The wind was screaming through the streets of London as a little group of people hurried across the street to King's Cross Station. An odd group they were, too. It wasn't just that the fact that they wore long ornate cloaks, or that they were carrying large, vintage suitcases or that they had an owl in a cage and a cat-like creature on a leash. Despite these oddities, there was simply something… more to this group than met the eye.
Rowena shifted uncomfortably at the stares of a muggle couple and hugged Stardust closer to her chest. The feline creature squirmed at the gesture and mewed in protest.
"Make that cat quiet, will you?" whispered Helga fiercely.
It's not a cat, it's a kneazle, Rowena wanted to say, but she stayed silent and ran a hand through her familiar's black-speckled silver fur, murmuring soothing words.
Five more minutes. Only five more minutes. She could make it.
"So, how are you feeling about you first year?" asked Aunt Nita, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck. It was peculiarly cold this time of year, as if winter had decided that it couldn't wait an extra month or two.
Rowena shrugged as best as she could with her heavy backpack. "I don't know," she confessed. "I mean, I've only heard about it from the family stories and from Jordan's letters…"
"You'll do fine," Jordan assured her. "Look, if it wasn't good, I wouldn't be coming back for my fourth year, would I?" His laugh echoed through the archway of the front hall.
Rowena smiled weakly. "Easy for you to say," said Uncle Miguel. "Top grades, chaser on the Quidditch team…"
"And a Hufflepuff," reminded Helga from up ahead as she forged a path through the throng of people.
Aunt Nita, a Ravenclaw, rolled her eyes. "Yes, and that all-important fact: your house. Look, as long as you don't get into Slytherin, you'll be fine."
"Isn't Slytherin where the bad guys come from?" asked nine-year-old Eddy, looking around the crowded station with wide eyes. "Like you-know-who?"
"Yep, that's the place," Jordan confirmed, bending down to ruffle Eddy's mop of black hair affectionately. "They say that that House is cursed…" he added in a stage whisper.
Rowena heard a giggle from her right and saw a muggle girl, pretty and blonde, peeking shyly in Jordan's direction from behind her magazine. Rowena wasn't really surprised. Over the summer, her cousin had shot up by five inches at least, his voice had deepened and his features started shifting into adulthood. He also started attracting girls' blushing, curious stares, a fact which didn't seem to bother him at all.
"Here we are!" Helga said loudly, stopping in front of the barrier between platforms nine and ten. "We only have five minutes, so hurry up!"
A group of chattering muggles got in between them, and when they passed, Helga was gone. Jordan glanced quickly to his left and right before going straight ahead to vanish into the stone wall.
Uncle Miguel hugged Rowena, being careful not to squish Stardust. "Good luck." He kissed his wife on the cheek. "Sorry I couldn't stay longer," he apologized.
"That's okay." Rowena watched him embrace Eddy before he turned and walked to the door, doubtlessly to find a safe space to Apparate.
"We ready to go then?" Aunt Nita asked.
"Yup," Eddy nodded enthusiastically.
"Ready when you are," said Rowena, letting Stardust down to wander on her leash, before they walked through the barrier together.
The sounds of the muggle station fell away as they emerged onto Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. Wool-knits and coats were replaced with pointy hats and long cloaks, and instead of pigeons, dozens of owls in russet, bronze, cream and tawny fluttered around the station.
Jordan gave her a quick nod before running off to a waiting group of fellow Hufflepuffs. Eddy made to go after him, but Aunt Nita grabbed his hand.
"Remember, you won't be seeing Rowena for some months," she reminded him gently.
"Bye!" He hugged Rowena tightly. Rowena laughed and returned the hug awkwardly, just as Helga appeared from the crowd.
"We have one minute and you're not even on the train?"
"Sorry!" She wriggled out from her cousin's embrace, waved to Aunt Nita and jogged off to the nearest train car.
She was getting ready to board however, she was stopped by a surprisingly strong, if wizened, hand grabbing her arm.
"Listen to me, girl," said her grandmother, never-blinking piercing eyes fixed on Rowena. Rowena tried twisting her arm, but Helga only tightened her grip, making Rowena hiss in pain. "You be good at school. I want to hear that you'll stay out of trouble. No funny business."
Rowena gulped. She knew very well what Helga meant.
After she had heard her parents' story from beneath the table three years ago, she could never go back to who she had been. She became quiet. Withdrawn. Invisible. But even then, she couldn't exactly be a good girl.
Her accidental magic became rarer, but it came in violent outbursts when she couldn't hold her emotions in anymore. Shattered windows, sudden storms and agitated wildlife followed her like an inescapable shadow, soothed only by Stardust's lilting purr.
Wild Magic Syndrome, the St. Mungo's specialist had said, a rare occurrence when an individual's control over magic is disrupted by a psychologically strenuous experience. It should get better when she starts school with a wand. Preferably with some mellow wood and gentle core, like unicorn hair.
It was a surprise then, when Rowena received a pine and coral wand. "Independence and diversity," Ollivander had said. "A unique, but not entirely possible combination." That by itself wasn't bad, but she had seen Helga's eyes darken when she heard the description, and Rowena doubted that her controversial wand would fit in smoothly with her grandmother's plans. A wild magic syndrome was bad enough. A prediction that she would be different? That was even worse.
She nodded mutely and Helga let go just as the first warning whistle blew. Not waiting to hear Helga's farewell, she scooped up Stardust, turned and clambered up into the train car.
The moment she got on, the train jerked into motion. Distantly, Rowena felt a deep, joyful thrill: she was on her way to Hogwarts! but for the moment, all she could think about was Helga's warning.
But my dearest grandmother won't be there, a voice whispered from the back of her mind. For the first time in her life, she wouldn't be constantly under surveillance.
It was like a breath of fresh air after hours of suffocating. She felt her spine straighten and her shoulders set back, only by a fraction of an inch, but it was a start. As the train rumbled out of the station, the wind had never felt so refreshing and the future had never felt so full of opportunities. For the first time in her life, she would be free.