Omninihil, Chapter 2 - To Hogwarts We Go

Platform 9 and 3/4 was crowded and bustling as usual. Odelia felt a strange sinking feeling in her stomach as she stood, shoulders back and spine straight, decked out in her black school robes ("Change on the train? Someone could see me!") beside her parents. She had made the trip to the platform regularly for the last two years, waving as the train bore Odette to far-off adventures. Somehow it was quite different knowing that she, Odelia, would be borne off as well.

"Owl us if there are any problems," instructed Mrs. Delwin.

"Listen to what the teachers say," added Mr. Delwin.

"Try to make friends."

"Don't get into trouble."

"Follow Odette's advice."

For once it was Odelia, not Odette, who was getting the attention, but the uncomfortable feeling in Odelia's stomach prevented her from enjoying it. "I will," she replied automatically for the twenty-seventh time, feeling as if she were about to get married. Aura yowled, though the lurid fuchsia cat carrier in which she rode and which she despised above all else muffled the sound.

"Mum," called Odette from where she stood with her group of friends, "The train's going to be leaving soon." The Delwin parents took this as a signal to hug Odelia tightly.

"You'll be okay?" Mrs. Delwin queried anxiously before Odelia followed Odette into the train. Odelia could only nod jauntily with a confidence she didn't feel.

Odette seemed to sense her sister's feelings; she took Odelia's hand (something she rarely did at the age of thirteen) and led her to the train. Odelia managed to hoist her trunk into a compartment, curled up in a corner near Odette and some other third years, and buried herself in The Splendor of Dragons. She could feel the rumble of the train leaving the station and frantic calls of farewell from family, but did not once look back.

Having tired of her book and the idle chatter of the third years, Odelia eventually decided to take a walk. She bid a quick farewell to Odette and the sleeping Aura before setting off through the train. Several other students appeared to be doing the same, some of who stumbled due to the vehicle's movement. Odelia remembered with gratitude her parents' emphasis on posture and balance. Another young learner seemed to have had similar training, and headed towards Odelia. The latter steeled herself for her first encounter with another student.

"Hello," greeted the mystery girl, a willowy figure with pitch-black hair in a tight bun, deep blue eyes and a tan that contrasted with her pale peach-colored robes. She had a polished manner, down to her perfectly manicured nails and shiny black shoes. "Do you know where I could find an empty compartment?"

Odelia bit her lower lip and examined her surroundings. After a moment, she gestured with one hand toward a nearby car. "I think there's only one person in there."

"Thank you," replied the other girl rather loftily. She executed a quick turn and strode to the car. Odelia, lacking anything better to do, followed suit with a wary look at the back of her companion's head. There was something not quite trustworthy about a person who paid so much attention to her appearance.

Odelia had been right about the car; it was empty except for a lone girl, dressed in Muggle clothing, who looked up as the others entered. This girl's face was framed by red-gold curls, though the eyebrows that protected smoky green eyes were light brown. She smiled shyly in greeting.

Mystery Girl gave Red Curls the barest of nods before levitating her trunk into its compartment. She then turned back to Red Curls, surveying her shrewdly. Odelia stood behind Mystery Girl, who didn't seem to notice her.

"I'm Selena Lang," announced Mystery Girl at last, sounding as if she were doing Red Curls a favor by releasing her name.

"Kira Seller," replied Red Curls as if on autopilot. Then something seemed to sink in. "Lang?" she continued cautiously. "As in Andrew?"

"Who?" replied Selena. Odelia couldn't see the girl's face, but imagined a blank look.

"Oh, he was a famous compiler of Muggle fairy tales," Kira explained with an embarrassed air. Her head drooped slightly and a few errant curls fell in her face.

Selena tossed her head with an amazing amount of haughtiness for such a small gesture. "What would my relatives be doing with Muggle children's stories?" she demanded. Kira's pinkish skin went red and her shoulders slumped.

"Gee, I don't know, becoming famous enough to be known after several centuries?" Odelia piped up sardonically. True to Odelia's earlier theory, Selena had forgotten all about Odelia's presence. She opened her mouth, clearly about to snap out a retort, but folded herself into the seat furthest away from Kira instead. Kira seemed to find even this intrusion of her space unbearable.

In the brief conflict, Odelia had become sympathetic toward Kira and decided to do something about the situation. Alerting Kira with a subtle tap on the shoulder, she mouthed, "Let's get out of here," and made a face at Selena, who was looking nonchalantly out the window. A grin lit Kira's pink face; she nodded and hefted her trunk. Quietly, the two exited the car.

Once outside, Odelia could breathe easily again. "What a snob," she expressed fervently. Kira nodded in agreement, still looking rather self-conscious. An inspiration flared, blue-white, in Odelia's head. "One of my Muggle friends loves The Green Fairy Book."

