*First Person Perspective*
Thank god mother only wanted to use the Floo Network to get to Kings Cross Station. I sincerely hate apparation. It is the gut wrenching pull that I utterly despise. At least with Floo travel, I only get a sense of vertigo as I am traveling through the network. And it quickly dissipates.
While not one of the first families to arrive, we ended up arriving about a quarter past eleven. Personally I think arriving this earlier is perfectly reasonable. I will have forty-five minutes to load my trunk in one of the storage compartments that is assigned for first years. From what I can see, after the first year, trunks are loaded according to the assigned house. I guess that makes some sense, which I consider from most of the wizarding community.
After a final tearful farewell from my mother, and of course a really, really, entirely too long of a hug, it is finally time to part ways from her. And of course, before I could leave, she just had to give me a list of different things to watch out for, and what I should and should not do. One more hug, for good measures, and an inward sigh from myself, and I hopefully am free.
Yes, I do love her. Beth has been a spectacular mother, that has remained steadfast in her care for me, in which I returned her feelings. She had supported me through a tough time when I was reborn in this world. I was, and still am in some respect, in grief over the loss of all the people that I cared about in my past life. While those memories are starting to wane, and the faces are disappearing, I still remember the feelings I had when I was around them. I am not sure if it is a blessing or a curse in the fading memories of my past life. They do not exist in this world, or even if they do, I have know idea on how to create a similar connection with them in this life.
I have had enough brooding on that subject, I need to let sleeping dogs lie when it comes to my past life. There is no way for me to go back to that life, even if I wanted to do that. Truthfully, I am not sure I would want to go back to that life. Yes, I had a fulfilling life, I am in all respects enjoying this life just as much.
Much as I do not wish to admit it, I am sad to be leaving my family.
A nine hour train ride is all I have to plod through before my school year begins. I still do not understand why we have to sit around for nine hours, on a train, when it would be cheaper in the long run, to use the Floo Network. It would be a logistical headache to enact such a large undertaking, but that would only be the first few years, until all the kinks could be worked out. Merlin, give these witches and wizards some common sense.
Okay, I know that there is a reason to be seating in the train carriages for such a long time, but I do not have to like it. There are hundreds of kids, some knowing each other, and others not knowing a single person. And they all have way to much energy, especially the younger ones. As for the older ones, they will want to catch up with their friends that they have not seen since they left Hogwarts for the summer break.
I have lollygagged enough, onward to an empty compartment.
Since I have arrived earlier than most of the children, and subsequently parted from my mother earlier than the rest of them, most of the cabins are empty. Like the carriage cars, there is some delineation in the passenger cars, though in this case, based on a fuzzy break between school years. Though, that might only be for the first years only, as I did not go too far past where the cabins meant for the first years are.
There is still almost twenty minutes till the train is scheduled to leave the platform, and nine long hours of travel. Thankfully I brought a pair of books to read during the journey, Elder Futhark, Basic and Advanced Useage, also a guilty pleasure of mine, Time of the Twins, by Weis and Hickman. The second book, and the rest of the series, I have read several times, just to while away the hours whenever I need a break from more useful pursuits. As for the first books, the one on runes, it is truly a slough to get through. The usage of language in the book is horribly outdated, being the main reason it has taken me such a long time to finish studying.
Just as I am starting to get into studying my runes book, the noise of children is becoming ever irritating. Morgana deal with these hellions, and leave me to my silence. It will still be a few years till a can deal with the children, of my own age, on a consistent basis. They are still mainly having childish pursuits that I could not care about in the slightest.
To be truthful, I had a slight social introversion, in both this life and in my previous one. It is not that I have had trouble being around people, and enjoying their company, it is just that I need my solitude. And this life has not helped me to leave from that mental state. Being relegated to associating with people I cannot have meaning relationships has lead me further into my self-imposed isolation.
I had left the door to my cabin open, as I was the only one in it, and did not wish to be openly rude. So I did not hear when someone entered the cabin.
"You really are here, I didn't believe you when you said you were also going to Hogwarts."
Ah, the sweet and charming voice of an overly energetic girl, that would get annoying if I did not acknowledge her presence. "If you tell the truth, Kathryn, you don't have to remember anything."
Left stunned by such a simple statement, it took a few seconds for Katie to respond back to what I said. "And what in Merlin's beard does that mean?"
"It means what it means, and nothing else. And how have you been this past summer?"
"First of all, please stop calling me Kathryn, it's too formal."
"Only if you call me Robert."
Fully content with our conversation, Katie took a set on the bench opposite of me, fully intending to grace me with her ever present exuberance. How happy I am? Yes, my own thoughts are sarcastic on this front.
