Chương 10: Aboard the Hogwarts Express

The door opened. A small, skinny boy with an excited air and a camera poked his head in.

"Hi! Do you lot mind if I stay here? I had trouble finding the platform and almost everywhere is full now. I'm Colin Creevey. Are we supposed to be in robes already? Would you mind if I get your pictures to send back to my family?" He spoke very quickly, not waiting for responses. Mathis stood to help him with his trunk after almost getting brained by Colin's enthusiastic attempts to lift it himself.

A bunch of redheads sprinting towards the train from the muggle entrance caught my attention and I tuned out the conversation between the boys in favor of monitoring the plot. Molly was easily recognizable as the only woman, standing next to the tallest, and oldest man—Arthur. She was catching her children and giving them a hug before sending them onto the train. Arthur was looking around with a bit of worry and confusion. The whistle blew, announcing imminent departure. The door opened again.

"Oh! Hi Luna," one of the identical twins said.

"Ginny, this is your stop."

"I got your trunk," the other said, easily throwing the thing into the overhead and securing it. The train lurched into motion.

"Hi Ginevra." Ginny colored a bit, "Hi Luna, please just call me Ginny. I hope you three don't mind if I sit here?"

"Not at all," I said, "I'm Lyra. Were all those boys your brothers?" She nodded, "All but the black-haired boy. He's Harry Potter," she said proudly; like she had something to do with his fame.

"Harry Potter!" Colin cut in, "The real Harry Potter!? He goes to school at Hogwarts!?"

"The real Harry Potter. He spent the summer at our house; he's practically family!"

"Did he really defeat the most evil dark wizard to ever live as a baby!?"

"He did! He got an Order of Merlin 2nd Class. As a baby!"

"That's amazing!" I narrowed my eyes at the muggle-born boy. Did he look up what the award was after Dumbledore had one on the acceptance letter, or was he just going off of the name?

"He has to be, like, super powerful, right?"

"He is. He's in his second year now and he's the top of the class."

"And– and–" Colin's voice suddenly lowered. Remaining easily audible to everyone present.

"Does he really have the scar!?" I steadily deflated as the conversation between the two continued. This wasn't a conversation I was prepared for. My information on Harry was either too personal or too suspicious, and adopting the attitude of a crazed fan would be exhausting. Not to mention it might put me at odds with Ginny in the long-term. But they weren't discussing anything else. On and on it went. I met eyes with Mathis who looked almost as off-put by this development as I was.

Even Luna sank further behind her magazine. I had almost forgotten I was dealing with eleven year olds. This was going to be a 'fun' nine hour train ride. v^v^V^v^v"Wingardium Leviosa," I tried again, and the collectible frog card of Merlin moved, lifting just enough to hover above the table. Relief flooded me. I could use magic.

"Well done."

"Thanks Luna," I said softly. She had continued to be a mix of very kind, very weird, and very socially inept throughout the ride.

"I definitely want to be in Gryffindor," Colin said in response to Ginny mentioning Harry was a Gryffindor. Even now—hours into the trip—they were still finding ways to bring him up.

"What about you lot?"

"Gryffindor. My whole family has been in Gryffindor, if I'm not as well, they might disown me, or Fred and George would…" Ginny grew quieter as she spoke, nearly inaudible at the last bit.

"I would like Ravenclaw. Wit beyond measure~ is man's greatest treasure," Luna sang with a happy little smile.

"You would suit Ravenclaw very well Luna," Ginny said encouragingly. She might've just been saying that because she didn't want to be in the same house as the other girl. The two knew each other, but it was clear Ginny didn't think of Luna as a friend. From what I'd remembered, she'd defend Luna from bullying eventually, but also use that insulting nickname behind her back during Harry's fifth year. I'd been lucky that she hadn't had the time to find another compartment.

Being friends with both at the same time would probably mean spending time with them individually. At least until they matured somewhat.

"Hufflepuff for me," Mathis said.

"I'd like to sit back and relax."

"Why would you want Hufflepuff then?" Luna asked, "Hufflepuff is the house of hard work."

"What? I thought it was something like the dump house. A place for everyone who doesn't care about all that…" He waved his hand around vaguely, "Scoring nonsense."

"Each house has a preferred quality," Luna continued.

