A Tale of Odyssey
England, 1969
Shuffling of feet, shaking of hands, just one more look out the window. Cold, dark and odd-looking buildings. All she could think was, this is nothing like home. She tried as hard to peek through the clouds to see just an ounce of sunshine. Sadly, her eyes only lingered on the drab clouds above.
She felt her feet suddenly contact her trunk as the train lunged forward almost making her fall off her seat. She shot a worried look to her companion who was sitting opposite to her. He returned a sad smile.
He was just young man in his early twenties, pinned with a fine suit. She had been travelling with him for quite some time now. He was the one who forced her to leave her home, even though he was insistent that he was taking her to her new home in England, the country where her father was born.
She didn't start talking to him until they got to France. His French was abysmal, she tried to help, but people don't often notice or care to listen to an eight-year-old. Let alone the French of all people.
"We will be arriving soon." He spoke with a smile. His chocolate eyes outlined by exhaustion had suddenly began to light up. She gave him a half-hearted smile and returned to peering out the window.
The buildings were getting more frequent while the trees started to disappear out of sight. We are almost there. She couldn't help but feel her heart beat a tad faster and her fidgeting was starting to increase once more. What if I don't like my new home? Will I ever get to go back home? What if he doesn't like me?
All her silent thoughts came to a halt when the train lurched forward again, however this time she was able to hold onto her seat. Again, her eyes shifted over to her companion who pulled out his wand and uttered words that she didn't understand, almost instantly his untidy mousey hair became neatly slicked back and his loose tie formed into a springy bow. This had to be the first time in such a long time that she saw magic.
Since her mama got sick. The thought struck a chord in her heart and she fought back the tears that were slowly stinging her eyes. She refused to let them fall, she had already cried enough when being forced to leave her home.
Her mother and her home lost in under two weeks. Now after four trains, multiple cabs and a ferry, she was finally here, her home now… apparently.
What she wouldn't give to be back home at her vineyard cottage, where the sun was constant, and the air always seemed to smell of freshly ripe fruit. But above all she missed her mother the most. Her warm smile and her kind, gentle nature.
She felt that tug in her chest once more. Life was so unfair, and everything seemed to be ripped from her just in an instant. Her home, her mama and papa all gone. But she knew now was no time for tears. She suddenly remembered what her mama kept telling her before she passed. "Ser valiente" – Be brave.
The little girl always thought those words were silly, because she was perfectly fine while her mama was the one that was bed stricken, barely being able to move. But now she understands now why her mama kept repeating it to her. It was she that needed to be brave for this moment, it's what she would have wanted.
"Are you ready Miss?" She took in a deep sigh and looked up at her companion. He gave her another short sweet smile, which she returned. She turned to grab her trunk that lied below her legs. Until the man interrupted her.
"No need Miss, I shall take your trunk" he rashly said as he swiftly picked up the handle of her trunk and stumbled out of the compartment. "Follow me Miss – hurry now, muggles everywhere. Blimey I will lose you in the crowd at this rate"
He was not wrong. Men and women surrounded the hall of the train and everyone was rushing for their luggage and readying their children to exit the train. She quickly spun around to keep her focus on where her companion was going. He was manoeuvring between the crowds so quick that her short legs could barely keep pace.
Finally, she saw the platform and she felt relief wash over her. The crowds were so awful she thought bitterly as an elderly woman bumped into her. "Sorry" the elderly woman quickly muttered before she exited train.
The girl quickly realised that she lost her guide. She frantically looked around trying to catch a glimpse of her lanky chocolate eyed fellow.
"Oi Dego, you gonna move it? I gotta be in Sussex by evening!" She jumped at the man's voice that came from behind her. Was he talking to me? Then she received an awful jab to her side. He must've.
"Miss here! Down here Miss!" She peered down the platform to see her companion. "Here let me help you" he offered his hand to help her down. She gladly took it and stepped carefully off the train.
"Thank you" she uttered as they walked into the station.
"No problem Miss" he smiled down at her "Your English has certainly gotten better since France, Miss- I believe we go this way" he said as he pointed to the left.
