September 1985
Eni ran through the rain with Maddison, holding her coat over her head. The two girls stepped off the sidewalk, leaped to avoid a puddle, and crossed the street. Eni's socks were wet and rain ran down her arms. She had given up trying to cover both her backpack and her body with the coat.
"It isn't much further," Maddison said, "see the brick wall?"
"The one covered in barbed-wire?"
"That's the one. The entrance is in the building behind the wall."
"How do we get in?"
"There's a lock on the door next to the main gate that keeps out muggles who aren't supposed to go inside, but it will open for us. Once we are past the wall and inside the building, there's an old lift we can take. The tube station is off a tunnel."
"I thought Manchester didn't have an underground metro system," Eni said.
"Not officially, no," Maddison said.
They stopped at the door in front of the brick wall. A car passed and Eni felt nervous, like they weren't supposed to be here. She held her coat over her head and over Maddison, who pulled on the door handle. The door opened and they hurried inside. The yard around them looked abandoned. The brick building in front of them wasn't any better. There weren't any windows at the ground floor and the windows at the second floor were dark. The only entrance appeared to be a roll-up door, but Maddison walked past it to the southwest corner.
"How do we get inside?" Eni asked, but Maddison was counting bricks. She counted off ten from the edge of the building and felt with her fingers. At what would have been eye-level for an adult, Eni saw a brick that appeared like all the others, but turned silver when Maddison's fingers touched it. Maddison tapped the brick three times, and the wall moved, creating an opening that was barely large enough for someone to pass through. Eni followed Maddison inside.
Utility lights flickered above their heads. Eni shook the rainwater off her coat. Maddison's wet hair stuck to her neck. Eni followed Maddison down a concrete staircase. A sign read PLEASE KEEP GUARDIAN TIDY. PUT RUBBISH INCLUDING CIGARETTE ENDS IN THE RECEPTACLES.
At the bottom of the staircase, Maddison turned around. "Sort of fun, right? Like we are some type of urban explorers?"
"Sure, yeah, as long as you know where we are going."
"Don't worry, McGonagall took me this way last year," Maddison said.
In front of Maddison, Eni saw an elevator cage. She leaned over the railing and looked down the shaft. "Shite, but it's deep. How far down does it go?"
"A few stories. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just, it feels like we shouldn't be here."
"We shouldn't, not if we weren't witches," Maddison said. She called the elevator.
Eni heard the elevator move from deep inside the shaft. When it arrived, Maddison opened the cage doors and stepped inside. She closed the doors behind them and pushed one of the few buttons on the elevator panel. A red sign said DO NOT PUT ARMS THROUGH GATES. Eni braced herself in case the elevator descended fast, but it went down just as slow as it had come up. She watched the room at the bottom of the concrete staircase disappear.
The elevator stopped at the bottom of the shaft. Maddison opened the cage doors.
"Stay close. I know where we are going but the tunnels are confusing. If you wonder off, it may take me awhile to find you, and we've got to make sure we are on the platform right at noon."
They walked through rooms of what looked like telecommunications equipment, past transformer cabinets, panel boxes, and black cables.
"What is this place?"
"It was a telecommunications bunker built during the Cold War, when everyone was worried about nuclear bombs. I've lived in Manchester all my life and never knew it was here until McGonagall brought me."
Maddison was right; the tunnels were confusing and the rooms filled with cabinets and equipment made it difficult to see how everything was laid out. They walked down a long, circular tunnel, turned and headed down another tunnel. Water covered portions of the concrete floors and Eni realized one of the sounds she heard was a water pump. Halfway down the second tunnel was a maintenance door, or, at least, that was what it looked like. Maddison pulled on the handle and they walked inside.
As soon as they were inside, Eni felt fresh air. There was light at the end of a short tunnel. They walked out onto a train platform. In contrast to the rest of the tunnels, the train platform appeared well-maintained, with clean white and red paint on the walls. The lights were clear and the tracks were clean. There were polished wood benches and rubbish bins. Far above them, sunlight filtered in from a row of skylights.
Maddison danced and spun in circles on the platform. "Feel better about it now?"
"So much better," Eni said. She grabbed Maddison's hand and twirled with her. The two collapsed, laughing, onto a bench. Eni leaned into Maddison, who stood up fast.
"Almost noon! Are you ready? Make sure you have your backpack and coat. When the train arrives, we won't have much time. You'll see why I packed so light and why my mum got you the backpack. We are going to have to jump."