"Nope, you are a Robbie, and that's what you will always be called. Secondly, I was so excited. We're going to Hogwarts. I kept on bugging the parents about the school. What about you?"
Why did I have to continually be saddled by the moniker of Robbie? "My mother took me to France to get my school supplies. Other than that, I did what I normally do around the house."
"We've talked a bunch of times, but you never told me what hobbies you have?"
Just as I was going to start dodging her question, having heard the voices coming from the cabin two more people joined us in the cabin. The first being one of the female classmates in the wizarding elementary school, Cho. The other, while I knew, I did not have many interactions with, due to him not being part of the wizarding elementary school, Jonathon Wilkes.
After taking a look around the cabin, Cho recognized me and blurted out,"I'm surprised to see you here
Robbie. I always thought you were a squib."
Using his hand, fingers laid flat, slowly bring thumb and fingers together, John attempted to quell the rude words. "Cho, you're being rude. I'll apologize for my cousin's crass words Robbie."
Coming from someone that was still a child, in my consideration, I took no offense to her words. It was the truth, that I never bragged about my uses of magic, considering I never did accidental magic, nor would I have found it noteworthy enough to share my story on its usage. "Don't worry about it John, Cho wasn't meaning to be rude. Even Katie didn't believe me when I told her on graduation day."
With her mouth in a slight grimace, Cho brought her hands together and bowed down her head while silently mouthing her apologies to me. Seeing this, I assured her that I did not take offense to her words. I knew that she was just shocked that I was on the Hogwarts Express, instead of being left at home, being a squib.
As a way to not bring any more attention to Cho's faux pas, John asked, "So, what were you guys talking about before we interrupted you?"
I immediately responded, not really wanting to talk about it, "We weren't talking about anything of importance. Just talking about what we did over the summer."
Alas, much to my chagrin, Katie still remembered what her last question. "Don't try to weasel your way out of it, you were going to tell me your hobbies."
"Alright, alright." I said in a defeated manner. It is not like I am ashamed on what I do at home. "I just study magic, and learn from Gramps Rett about our family trade."
And with a slight laugh, John questioned me, "And what lowly trade does your family do?"
John had a slight superiority complex, learned from his family's elders. While, yes, I was a pure blood, his family looked down on those, to some extent, that were of a lesser economic class than their own economic class. "What work does your family do?"
Like with my magic, I did not flex my family's wealth, in how I act, nor in how I dressed. Unknowingly, he did not realize that my family's wealth eclipsed that of his family. "I'm not ashamed to admit it, we are craftsmen, mainly working on custom pieces of furniture. Though, truthfully, I enjoy working with metals, over that of wood."
Not realizing her cousin's disdain over my family's source of profit, Cho asked "So, like trunks?"
"Yes." I admitted. "Though we have a much more diverse catalog than just trunks. We do have a store front a few steps away from Diagon Alley, though it is just for consultations."
This last statement did dissuade John from completely looking down on my family's wealth. To have property right off of Diagon Alley was not cheap. I am not going to inform him that it was just a two room building, that was purely meant for meetings, and the hand-off of the completed pieces. It was nothing impressive, at least not in my opinion.
He did end up being a little less adverse to my presence having revealed that little tidbit of information, at least enough that he could make pleasant conversation during the rest of the journey. And as much as I had dreaded it, the journey was a painful experience. Nine hours of this conversation, broken up by various people exploring throughout the carriage, greeting other first year students.
Yep, this was the reason why Hogwarts still used the trains to ferry the children to school each year. The teachers wanted to exhaust all the excess energy of all these children, before they had to deal with them. I wish I could blame them, but if I were in their place, I know for a fact that I would do the same.
Some time during on trip, the conversation of which house each of us thought we were going to be in was brought up. After thinking about it, I voiced my opinion on who would be in each house. For Cho, I guessed either Gryfindor or Ravenclaw. For Katie, definitely Gryfindor. As for John, like with his cousin, I could not narrow him down any further than Ravenclaw or Slytherin. This left only myself.
I did not consider myself a brave person. It was not to say that I lacked any courage, it is just that I knew when I needed to act, and when it was not worth the cost. As for Slytherin, I did not consider myself a manipulative person, it took much energy to socialize enough to align the pieces. Hufflepuff, ha, I only care about myself, and that of those close to me. This left me only Ravenclaw, and I was not adverse to scholarly pursuits.
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I just read a HP fanfiction on another platform. It has become one of the most memorable stories I have read in a long time. I'm giving it a shout out because of my enjoyment of the story.
Nymph of House Black by CelesteMagnolia