Hey! A quick warning in case you missed it, this story is set in the world of Harry Potter, but please be aware it is about OCs. Rating it as M for now, for later chapters. Also feel free to leave us feedback. We'd love to hear your opinions and critiques!
-Nick & Alix
Years have passed since the war between Harry Potter and Voldemort, and the Ministry of Magic is being pressed to address a growing discrimination against muggles, a steady decline in the population of the magical community, and a growing darkness that has yet to announce itself. Eager to bolster attendance at Hogwarts, and induct new witches and wizards in to their society, the Ministry has dictated that muggles who've been identified as having magic within their ancestry, whither they've displayed any signs of possessing magic or not, to be admitted to the witch and wizard academy for assessment and schooling.
It would have been some months ago by now, that a dozen or so children would have been hearing from their parents that they had received a letter, detailing a believable lie. 'Changing of school district zoning', the letters sighted, as cause for the children of select families to be withdrawn from their public schools and enrolled in a private academy.
No doubt, many of the parents had likely contacted the Board of Education, whom would have in turn, confirmed that the mandates were neither a prank nor a mistake. The students were to board a train at King's Cross Station on the thirtieth of August, as term was to begin on the first of September. Staff from the academy would be on hand to ensure students boarded the proper train.
As the sun began to rise, it wasn't the light or an alarm clock that woke the two youngest Cornett children, it was their brother's shout from the kitchen.
"You'd better not make me late again!" His words held a warning and anxiety that had become the norm for him these days. They pulled from their beds, although in a noticeably sluggish fashion, and filed into the small, worn kitchen.
"Beans again?" Killian groaned, only to quickly be elbowed by their sister.
"Killian…" She scolded in a low whisper while the younger boy rubbed his arm resentfully. It was all they could afford, she knew that much, and on some level Killian knew this to, but words like "afford" meant less to him at his current age.
"Stop your whining and eat," Patrick instructed, though he didn't sit down himself. It was possible he'd already eaten, but judging by his lank frame, he'd gone without again. While Reine and Killian were having breakfast, he set about the task of getting himself cleaned and dressed. By the time he was done, he had just enough time to make sure Reine had combed her hair, and see that Killian didn't forget his book bag or lunch, then it was right out the door and to the bus stop.
Every day had been like this, for the last three years, and for Patrick it seemed like a life time. The day was long and slow, and though he was always the first one home, he was never sure what he would find there waiting for him. Sometimes their mother would be there, other times she'd still be in her room, and he was never sure which scared him more.
Today she was in the kitchen, sitting at the table with a stack of letters. He paused as he saw her, frozen in the door way, unsure if she'd seen him yet. She didn't speak until he'd approached the table, and sat his back down.
"How was school?" It was a simple question, but Patrick didn't dare to answer with anything besides, "Good." She seemed far too frail to handle an honest reply. She'd been too frail to handle anything sense their father had died. In fact, it was like she'd stop trying at all.
"I'll make you dinner," She said, getting to her feet and going to the fridge. Patrick was more surprised by the offer than the prospect of dinner, since he knew the fridge was nearly empty. She discovered this quickly as well, but still searched as though something might materialize on one of the empty racks. When nothing did, she turned to find her son staring at her, letting the fridge fall shut.
"I'm sorry…" She apologized, her tone wavered and then she broke, as Patrick had feared, and crumpled to her knees on the floor.
"I'm sorry…I'm a terrible mother," she muttered, barely coherent between sobs. It took Patrick a half hour to get her in bed with her medication and a cup of tea.
The incident left him little time to run to the corner store and get something for them to eat before Reine and Killian got home. He was exhausted by the time he'd made the walk back, and tossed the bag on the kitchen table. It scattered the mess of cigarettes, ash, and mail to the floor, and he growled to himself; just one more thing he'd have to clean up. However, as he was collecting the strewn bills he realized some of them weren't bills at all, they were from the school district. They hadn't even been opened yet, and seemed very official. Patrick panicked. He knew his grades had fallen, but had it been so bad that they'd notified his mother?
He was relieved to find this not the case, in fact, they were being sent to a private school. Patrick was in shock; private school was not something kids like them got sent to. It was far too expensive and yet.. that's what the letter stated.
When he'd brought it up to their mother, she'd broken down again, she'd even gotten angry at one point, dashing all of Patrick's hopes instantly. But as days turned into weeks, the more he thought about the letters. He wanted a way out of the years of pressure he'd been under, he needed one. He couldn't take care of the family on his own. He couldn't, and their mother wouldn't, but at the same time, guilt and fear compounded on him.
