"The Hogwarts Express," I whispered under my breath, looking at it with a mixture of admiration, and dislike.
The train had just appeared, and I could proudly say I was the earliest student on the platform.
No parents, no teachers, no animals. Not a single soul, aside from Mara and I, was on the platform.
As the train pulled up, I sucked in an uneasy breath.
I was really going to Hogwarts.
I was going to Hogwarts.
As the train came to a stop I locked eyes with the conductor, who looked pleased that I was there so early.
"Not many people come before 1-o-clock in the morning," she commented as I boarded the train, carrying my trunk up with me.
"But people have," I replied curiously.
"Only the smart ones," she replied with a dazzling smile.
I nodded in response and carried my trunk down to the back of the train, looking for a compartment that was in good shape, but not one that would attract too much attention.
In the front of the train, most commonly called the Gryffindor section, were the not-so-nice compartments.
Most of them had doodles or messes from what looked to be years of abuse on them.
"Do you clean the train?" I asked the conductor as she was, for some reason, following me as I found my compartment.
"We clean the ones that get requested to be cleaned," she replied smiling widely.
The train conductor had puffy black hair and peach-colored skin, with red glasses covering her blackish, brownish eyes. (Please tell me someone got the reference)
Gradually the compartments got cleaner and some of them were adorned in different ways.
Some had plants and maps hung on the wall, some had small bookshelves and writing utensils, and some had a variety of things that you may never need.
One had to admit, it was a pretty magical train.
Finally, I found a compartment that I would settle into. It had black seats lined with silver thread, and fairly comfortable cushioning.
There was a tiny bookshelf and a journal section that said: "HELP YOURSELF!" which some might find concerning.
I bid good morning to the train conductor, as she had to go back to the front of the train,
Finally, alone, I took off my baggy no-mag clothing, revealing Mara tightly wrapped around my waist.
She slid off me as I got my black dress cloak, which was enchanted to keep me warm.
"~Massssssster, why are you up sssssssssso early?~," she said, doing the snake equivalent of a yawn.
"~We are on the Hogwartsssssss Expressssssss~" I replied. "We might asssssss well be early to get a good sssssseat before we're ssssssstuck with a bad one.~"
I continued conversing with Mara for the next few hours, and I pulled out my journal as well.
September 1st, 1991.
I'm finally going to Hogwarts. Since I missed my seventh sun ritual, I am going to be doing my eleventh in replacement.
This year should be quite...chaotic, although only time will tell.
Gradually the Hogwarts express got louder and louder and by 10:50 the place was louder than a Zoo.
Suddenly someone knocked on the compartment door and several hushed voices were conversing outside.
I sighed, relishing in what would most probably be my last few minutes of alone time for a few hours, and gave them the go-to come in.
The compartment door slid open, and a blonde boy with silver eyes, with some maji accompanying him, could be seen outside it.
"Pleasure to see you again Hadrian. I didn't expect to see you this early in the morning." the blond boy, otherwise known as Draco, said, still standing outside.
"Pleasure, you may come in if you'd like," I replied gesturing inside the compartment.
As Draco and company put their luggage away, I fished out a book about runes, ancient runes, enchantments, and number magic from my bag.
It was written by a squib and a muggle-born and I have to say, the insights are truly remarkable. It's a shame it was banned in most parts of Britain.
The book covered an array of things, from how magic and muggle technology can mix if done properly, to how enchantments can be used for more than just waterproofing your clothes.
They even covered the difference between a rune and an enchantment, which are often mixed up. I ignored all the curious glances, and suspicious glares I was being given by the kids as well. Eventually, several loud gasps came out of the kid's mouths wide eyes were eyeing me like I was the first coffee bean they'd seen in years.
Quickly I noticed Mara slithering out of my neck hole. Quietly, I muttered, "I forgot most people don't have snakes," and let her coil around my arm, hissing sleepily about juicy rabbit meat.
"Nothing to worry about," I said louder, snapping the kids back to reality.
There were 4 children aside from Draco and I in the compartment.
One was a fair-skinned kid with a bob cut and black hair.
Another was a child with fairly straight blond hair and pale blue eyes.
There was also a kid with brown skin and sharp black eyes.
Finally, there was a pale child, with brown side-swept hair and round black eyes.
The compartment was filled with a slightly tense, but mostly comfortable silence. However, like all things in my life. Nothing lasts forever.
The compartment door slid open to see a fat, pale-skinned, and freckled boy...standing? Could it even be called standing? Whatever! He was doing something similar to standing while looking haughtily into the compartment.
I started fiddling with Mara's tail, dread filling my body.
This was going to be a long train ride.
(A/n: I found the gender-neutral word for witch/wizard which is maji/magi. I am going to be using it often in the book.)