Kira grinned again, making her look much more cheerful and at ease. "Really? That's one of my favorites too. Are you a first year?"

"Mm-hm." The train went over what must have been a bump; Odelia swayed slightly but managed not to fall. So, surprisingly, did Kira. A second glance at her showed that she was built sturdily, in contrast to her sensitive demeanor. "I assume you are too?"

"Yes. I'm really nervous; my parents are both Muggles and I've heard that we have to walk through a fire to be Sorted." Green-gray eyes narrowed in worry at the prospect.

Odelia scoffed. "That was just one of the older students being a prick. All we have to do is try on a hat. My family's all magical, and my sister's a third year in Hufflepuff." Even I end up bringing Odette into the conversation, she reflected.

"Try on a hat? That's a relief; I do that every time my mum takes me shopping," Kira joked. Odelia smiled in agreement, though privately she was rather nervous about the Sorting. When Kira asked, "Which House do you think you'll be in?" Odelia shrugged one shoulder with false insouciance.

"Mum was in Gryffindor, Dad was in Ravenclaw, and Odette's a Hufflepuff. I suppose I ought to be a Slytherin to balance things out." Odelia rested one elbow on the side of the car and noticed that one of her thin glow-in-the-dark-green boots (painted while Mr. and Mrs. Delwin were out of the house) was untied. "In other words, I have no idea."

"Slytherin? They say that's where all of the bad ones came from." Kira's gaze followed Odelia's down to the latter's boots. "Hey, are those magic shoes?" Her voice had the wonder and curiosity that was so common in Muggle-born students experiencing the magical world for the first time.

Odelia chuckled and scuffed the toe of her boot against the floor. "Well, they have a Waterproofing Charm on them. Other than that, no. I just painted them with super-strong non-removable everlasting glow-in-the-dark green paint. Oh, and not all Slytherins are bad. My great-aunt was one."

Kira, quick as a wink, looked away from Odelia's boots and toward the furthest corner of the train. "Sorry; I didn't mean to offend you."

"No, it's nothing. Believe me, I've eaten more offensive things for breakfast." As Kira snorted, Odelia continued, "Want to find another place to out your luggage? I should go back to my sister soon." Kira agreed, and red-gold curls soon accompanied Odelia's dark head in poking into various cars. The first was packed with shrieking children trying to paint each other's nails by magic, the second contained several menacing-looking older students, and the third turned out to be a compartment for extra luggage ("Gee, who'd bring that much stuff?").

The fourth held only two people. One was Tolkien Girl, wearing the same outlandish garb as she had on Diagon Alley, and the second was a wiry boy with light brown hair who gazed nervously at his companion. Odelia held back a smile at his obvious distrust of the older student. Instead, she turned to Kira and raised an eyebrow. Kira nodded and entered the car as unobtrusively as possible with a whispered "See you at Hogwarts!"

After seeing that Kira was safely ensconced in the car, Odelia meandered back towards Odette and the other third years. She narrowly avoided colliding with the candy cart witch, who went into a state of shock that lasted all of ten seconds. To compensate, Odelia purchased a Chocolate Frog and wished the witch a nice day. "Such a lamb," the saleswitch muttered as she trundled away from Odelia. "Just like her sister."

Odelia reentered her original car and pacified Aura, who had awakened and was yowling her indignation at being confined to the fuchsia carrier. "Hush, my speckled friend. I know you hate that thing," the witch sympathized. "We'll be at Hogwarts soon and you can stay with the gamekeeper - Professor McGonagall said he's very caring." She managed to poke a few fingers through the mesh of the carrier and ruffled Aura's oversized ears. With a sigh, she resigned herself to the prospect of sleeping without a large furry lump on her feet.

"Everything all right?" Odette queried. Odelia nodded and moved from Aura's side to the small space left on the seat. Deftly she snatched her book from a sticky-fingered third year and opened her Chocolate Frog under Odette's amused gaze, which switched to incredulity at the sight of the contents. "It's white!" Odette had a mastery of the obvious; the frog was indeed a uniform shade of snowy white.

"It's albino," Odelia corrected and nibbled at its webbed foot. Odette whisked the card away to examine it for special features, but it was only Cassandra. The card was quickly tossed to one of Odette's friends, who collected. Odelia's careful sampling of the frog proved it to be white chocolate. "It's probably a new line," she theorized. Hearing this, another third year rushed out of the car to buy more candy in the hopes of discovering other "mutants." Odelia rolled her eyes at their frenzy of excitement and quietly finished the frog just in time to hear the announcement that the train was nearing Hogwarts.

