Scorpius sat waiting for the train to start its journey towards Hogwarts. Despite the fact that there were many people around him, he felt quite alone. Nobody would make eye contact with him, though he could feel their stares driving into his skull when he wasn't looking. Scorpius closed his eyes and sunk down into his seat, hoping that would mute the feelings of forced isolation. All he wanted was to prove he was stronger than his father, better than his father. Just you wait, he thought to himself, I will prove I am worth respect; whatever it takes, I will do it.
The sound of someone clearing their throat made Scorpius open up an eye. Standing in front of him was a girl who looked to be about the same age as him. She was short with raven hair and piercing blue eyes, but what caught his attention most was her garb. She wore a blue tunic that was emblazoned with silver keys. It looked as though she had jumped from the pages of a history book.
"Do you mind if I sit here, or would that interrupt your skulking?" The girl spoke crossing her arms across her chest.
"Excuse me?" Scorpius had never heard someone be so rude upon a first encounter.
"Look, I don't know anyone, and this is the only cart with an open seat." The girl sat down without waiting for his response. "Besides, it looks like you could use some company considering all of the people trying to avoid you."
Did this girl have no filter? He thought to himself in disbelief. "Do you have any idea who I am?"
"Nope." She shrugged tucking a lock of her short hair behind her ear. "Do you have any idea who I am?"
"Why would I know who you are?" Scorpius was beginning to get annoyed with this girl. "And I will have you know that I am Scorpius Malfoy." The girl simply stared at him blankly. "Son of Draco Malfoy." The name of his father didn't seem to ring any bells for her, and he let out a deep sigh. "You're a…" Scorpius stopped himself before mudblood slipped from his mouth. "…You're a child of muggles aren't you?"
"Oh no, far from it actually. I take it your father was part of the whole 'battle of Hogwarts' thing." She smiled seemingly apologetically.
"Yeah…something like that." Scorpius squirmed in his seat a little, and looked out the window. A few squeaks could be heard as the train slowly started to move. Parents jogged along side, waving their children one last goodbye. His father and mother had already left the station, but he still looked out into the crowd for them.
"Sorry if I'm a little…dull…with these things. Most of my knowledge of events are from regions much further away from Hogwarts." She cleared her throat and an awkward silence fell between the two.
Scorpius kept looking out the window as the scenery flew past them. It wouldn't be long until they were at Hogwarts' gates, which he prayed would come soon, though he knew that it wouldn't be all that different, socially, from the train ride, at least not yet. While he looked outside, he would occasionally shift his focus to the reflection of the girl sitting across from him. She seemed fixated on the keys of her tunic. Something seemed familiar about the garment, but he couldn't quite place what. "Is that a family crest?" He finally spoke up, turning to her.
"Oh, yes it is." She took her hands off of the key, and smoothed out the wrinkles on her lap.
"It just seems familiar. My family has been here for so long, I am sure our families have interacted in the past." To Scorpius this seemed the be the most logical explanation as to where he has seen that crest before. Read once or twice long ago in a journal comprised of all of his families achievements.
"I'm sure if our families ever did meet in the past, it was because of my family." The girl grinned, and stuck out her hand. "I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Kallael Abhorsen, you can call me Kal for short."
Scorpius took Kal's hand and shook it. His expression remained neutral as he was processing the last name in his head. As the realization struck him, his face lit up in disbelief. Kal chuckled at the slight bewilderment in the boy's face. "Abhorsen. Like the rat catchers?" He quickly said.
As the words left Scorpius's mouth, Kal's expression quickly changed. She shot him a death glare, though he had no idea what was wrong with his statement. The only reason a connection was made in his mind, was because of some stories he had heard when he was a kid, of ancient magic. He remembered the venom with which his grandfather spoke of the Abhorsen and the King. Up until that moment those stories were just vague fairy tales in faded memory at the back of his mind.
"We don't catch rats, we bind the dead, and keep you all safe." Venom dripped from Kallael's lips. She readjusted herself, before continuing with a softer tone. "Well, not we, not yet anyway. My father and sister mostly."
