Camp Potter II: History Appreciation, Week 4

Candy Land Challenge: "It's kinda fun to do the impossible" – Walt Disney

Note: This is an AU where Ariana is able to control her magic.

Waiting's End

She had waited to go to Hogwarts ever since Albus had first disappeared on September first, what seemed like forever ago. Aberforth had gone the year after, and she had felt really lonely when he had left, because for all of Albus' genius he had never been able to spare a lot of his time for her. Aberforth had been the one to do that.

Now she was going to join them at the mysterious castle that was Hogwarts. She didn't mind all too much whether Albus would speak to her or not, because he always seemed to have more important things to do with his time, but she knew Aberforth would watch over her and make sure she was all right. She knew he would, because that was what he always did. He took his older brother role extremely seriously.

Her robes were already on. Her parents had flooed them directly onto the platform so they would not need to change. She was really happy about that, because despite the darkness that surrounded the train for the past few hours, she had been staring out the window anyway. Aberforth was sitting across from her, watching her amusedly every once in a while before returning to the text book he was reading.

She knew she should probably have been reading one of her text books, but she hadn't been able to concentrate on the words. The book was currently lying on the seat next to her, opened to the first page but facing the seat instead of her.

She couldn't help it. She couldn't wait to see the castle her brothers had told her so much about. She couldn't wait to meet the ghosts, and the paintings. She couldn't wait to be sorted and make new friends in the house she was placed in.

Albus was in Gryffindor. Aberforth was in Hufflepuff. If she were to be truly truthful to herself, she wanted to be in Hufflepuff with Aberforth. She hoped she was. As much as Albus said it was a lot of fun in Gryffindor, she wouldn't want to be ignored by her older brother in favour of his friends who would probably be smarter and know more magic than she did.

It didn't matter though. Aberforth had promised that it would not matter which house she would be sorted into, he would still talk and visit her. She knew Albus would probably be annoyed with her if she ended up in Slytherin, because he was Gryffindor, and a star student.

He would also be annoyed with her if she wasn't the top of her year. Just like he tended to be annoyed with Aberforth for not 'showing his intelligence' but Albus had always been the most intelligent of all of them. She and Aberforth had only really cared about keeping their parents happy, and their parents were happy whenever they were. Albus' opinion didn't change much in either of their eyes unless they saw a point to it.

They usually didn't though, and that was just fine.

Her parents had not thought she would not receive her Hogwarts letter because she hadn't performed too much accidental magic. She hadn't performed a lot of accidental magic, that was true, but there hadn't been been many times where she had become that emotional. Aberforth usually calmed her down before that happened. He was just always there for her.

The train had begun slowing. She could feel it. She glanced up at where Aberforth was watching her in amusement. He smiled and put his book away, confirming her suspicions. She was going to be in Hogwarts soon!

She would be joining all the other students milling around the castle, trying to get to lessons on time or searching for some lost possession or the other. It was going to be so much fun.

The train stopped, and she nearly ran out the compartment but Aberforth pulled her back at the last moment. A rush of people moved past the door of the open compartment only a moment later.

She sent a silent thank you to Aberforth before sitting down impatiently. As much as she wanted to see Hogwarts, she wanted to be conscious for the first time. She doubted she would have survived the encounter too well if she had stepped out the moment before.

She looked at Aberforth again once the crowd had thinned significantly, and grinned as he nodded. She joined the crowd of people that were still exiting the train, without waiting for Aberforth as she usually would.

Because she would be seeing Hogwarts soon, and Aberforth understood her excitement despite never having experienced her level of excitement before.

He always did.