"The train doesn't stop?"
"No, but we'll be alright. More magic. There's a sort of time warp that happens at the station when the Hogwarts Express comes through. Station time slows down while the Hogwarts Express runs as usual. While the time is slowed down, we can get on the train. We just have to be quick and make sure we jump aboard all at once," Maddison said. "As soon as your feet are on the train, you'll be back on the train's relative time and it moves fast. There's bars, so make sure to hold on tight when you land so you don't fall. Sound alright?"
"It sounds like everything else in the magical world, strange," Eni said, "but makes perfect sense once you see it in action."
Right at noon, Eni heard the Hogwarts Express whistle.
"That's the signal," Maddison said, "here we go!"
At first, Eni didn't notice anything, until the train came out of the tunnel and the sound of the whistle stretched. The time warped inside the station and the Hogwarts Express slowed to a crawl, headed toward them at a pace that seemed quite manageable. Eni saw the Conductor as the engine passed, then she saw students through the windows. Everyone on board appeared frozen, some with their eyes closed mid-blink. Eni walked fast behind Maddison toward a platform between two of the train cars. She looked for the bars to grab once she was on board.
Maddison jumped first. As soon as Maddison landed, she froze in-place. Eni panicked for a moment, thinking she would collide with her friend, but there was enough room for both of them if she timed it right. She jumped fast, before she could think again, and grabbed onto a bar. The end of the whistle sounded loud in her ear. The fast movement of the train knocked her back, but she held on tight.
"I don't know what they do in London, but I like the way we board the train in Manchester," Maddison said. She opened the door into the train car on their left.
They walked down the aisle, looking for a place to sit. Most of the compartments were full. After walking through three cars, they found an open compartment door. Charlie, Jonathan, and the brown-haired girl from Hufflepuff sat inside.
"We're all back together!" Maddison said.
Charlie and Jonathan turned to face them. The brown-haired girl looked them up and down.
"Where have you two been? I didn't see you at King's Cross," Charlie said.
"Is that where the train leaves from in London? Well, now we know."
"You're soaking wet," Jonathan said. "Were you outside?"
Eni and Maddison took off their wet backpacks and shoved them onto an open shelf above the seats.
"For a bit," Eni said.
Maddison shook out her hair. Drops of water collected on the carpet inside their compartment. Eni reached for the knit cap she wore, and hesitated.
Maddison sat down between the brown-haired girl and Jonathan. Eni sat with Charlie.
"Sorry, but I don't remember your name," Maddison said to the brown-haired girl.
"It's Tonks."
"No, it isn't," Jonathan said.
"Yes, it is."
"That's your last name."
"I'm not using my first name, my mother had to be mental when she picked it."
Eni didn't remember the girl's first name, but it didn't matter.
The Hogwarts Express was already back outside, passing by houses and buildings at the edge of Manchester. It still rained. Eni wondered how many other not real stops the train made.
"Aren't you cold with the wet hat?" Jonathan asked her.
Eni turned away from the window. "Oh, it's not bad."
Maddison locked eyes with her, but didn't say anything.
Eni forced a laugh. "I experimented with my hair over the summer and butchered it. I don't want anyone to see."
Tonks leaned forward. "I can help. I have a spell for hair my mum taught me. Can I try?"
Before Eni could say anything, Tonks had her wand out, excited. Eni pulled off her hat. Charlie must have seen the scabs on her scalp, because he didn't smile or laugh with the rest of them.
"You did butcher it!" Jonathan said. Maddison elbowed him in the ribs.
Tonks raised her wand, "It's alright. I will get it fixed up for you. Capillum crescere!"
Eni felt movement, like ants trying to break out of her brain. She grabbed her head.
"Oh no, I've never used it on hair as be short as yours before," Tonks said.
The hair pushed through the bald patches of Eni's scalp. She looked at her reflection in the window and watched the strands even-out and grow past her ears. It was alright, she could cut it short again later.
After a minute, her black hair was past her shoulders and Tonks said, "Stabit!"
Eni ran her fingers through her re-grown hair. She smiled at Tonks. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I was so worried about everyone at school seeing."
"No problem," Tonks said. "To tell you the truth, I wanted an excuse to use magic again, wanted to make sure I didn't lose my touch over the summer. The underage wizard laws aren't fair."
Charlie leaned into Eni. "Are you alright?"
"I am now," she said.
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you when the others aren't around."