"I'm sorry, I just don't put much thought to fairy tales…though I suppose they aren't are they?" Scorpius moved slightly further away from her.
"No. That's why I'm here, to represent the family. It's a big name to live up to, I just have to be more patient I guess."
Scorpius wasn't quite sure how to respond to her. It sometimes felt strange to him, the fact that a name, despite being nothing more than a word, carried the most weight on his shoulders. Names weren't like titles anymore, you didn't have to do anything to earn it, you were simply born with it. And yet, everyone still treated it like a title, as though somehow the name Malfoy alone should dictate who he was, just as having the title "King" might. Despite the silence, the awkwardness between the two seemed to lift. Here Kal and he were, both with names bigger than themselves, with expectations weighing down on them, but with the comfort of anonymity between them. Scorpius knew hardly anything about Kal and her family, and Kal knew nothing about Scorpius and his family. The pace of each of their breaths was no longer short and anxious, it was deep and relaxed.
There was a brief rapping at the door of their carriage that startled the two. Behind the window, waving awkwardly at Scorpius was none other than Albus Potter. Albus slid open the door, and cleared his throat.
"Hello Scorpius…" Albus made no attempt to look at the girl sitting across from Scorpius, and instead shifted awkwardly where he stood.
"Albus." There was a slight raise in his voice as Scorpius spoke. He couldn't help but be curious about the sudden introduction.
"Look, I know our dads weren't exactly…friends." Albus shifted again. "But I want you to know that I know you're not your dad, and I'm not my dad…" Scorpius couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "I'm not gonna hate you cause of your dad, but if you are mean to me, or any of my friends, THEN I am going to hate you."
Scorpius couldn't help but let out a quick huff of laughter. "Same goes to you Albus." He did not envy the young Potter boy in any way. The Malfoy name might be known for some shady reasons, but the Potter name was a household name that could practically be synonymous with "hero". Not only that, but even Albus's first name was a legend that needed to be lived up to.
Albus nodded at Scorpius, and for the first time briefly glanced over at Kallael. His eyes quickly darted up and down, before shaking his head in confusion. He opened his mouth briefly, as though to say something, but quickly shut it, turned, and left.
"Who was that?" Kallael turned to ask Scorpius.
Scorpius sighed under his breath, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You have a lot of catching up to do."
—
It had taken just about the entire train ride for Scorpius to explain what had transpired between Albus's and his parents all those years ago. Kal listened as intently as she could, and fought back every urge to make a quip when the opportunity arose. To her, all of these problems seemed trivial. Hardly any wand user was a true charter mage, but rather people who "borrowed" charter magic through the wands made for them by wallmakers. There were no free magic users or creatures during Voldemort's brief stint of terror, so the Abhorsen's, and the few tribes of charter users, did not interfere. Besides, there were greater free magic threats on the rise much farther away from Hogwarts. Still, she thought to herself, it doesn't matter the medium of magic if the user is that powerful. Kal reached into her small shoulder bag and pulled out a book. She could feel the train slowing down, and knew there was hardly enough time to even give a summary of the Abhorsen's and their duties. The book was small with an old worn leather cover. It was clear that the leather was once a brilliant blue, but the color had since faded. Pressed into the leather on the front cover was a pair of keys, similar to the ones on Kal's tunic.
"Here." Kal handed Scorpius the book. "I don't have enough time to go into my family, but this is a pretty good history. It's probably more reliable than whatever 'fairytales' you've been told."
Scorpius took the book. It was thick square book, and it felt heavier than it looked when he took it from her hands.
"I will need that back, so you better take good care of it." Scorpius nodded, and shot a quick smile at Kal. It was nice to not have a train ride alone.
As the two stepped off of the train they were treated by the sight of Hogwarts's massive towers. Kal smiled to herself and imagined that, that was what the castle of the King and Queen looked like, before they had become figure-heads.
Standing besides the odd pair, was Albus accompanied by a young girl, which Scorpius recognized as Rose Granger-Weasly. The four exchanged brief awkward smiles.
"It's finally happening." Albus broke the group's silence. "We're finally here."