Finally, the day had come. It was August thirteenth, and he'd made up his mind. He got them all ready like every other morning, only this time he packed three extra bags, and left a note on the table. He couldn't face her; the note was the best he could do to calm his conscious of the guilt of abandoning their mother.
"Hurry up," He stated as he led them through the train station.
"Not my fault my legs aren't as long!" Killian protested, as they neared the platforms.
Mrs. Tippit frowned as she watched dozens of busy commuters pass. Perhaps the last three weren't coming. Their father, Brice Cornett, did pass away a few years ago, and as far as his parents and friends knew, Brice had had no intentions of ever returning to the magic community. He wasn't alone in his choice to leave either.
Despite the dark lord having been defeated by Harry Potter, hundreds of witches and wizards had made the choice to retire their wands, and live their lives as muggles after the war. Ironically enough, this move to shelter their posterity from the potential dangers of the wizarding world, became a major factor in the decision to create the new enrollment mandate.
"Still waiting on three?" A man, who looked to be an engineer, asked Mrs. Tippit near the barrier between platform nine and ten. She shuffled through the three remaining school ids in her gloved hands that looked more like passports.
"Yes, just a moment longer, please," She returned. The professor expected that if they did come, the children would be lightly packed like the others she'd assisted today, children who'd grown up with no knowledge of anything outside of the Muggle world. No list of supplies had been sent with the letters, unlike in years past, and many of them didn't even have pets with them. Nothing but a few pairs of clothes and curious expressions.
Just as she was turning back towards the brick barrier between platforms nine and ten, she caught sight of three seemingly unchaperoned kids; two boys and one girl. Patrick had felt immeasurably stupid when he'd gotten near the platforms and noticed for the first time that the letter said 'nine and three quarters', not just 'nine'. Doubt easily crept in, how dumb was he to believe an answer to their problems would just be hand delivered to their home? Killian asked, for what had to have been the tenth time, where they were going, and their elder brother was just on the edge of losing his patience.
"Will you just give me a-"
"Patrick?" Mrs. Tippit called suddenly, waving her hand about for them to see with a renewed since of hope.
Patrick's hazel eyes settled quickly on the women flagging them down. Relief over took him and he finished in slightly less irritated tone, "A minute." Reine's shoulders untensed as Patrick's tone changed, and the two younger siblings followed closely as their brother made his way to the stranger.
"Platform nine and…" He paused bracing himself before he finished apprehensively, "three quarters?"
The smile that came over Professor Tippit's face was warm and genuine. She let out a rather loud exhale, relief evident in her tone when she spoke.
"You're very near there, my dears!" She chimed, "Kilian, Reine, right this way," Mrs. Tippit added, steered them with a gentle hand on each their upper backs towards the barrier, before turning her head towards Patrick, to speak again.
"A lot of this is going to seem quite sudden, and you're going to have lots of questions," She said, removing her hand from Kilian's back and resting it on Patrick's arm. "I promise you though, you'll get all the answers very soon." As she spoke, she led them straight through the unassuming wall, and on to a platform that hadn't been there a moment before. It was buzzing with people, parents, waving to the dozens of little hands that enthusiastically waved back from the windows of a shining, puffing locomotive.
"Better board, Professor, we're ready to leave!" The same engineer who had checked on her before stated, as he caught up to them. "Let me help you with those, son." He added, easily taking the two extra bags Patrick was hauling with one hand, and grabbing Kilian's bag with the other. "This way, watch your step."
"Thank you so very much for your help," Professor Tippit said, as she followed behind the children, and once on the train, helped them find a compartment that had not yet been filled.
It had happened so quickly, not so fast that they couldn't kept up or realize that things had taken a dramatic turn towards the peculiar, but still fast enough that none of them had time to form a question before they were aboard. Patrick was still trying to piece it all together. If this was a hoax, it had more thought and people involved than any he'd ever heard of. His younger siblings however, seemed more distracted by all the new and exciting things around them.
"Now make yourselves comfortable, we have quite a way to go before we arrive." She told the Cornett children, only just then realizing she hadn't introduced herself to them. "My name is Professor Tippit," She stated, pressing her palm against her collarbone for emphasis, "and If you need anything at all, come find myself or another one of the professors, alright, dears?"
"Alright, thank you professor." Patrick responded, and Reine smiled politely, though she still didn't utter a word despite how warm and welcoming Tippit seemed.
"We're moving!" Killian chimed excitedly, and Patrick realized that he and Reine had never been on a train before, in fact this might be the furthest from home they'd ever been.
