather energetic guitar solo. Unable to shift his body due to an aggressive pseudo-solo, Flint fell off Aiden's shoulder— unharmed, but pretty pissed. Weasel hissed at his owner, calling him a brain-bleached squint, before promptly tilting his head up and marching pompously from the cart.

Lucas started laughing. He hasn't felt like this since he got on this train. “You know, this is the most fun I ever had with people my age.”

Suddenly Aiden went eerie quiet and put his hands on Lucas’s shoulders.“You.”

Lucas felt a chill going down his spine. Did he do something wrong?

He half-expected Aiden to yell at him - even though that expectation was silly and in itself wasn’t based on anything - but, much to his and everyone’s surprise, Aiden put Lucas into a tight hug.

“You are the first person on this train who actually listens to Led Zeppelin!” Flame of mischief that was previously glinting in his eyes now has switched to glee. Lucas felt out of his place due to sudden changes in feelings and constant touching. As if he didn’t have enough personal contact for this day just yet. “Oh, you have no idea how good it is to meet someone of my kind. Can you imagine - nobody here listens to Zepps! They are either not interested or don’t know about this group at all. At all! Can you imagine that?!”

“Well, half of the train comprises pure witches and wizards, so…” Lucas was getting more uncomfortable with each second passing. How can you tell a person who not that many people might like something that you like just as well? Or know about it at all?

Aiden’s eyes were now glimmering not only with happiness but with tears too. “Oh, this is the greatest day of my life! It seems like a dream. As if God himself sent you here so I won’t die in that castle in the middle of nowhere. Oh, I have a feeling that this year will be the greatest one to-Ack!”

Vela stood up and tossed Aiden on his seat in one swift motion.

“Are you finished?” Vela grumbled, putting hands on her hips like an angry mother. “I gave Lucas enough wackiness for today, your contribution is completely unnecessary. He needs his spare nerves for the Sorting Ceremony.”

Dumbfounded for a second, Aiden quickly found his composure and stood up from the seat. He turned to Lucas and gently patted him.

“Yeah, my bad pal, I got a wee bit too excited and things usually get weird when I’m excited.”

Lucas swatted his hand away but continued smiling.

“It’s okay. I get what you mean. All of this is new and we are just starting our new life. It’s completely normal to be a wee bit on edge.”

“You’re telling us.” Vela chuckled. “A lot of kids here grew up around magic stuff and even they can’t get their jaws from the floor. This is all quite unusual, even for me.”

“Especially for me.” Filbert stated and Marble nodded as if agreeing with him yet again.

“Speaking of new things, it looks like we are already here.” Lin said, looking out the window.
When everyone looked outside, they were at a loss for words. Outside the train, they could see behind treetops several tall, medieval towers, piercing the starless sky. As the woods subsided, the kids watched in awe, as they could see the biggest, grandest castle they had ever seen in their lives.

Hogwarts.

Illuminated by the cold moonlight from the outside and warm light of the lamps from the inside, the castle looked more mysterious and portentous than it was described to them. Dark, almost greyish blue made the castle look unnatural, almost unreal. It looked like something taken straight out of the Bram Stoker novel or the legends of King Arthur. The window for a second transformed into a painting that had a cold feel to it and smelled of petrichor. However, even in the darkness of night, its bricks felt inviting. Perhaps it was due to it being nighttime, but the castle had a strange pulling feel of calmness and serenity to it. As if it was awaiting them. And, perhaps, it was.

“Welp, it’s our cue.” Aiden clapped his hands and looked at his companions. “We better get going. We need to change into robes and we still have a poker game to finish.”

“No need to tell me twice!” Lin jumped off her seat and Filbert stood up as well, humming in agreement. “I hope we will get to see each other soon.” She gave Lucas a quick hug, before promptly hurrying out the train cart.

“Yeah, it would be weird if we didn’t.” Aiden smirked, the gleam of mischief returning to his eyes. “Well, no need to dabble around. Gotta go. See ya on stage, Jimmy Page.” Making finger guns at Lucas, Aiden followed Lin from the cart.

Filbert gave Lucas a glance, guilt hiding in his gaze. He turned away for a second but made himself look at Lucas once again.

“I’m sorry that Marble scared you earlier. I hope you won’t hold it against us.” His voice was quiet, almost remorseful. Lucas looked at him then at Marble, his face twitching involuntarily.

“Don’t worry, I think nobody expects to see a snake on a train anyway. I was just startled, that's all.” He gave Filbert a reassuring smile. “No harm done, right?”

“Right.” He looked away again, but a small shadow of a smile was visible on his face. “Well, I’m glad. That you are not angry, that is... See you soon.” And he quickly left the train, leaving Vela and Lucas alone.

There was a moment of silence that always followed when some wacky situations came to a close. No one said anything and only the sound of rain outside was breaking this strange, awkward silence. After a short while, Lucas sat on his chair, happy that he won’t have to endure more stranger hugs.

Finally, Vela broke off the silence. “So… quite a castle out there, eh?”

“What? Oh-Right-Yeah, it’s great.” Looking down at the carpet, Lucas felt more stupid than ever. “Sorry, I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Not a lot of people are willing to hug people they’ve just met.”

“Well, these are strange people. And quite nice, too.” Suddenly, Audrey made a crying sound, frowning his brows at Vela. “Oh, sorry, I forgot. Let me do that for you.”

Curious, Lucas watched, as Lucas watched as Vela slowly opened Audrey’s cage, allowing him to step on her forearm. He stretched his wings, yawning and brushing himself. Vela scratched the underside of his beak, making him cooing. “Heh, at least I don’t mind being around you. You should have seen my family reunions. I can’t even imagine myself being related to half of these people.”

“Heh, I’m gonna take your word for it.”

“Yeah, you better, those people are nuttos. Can you open the window for me please?”

Lucas nodded and slightly cracked the window open, feeling the refreshing wind and cold droplets of rain on his face. Vela walked over with Audrey by her side, allowing the wind to mess with her hair once again.

“You know what?” Vela smiled “Slytherin or not, I’m glad that we became friends today. I think it was foretold in the stars.”

“Nah, it wasn’t.” Lucas waved “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. And from today Velandi, we can make our own destiny.”

Vela giggled. “That sounds dumb.”

“You’re dumb.” Lucas snickered.

“Nerd.”

“Witch.”

Smiling at him, Vela took her arm outside the window. Looking back at them, Audrey flew off from Vela’s arm and instantly dissolved into the night. The rain started falling less and less often, allowing the skies to clear from the dark clouds. As the castle grew closer, the kids watched from the window at the now clear sky, occasionally spotting a dark silhouette in the moonlight and a wondrous cry of an augurey.

Lucas looked outside and smiled. Something told him that this day will surely be unforgettable.