The sinking feeling in Odelia's stomach grew stronger, making her wonder if the Chocolate Frog had been stale. She envied the third years their confidence - Unless, she considered insightfully, they're putting it on like me. The sound of Aura scrambling to escape her carrier, coupled with this thought, steadied Odelia somewhat. "It's just a school," she reasoned in the barest whisper. Just a school, just a school, just a school - these words provided the rhythm for the last few minutes of the train ride.

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The train game to a grinding halt and chaos ensued as crowds of students flowed from their cars. Odette squeezed Odelia's shoulder before departing with her friends. Odelia left her luggage on the train, as directed, except for her book of dragons and Aura's carrier. Squeezing through every possible space in the crowd, she managed to escape the packed train and gulp the fresh air of open space. She soon glimpsed an enormous man - "The gamekeeper!" - calling for first years, and rushed toward him, much to Aura's displeasure.

"Are you Professor Hagrid?" she asked breathlessly, fingering the note from McGonagall with one hand and gripping Aura's carrier with the other.

"That I am," the colossus replied, black eyes twinkling. "What can I do for yeh?"

"I'm Odelia Delwin," she explained hurriedly, "and Professor McGonagall said I could bring my Kneazle with me as long as she stays with you - my Kneazle, not Professor McGonagall, I mean."

Hagrid's face broke into an enormous grin as he lifted Aura's carrier easily and gazed at the magical beast. "Ah, yeh're a pretty one, eh?" He then addressed Odelia: "So yeh're the little girl with the Kneazle. What's 'er name?" He was still staring happily at Aura.

"Her name's Aura. She's usually well-behaved." Odelia felt a surge of relief to see that this was someone who would treat Aura with love. Looking away from Hagrid, she noticed that what seemed to be all of the other first years was gathered nearby. "Erm, sir, I think the other first years are here…" She scanned the crowd for Kira but saw no sign of her new friend.

Hagrid snapped out of his trance and surveyed the crowd of whispering students. "Yeh're all here? Good; follow me!" Chattering and bustling, the students trailed Hagrid down a steep and slippery path. Odelia soon found that her fears about the Sorting were negated by fears of slipping and making a fool of herself. A detached part of her mind observed that most of the other children had grown quiet, focusing on navigating the precarious trail. Then she saw Hogwarts across a wide lake, and all of the trouble suddenly seemed worthwhile.

The castle looked like it had been designed by Mad King Ludwig in an absent-minded mood. There were more towers, turrets and spires than Odelia could count, though she had never been very good at mathematics. The combination of eeriness and quirks appealed immensely to her, and she had a feeling that the school would suit her. While she contemplated the architecture, the other students seated themselves in a fleet of tiny boats, with four children in each. Odelia spotted Kira and the brown-haired boy, but their boat was full. She scrambled for the one empty boat and reached it at the same time as a largish boy with very tan skin and dirty-blond hair.

For a moment the two each waited for the other to get in the boat as Hagrid called, "Hurry up there!" Seeing the humor in the situation, Odelia chuckled and seated herself. The boy cracked a smile and did the same. "Forward!" Hagrid shouted from the boat he shared with Aura, and the boats began to skim over the lake by themselves. Odelia breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was afraid we'd have to row; I'm not much good at that sort of thing. Isn't the castle terrific?" Her eyes glowed with enthusiasm as the wind wafted strands of her hair all over the place.

Her companion shrugged indolently. "I guess it's nice. I've seen it before in lots of pictures." As a seeming afterthought, he added, "What's your name?" and ducked just in time to avoid a curtain of ivy as the boats passed into a tunnel. "Lumos," he muttered, making the tip of his reddish wand light up.

"Odelia Delwin," the witch replied, plucking a leaf out of her hair and tucking it in her pocket as a souvenir. She trailed her other hand in the water, wanting to experience the ride as fully as possible. "And you?"

"I'm Ignatius Anastas. I come from a long line of Ravenclaws; I hope I get put there too." Worry was shown in his dark eyes. "What's that thing you handed to Hagrid?" Ignatius was clearly trying to change the subject, and Odelia was happy to oblige.

"That was my Kneazle, Aura. The school said I could keep her as my familiar as long as she stays in Hagrid's cabin. I was absolutely thrilled; I guess you could say she's one of my best friends." She pulled her now-freezing hand out of the lake, splashing Ignatius in the process. He sputtered in mock rage and splashed Odelia back as the boat reached what seemed to be a harbor. At Hagrid's command, the students left the boats and mounted a passageway in the rock, which brought them directly to Hogwarts' imperious stone steps.

"That was rather a roundabout route," Odelia joked in an attempt to alleviate the fluttering in her stomach. Her head, however, jerked towards the double oak doors of the castle as quickly as those of the other students when a tall witch with an aura of command as thick as fog greeted the party. This witch and Hagrid exchanged words quietly; then the latter left and the former opened the doors wide to admit the first years. "Here goes nothing," muttered Odelia.
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