"Sit down, and stop fidgeting" Patrick instructed.
When they arrived at Hogwarts, the mere sight of the castle stunned most of the 'muggle' students in to a silent awe. The lot of them could easily be picked out of the pack of new arrivals in their casual clothing. There were the three Cornett children, and about twenty others who had no school uniforms, nor any supplies for that matter, but the school staff had been told to expect as much. For these children, it wasn't just their first time at the famed school of witchcraft and wizardry, it was their first time being exposed to anything 'out of the ordinary'.
"Patrick Cornett," Professor Magnus called, holding the sorting hat out to his side as he waited for the next student to take their place on the seat in front of the entire student body. The staff tensed apprehensively; this was the first of the muggle students to be called.
The move to admit them to Hogwarts had been met with a mix of reactions from parents, from thrilled to outraged, and everything in between. There was no real way of knowing how that would affect their children's outlook on the newcomers.. until now.
When Patrick's name was called, he was nervous, but probably not for the same reasons that most students were. From what he gathered of watching the first few, it was a relatively painless endeavor, and he didn't know enough to care what the outcome would be, but that's also what bothered him most about it. He took the seat and eyed the four banners in the hall, unsure of the significance of the choice about to be made.
"Hmmmf.." The hat shifted, "Hmmm.. Let's see..." The brim wavered, almost like one would do if tapping their fingers on a surface, thinking. "You're an older one, yes, ...you'll have quite a bit of catching up to do.." It commented, "You have the drive though.." It trailed off. Then with a deep breath, it let out it's bellowing decision. "Slytherin!"
There was a brief pause, before claps and cheers erupted from the students, just as it had for the others, allowing the grateful staff to relax a bit. By the end of the sorting process, Kilian had also been sorted in to Slytherin like his brother, but for Reine, the Sorting Hat had chosen Ravenclaw.
At first Reine was stunned by the fact that she'd not been placed in the same house as her siblings. She didn't want to be on her own, as fantastic as this new school was, she was worried. However, as she stood and moved towards the rest of the Ravenclaw students, she realized that it was probably better this way, at least Patrick wouldn't' have her holding him back.
"You can sit here, Reine," One of the girls who looked to be her age offered, sliding over a bit and patting the bench. When the other girl made room for here she was glad that she wouldn't have to trying and find her own spot to slip in unnoticed at the giant table.
"I'm Serena," the girl greeted.
"Thank you." Reine's words were so docile that they could have easily been engulfed by the chatter at the table.
"You're starting as a second year, right? You'll probably be put in our room. We have two empty beds. Was just me and Wendy all year last year," Serena explained conversationally.
Reine found herself unsure of what to reply with, she didn't want to seem rude or unfriendly, but all she managed was a quiet, "You think so?"
Patrick's gaze had stayed on Reine until she'd gotten to the Ravenclaw table before they started to drift around the room. Amidst the sea of strangers, he spotted Killian. He was looking towards the ceiling and asking something, to the boy next to him, which the other boy seemed to find amusing.
Once everyone was sorted, the headmaster announced that several students who were already 'accustomed' to life at Hogwarts had been chosen by the faculty to serve as a sort of mentor for each of the new muggle students. They would be accompanying them on a trip to Diagon Alley the following morning to help gather necessary school supplies, and to help them in general to settle in. After he was done speaking, their dinner was served in the most spectacular fashion. It appeared out of thin air.
Serena seemed quite pleased to prod the shy girl next to her for conversation, and Killian's bold and inquisitive nature had already done a fine job of breaking the ice at the Slytherin table. No one had taken the initiative to speak to Patrick though, not until someone had wandered over after the other students had begun to vacate their spots to head for their houses.
"Overwhelmed yet?" Seth asked, glancing across the solid table at the oldest Cornett. Patrick blinked, as though it was something he hadn't thought about.
"Not yet," He replied.
The dark haired Slytherin smiled. "Wanna walk with me to the Dungeon?" He questioned, not taking his eyes off Patrick the way someone who was less self-confident would. "Or you could just follow the crowd, I suppose." He added a bit more quietly, polishing off his cup of pumpkin juice.
Patrick didn't answer at first, the others seemed to be heading to their rooms and he'd lost sight of Reine and Killian. This was the first time he could remember in a long time that he wouldn't be sharing a small cramped space with them. He wouldn't have to worry about if they'd eaten, brushed their teeth, and did their homework… As soon as it had sunken in he turned quickly to Seth. "Sure," He replied, grinning more from his new-found freedom than anything else. Whatever choices he made from now on, they'd be his.
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