"Gryffindor is bravery, Hufflepuff is hard work, Ravenclaw is intelligence, Slytherin is ambition." I unwrapped another Chocolate Frog and shoved it into my mouth before it could escape. Wizard chocolate was really good. Less additives, but somehow more flavor. I could only assume magic went into the ingredients themselves and not just the end product. The card was of some quidditch player.

I forgot his name as soon as I saw the broomstick in his hand, then tossed the card onto the table for someone else to collect if they wanted it. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"What about you, Lyra? Any preference for a house?"

"I'd like Gryffindor." Much easier to affect the plot, or flat out steal Riddle's diary. Ginny had pulled the thing out of her pocket earlier during one of our conversational breaks. She didn't write anything, only gave it a bright smile, but every now and then her hand would reach into that pocket to touch it. It gave me the creeps. If I was going to go after it, doing so at night would probably be best.

"Just so long as none of you are in Slytherin. All of them turn out evil. More dark wizards than the other three combined, my dad said."

"That's a bit far. Treating them all like they're monsters is only going to push them in that direction. They may have had more people turn to the Dark Arts, but they've also produced more legends." I reached out and tapped the Merlin card.

"Slytherin is just another house full of kids—the rich kids with a lot of pride in their ancestors, sure—but calling them all evil is extreme."

"So you'd be fine with Slytherin?" Ginny challenged.

"Hell no." Who in their right mind would want to be a Slytherin? That was like signing yourself up as a Nazi sympathizer. I'd rather avoid Dumbledore's personal watchlist.

"I'm a poor kid with unconfirmed magical heritage, the prideful pure-bloods might just kill me while I sleep." I wasn't hiding my past of having grown up as a muggle. I did view myself as a manipulator—and hiding things was core to that—however, I had enough experience to know I couldn't maintain such a lie for months or years. I wasn't an expert spy; I was a person who struggled with interacting with others until I discovered treating it like a logic puzzle allowed me to get by much more easily.

Sure, I knew more about the wizarding world than the ordinary muggle, but just like how I found living as a girl to be different from recognizing the troubles girls go through, I knew there would be struggles that canon never described. So I committed myself to 'situational honesty'. Depending on the people around me, I would lean into showing different truthful parts of who I really was. Things that could benefit the relationship, but keep other information sectioned off.

No direct lies that I would need to keep track of, just truths I never shared. In line with that, I couldn't see a lie about my living situation outside of Hogwarts lasting long-term with anyone else, all the more so since I was trying to befriend them. This was an insular community, and being outed as a liar over easily discovered information risked the necessary falsehoods. I did make sure to hint at the probability that I'd had wizard parents that died during the war.

Racist kids were one thing, but being a primary target for the basilisk might actually kill me. Ginny snorted out a laugh and turned away.

"How do we get sorted anyway?" Mathis asked.

"My– I mean, my mother didn't explain it."

"An ancient spirit reads our souls," Luna said dreamily.

"Ghosts can do that?" Colin squeaked.

"No, they can't. And I'm not sure. My parents refused to say more than 'you'll find out'. Ron—he's the youngest of my brothers—he said he had to knock out a troll. I didn't believe him, so I asked Percy—he's a prefect in the sixth year—and he said that Ron didn't need to knock out the troll. Said he got in trouble for it."

"That can't be right. I can't fight a troll! I don't even know any magic yet."

"No way." Mathis laughed a little too loudly.

"Trolls are monsters, right? Teachers wouldn't let that happen." I twitched—shooting a quick glance at Colin before returning my attention to Mathis—sensing an opportunity. A business opportunity. My earlier thoughts about needing to find alternative forms of power returned. I wasn't a squib, but it was always better to have some versatility. Money was the physical representation of value and effort. The universal motivator. Versatility frozen in metal.

A great way to get around any failings I may find in my magical abilities. A shortcut to whatever I may need. I was poor right now, but that could change. Mathis had very nice robes, a fancy new trunk with custom trimming and engraving, and his immaculate dark skin, hair, and nails spoke of a level of care beyond the middle-class. When the snack trolley came by, he'd bought the whole cabin snacks without a second thought. In short, he was loaded.