She had no idea what they were doing but she didn't mind at this point, she just wanted to get out of the horrid station. She crinkled her nose at the smell of smoke as they went past what seemed to be thousands of twists and turns.
She kept discovering oddities the further they journeyed into the station. The fashion was very casual lots of people wearing shirts and jeans that and she noticed that everyone held a light complexion in contrast to her own. She suddenly felt very self-conscious and fought the urge to cover her face with her arm.
"Come now, Miss. We are almost there" he stated as he continued to stride forward while keeping his eyes firmly on his wrist watch.
After a few more hallways and a thousand hushed pardons, the couple finally arrived at the main lobby where like the rest of the station was filled to the brim of people trying to find the nearest exit.
The lanky man and the small girl were not heading towards exit however, they were striding towards a pair of tall men talking amongst each other at the other end of the lobby. The shorter of the two wore a blue suit and white hat standing with his hands in his pockets giving off a powerful stance. The other however looked a tad odd to her, he also wore a suit although it just seemed like he didn't wear this attire often. It was also his hair and beard that seemed very strange to her…. his hair it was a contrast of white and silver with tresses of what seemed to be an auburn colour. He also held a pair of sparkling blue eyes that looked very similar to her own.
She felt those eyes instantly connect to hers as they made their way over to them.
"Ah Thomas there you are, right on time. All went well I hope." He smiled.
"We did have a bit of trouble going over the border from Spain and France. Then there was um quite a language barrier in France trying to find transportation over the channel. Then"-
"Never mind Thomas just add it in your report, it is ready to be filled out on your desk" Said the man rather impatiently.
"Right Minister, thank you." He quickly shook hands with the man he referred to as Minister then went over to the other man and shook his hand.
"Professor"
"Thank you, Gregory," he replied. Thomas nodded and turned to the girl.
"Adios la senorita" she smiled at him and gave a timid wave. Then he quickly vanished from sight which surprised her.
"Gregory Thomas, a good kid really, great with languages although he has a bit of trouble with getting his words out though" commented the Minister with a grin. The Professor didn't seem to find his jab very funny but gave a hum to show that he heard him.
"Right well I better be off Dumbledore" the Minister mumbled peering down at his wrist watch. The men then exchanged hand shakes and nodded at each other as a mutual understanding passed them. The Minister turned to the little girl and bowed with his hat as goodbye – he too then vanished into thin air.
From there on it was just her and the speckled blue-eyed gentlemen. She shuffled her feet awkwardly as she felt his gaze linger on her. She heard a sigh escape his lips as if he was contemplating what to do next.
"Penelope" he uttered her name gently. She no longer took much interest in her shoes and matched her gaze his.
"Are you aware of who I am?" he asked softly.
"Si" Penelope responded.
"Do you speak English?"
"Yes."
There was a short pause after that, until a radiant blonde woman and her four golden haired daughters rushed past them as if they were never there. Penelope looked on with sadness as the youngest daughter was showing her mother her stuffed toy that she had cradling. Penelope averted her gaze not wanting to torture herself anymore.
"I'm very different to other people, aren't I?" Penelope asked looking down at her feet once more.
"Who is to say that is such a bad thing?" Penelope looked up to see a sparkle glisten behind the man's half-moon glasses. She cocked her head to the side in confusion not quite understanding his question.
"Tell me Penelope, have you ever eaten a chocolate frog?" She frowned at his strange question and shook her head slowly.
"Well that's great, the first experiences are always the best kind" he held out his hand with a smile. Penelope smiled not thinking that later that day she would be eating an actual chocolate frog.
Then they too vanished from King's Cross Station.
Author note: Hey all I'm Ember! First, I would like to say is that I do not own anything apart from Penelope and other OCs that I might add in along the way.
Second thing I wanted to state is: I'm not trying to change Dumbledore's character in any shape or form – I'm just adding an extra layer of depth kind of like an AU perspective.
I know most of what I am saying is confusing, but it will be dealt with in later chapters. I just wanted to point out that I WONT be manipulating Dumbledore's character too much.