The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
Headstone of Lily and James Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
A young man sat next to the window on the train. It was pouring out, but that was to be expected.
He hated going to Hogwarts. His parents had moved from America to Britain just so that he could go to Hogwarts. They had taught him all about the amazing things that went on at Hogwarts, the people he would meet at Hogwarts, the legends surrounding Hogwarts...
Never mind the fact that he wanted to stay in Indiana with his muggle friends. Well, at least he wasn't forbidden from writing to them, and they were all part of mixed-Magic families so he could tell them all about the place he hated most. If he had his way, he'd be studying magic at the park instead of some stuffy castle.
At his booth, surrounding him, sat a handful of kids. Supposedly, they were all connected to "Wizard Britain's King Arthur," but he didn't think that they were all that great.
Al Potter, a new first year, was sitting across from him. He liked Al, nice, quiet, didn't seem anything like his jerk of a brother. To Al's left was an older boy. James Potter Junior, "The Glory of Gryffindor" as he liked to be called. Feh. He's finally a second year, I'll be able to put him in his place in the Dueling Club now. There's no way James can resist a challenge like that.
A couple other first years were sitting at the same booth. One of them was Scorpius Malfoy, son of Draco Malfoy, and the other was Rose Weasley. They seemed to be getting along well enough.
He looked out the window, rubbing his temples. James and Al were arguing again, the same bickering that they'd been having ever since getting on the train.
"I won't be in Slytherin! I won't!"
"You know you will! I know you will!"
Rose sighed and asked Scorpius to hold her book. "Will you two stop it? You make Slytherin sound like it's a living hell, James."
James just gave his brother a noogie. "Yeah, because it's not filled to the brim with loners and freaks like Norm there."
Norm, the boy who had been brooding by the window quietly, just sighed at this. "I won't deny that Slytherin has had more than its share of... dark wizards, but you make it sound like Slytherin is a Dark Wizard factory. Look, the only difference between Slytherin and Gryffindor is one of them put too much emphasis on blood purity. I just happen to think that I fit in better with the Rich Bitch Slytherins than the Self-Righteous Gryffindors, the Nose-Ground Ravenclaws, or the Hufflepuffs."
Scorpius laughed a little at that. "What's wrong with Hufflepuff?" he asked
Norm reached into his bag and started to remove his school robes. "They don't stand out enough. Gryffindor has Bravery, Ravenclaw has Brains, Slytherin has Strategy. According to Professor Binns, Hufflepuff literally said that he'd take anyone that the others didn't want."
Rose looked at him a little oddly. "So, Hufflepuff is worthless?"
Norm moved to get up. "Excuse me, I'd like to get up. I never said that they were worthless, but they tend towards staying out of the picture. I can't even come up with a decent insult for them, that's how average they are. I think we should change into our robes now. Oh, James, before I forget, I was voted the Dueling Club's Best Duelist, so if you want in this year they'll probably have you duel me." That ought to set things in motion well enough.
Norm finished excusing himself and wound his way to the changing rooms. There was a leak. "Great, just what I needed. More wet." It wasn't that he didn't like being at Hogwarts, he told himself, it was the fact that his parents forced him into doing this. Yeah, he'd made some friends. Not within Slytherin, but he'd made friends.
"If that Al kid does get sorted into Slytherin... I think I'd like to see that. He needs to show his brother that he's not afraid to be different."
The train slowed to a stop. Well, that was odd, since there was no way that they could be at Hogwarts already.
An icy chill ran down his spine. Great, he thought, just what we needed, a Dementor attack. Where the hell is a silver stag when you need one? He pulled his wand out from a pocket dimension (a trick his mom had taught him when his first one got stolen out of his back pocket, in his second year) and ran back towards where the others were.
There it was - a dementor, gliding over the unconscious body of James Potter, towards the three first-years behind him. Why did the train have to stop for this? He focused his thoughts on his friends back in Indiana. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Out from his wand erupted a snake of silver. It was admittedly small, but one could feel the sheer power behind it. Good thing there was only one... but why was the train stopped?
Norm turned to Albus Potter. "If you or anyone else has any chocolate, give it to him now, even if you have to force-feed him. I'm going to have a little chat with the conductor."
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(Posted Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:40)
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