"Wanna bet?" I said, staring intensely at Mathis. He paused, then took in my confidence with a critical gaze. I wasn't bothering to hide that confidence. If he took me up on the offer, one of us would lose money. Mathis was a bit standoff-ish and 'superior' at times now that his initial nerves had time to calm down, but nothing about his behavior had indicated he was a bad person. I didn't want him risking his money without understanding it was a risk. Gambling had extreme potential to turn nasty.

Much like manipulation, its negative reputation existed for a very good reason. On the other hand, it was also one of the oldest forms of entertainment. So long as a person was smart, responsible, and obeyed a few rules; it was a way to potentially have some fun. I would just have to ensure he had some fun even if he lost the bet.

"What are the stakes?" he asked. Good. He seemed to have some experience already, and was approaching cautiously.

"Two galleons. And I'll narrow the scope. At least one person in this cabin will need to be grabbed by a magical creature at least twice their size by the end of the day. Unnaturally large people don't count." He narrowed his eyes, thinking it over.

"Unnaturally large people?"

"I'll take that bet," Ginny cut in.

"Fred and George told the same thing to Ron last year, he was all worked up about it until he came back and started saying the same stupid stuff to try and intimidate me. And even if we are fighting trolls, it'd be at a distance—with magic—No way the teachers would let one touch us." I looked over at her, considering how best to go about refusing her. Knowing what I did about her finances, there was no way she could afford to lose that much. I couldn't even afford to lose that much; I only had two galleons.

Well, there's my answer. Don't gamble with what you can't afford to lose. I had no guarantee my spur-of-the-moment plan would work.

"No, I don't have enough galleons to pay out two losses. How about we bet a favor to the other instead?"

"You don't have six galleons?" Mathis said, surprised. Ginny and I—the only two here wearing secondhand robes—looked at him, and he withered immediately.

"A favor?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, something like being able to tell the loser to do something for the winner."

"Something against school rules?" I smiled.

"Maybe, but it can't be something with the intent to get the other in trouble." Then I added the silver bullet to any prospective Gryffindor, "Why? Scared?"

"No! I was just thinking about what I could get you to do."

"So, it's a bet then?" I held out my hand.

"Deal," she said. I turned to Mathis. He was rubbing his chin. He didn't have a beard, so he probably thought it made him look 'cool'.

"You know something," He stated suspiciously. My smile grew wider. Ginny grew worried—good, she hadn't approached the bet with nearly as much caution as Mathis was.

"Alright, if you're that confident, then one change. If you get grabbed by a giant magical creature, I'd pay three galleons to see that. Three to your two."

"Deal, and modifications accepted as well." I shook his hand, then turned to the other two.

"Either of you want in on this?" Luna and Colin shook their heads.

"Wait!" Colin called suddenly.

"I just realized; I never got a photo of all of us together!" He jumped off the seat and—before anyone could protest—started snapping pictures of the rest of us.

"All photos with me as the main subject cost a sickle." I said, in an attempt to discourage him from taking more.

"Five, if you want me to sign it."

"It's a group photo," Mathis said, "No one's the main subject, and it's kind of cool to be able to look back on important events like this. All of us, on our way to the school… You know Colin, your photographs can move too, if you develop them in the right potion."

"That's amazing!" I rolled my eyes. Colin was too easily impressed.

"It should be a pretty simple potion," I supplied.

"Photographs may be fairly new by wizarding standards, but moving paintings have existed since before Hogwarts. It's probably the same solution." A bit of cheating with my foreknowledge. I knew Colin would get his moving photographs very early in the term.

"Wow! I'll be sure to bring the first of them around to each of you once I get them developed then! No matter where we all end up. We're friends now. Forever! All of us. Don't forget it." I raised an eyebrow. That was a bit presumptuous, and I knew it wouldn't hold up besides. Both Ginny and Luna would become outcasts from the rest of the first-years, only really connecting with the older students. Mathis was an unnamed extra.

Colin himself would spend most of his first year in the magical world comatose, then die five years later if I didn't change things. Friends forever. What a naive expression. At least I was succeeding at making friends. The first step was always the easiest; simply spend time with someone without raising any red flags. From here, it became a little more difficult. I'd need to provide some form of value; entertainment, intellectual stimulation, resources, validation, or some more nebulous thing.

I'd concern myself with personality conflicts as they arose. Maybe stay open to the idea of befriending others among the first-years? Friends forever. I thought again. Maybe a good place to start. Could I keep this group from completely self-destructing?