Chapter 2: The Trans-Atlantic Flight Home
A lone plane soared over the vast expanse of water that was the Atlantic Ocean casting its shadow on the water. Elanus stared out the window at the water. The only redeeming quality of this flight was he got a window seat. He wasn't very fond of the flight back home, usually because it meant going back to school. Another year at Hogwarts was something he rarely looked forward to. He had never been at the top of his class and had only slightly above average marks. His house was even looked at as being below average. Students in the Hufflepuff house were not known for their superior academic skills like Ravenclaws, nor did they often produce notable wizards like Gryffindor house or Slythern. No, Hufflepuffs were the hard workers, the "grunts" so to speak. His house hadn't won the House Cup for as long as anyone could remember, and was routinely at the bottom of the list at the end of the year. There were only two redeeming qualities of being a Hufflepuff. The first was the Quidditch Team, which was decent and the other was no one ever suspected a Hufflepuff of anything. Even the Quidditch Team was in for some problems because of a certain player named James Potter.
He was looking forward to being able to Apparate this year but only because he could leave for his Uncle's house sooner, and stay a few days longer. Elanus had always been overly focused but this year he would be even more so. If he worked hard, he could be done with his schooling by the first semester of his seventh year and be done with it forever. He'd go to a muggle college if possible and learn about engineering. Uncle Gene had already pulled a few strings and he might be able to go to a school called Texas Tech or one called Texas A&M. He could get a degree in engineering and come back home and make a living as a muggle engineer if he needed to. What he really wanted to do was apply his engineering skills to making magical devices. He was absolutely certain he could mix the two and make some truly astonishing breakthroughs.
The hours passed and finally the plane landed in London at the Gatwick airport. His mother was waiting for him at the terminal. She hugged him and smiled.
"Did you have a good time at your uncle's?" she asked, brushing a few strands of her black hair away from her face.
"Yes mum," he said, "you know I did. I can't wait to go back next year."
"How's your aunt?" she asked as they walked down the hall towards the main entrance of the building.
"She's fine, gets sick a lot but other then that she's fine," Elanus said.
"Poor dear, the doctors can't do anything?"
"The muggle doctors are helping more then the wizard doctors she saw last year."
Mrs. Green nodded and smiled up at Elanus, "You've sure filled out this summer," she said, feeling his arm.
Elanus blushed slightly, "I worked the bellows every day for three months."
The two made their way to the parking lot towards a small white car. After Elanus stowed his suitcase they drove off. Elanus slept most of the trip, which took nearly an hour. The Green home was a quaint little cottage out in the country that appeared much larger on the inside then it did on the outside. Elanus went to his room and slid his suitcase under his bed and examined his room for a few minutes before returning to the living area.
"Mum! Did my letter come yet?" he asked.
"Yes, about two weeks ago," his mother replied. "We picked up your books already if you want to look them over," she said as she walked into the kitchen.
After locating his books in the living area he sat down to look them over. "Transmutation, Charms, Herbology," he said quietly, "It's all here."
"We picked up the rest of your supplies too, but of you want to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow that's fine too," Mrs. Green said.
"I think I can get anything I'm missing from Hogsmeade if I need to," Elanus said.
"Alright dear, you rest up, you've only got three days counting today before school starts," she said.
Rest he did for his last two days of freedom. Monday morning rolled around and he and his family were off to King's Cross Station so he could board the Hogwarts Express for the final time. The train ride was uneventful and several of his housemates insisted on him sitting with them. He shrugged and sat down, trying to attract the least amount of attention possible. One of his defense mechanisms against boredom was to lapse as quickly as possible into a day dream, and the ride was certainly boring.
"So you're the strong silent type huh?" a pretty brunette girl sitting across from him asked, snapping him out of his daydream.
"What?" he asked.
"She was asking you what you thought of Sirius Black," a tall boy that was sitting next to the brunette said.
"The Gryffindor? Potter's friend?"
"The same," the brunette replied.
"He's ok I suppose, they're always getting into trouble though," Elanus said.
"You seemed to be a friend of his last year, I thought maybe you'd know a bit more about him."
"Why do you want to know?" Elanus asked. "Want me to introduce you to him?"
The brunette blushed and shook her head, "No, I couldn't…" she started to say. Elanus stood up and walked up the car towards the door and then made his way up the train several cars until he found the one he was looking for. He knocked on one of the cabin doors and entered. Five students were sitting inside. They were quite well known, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Lily Evans.
"Hey, Elanus how are you?" James asked, extending his hand. Elanus shook James' hand, and then the hands of the rest of them.
"I'm good," Elanus said. "Sirius there's this really hot brunette in the back that's dying to meet you. Interested?"
"Tall?" Sirius asked.
"Not really," Elanus replied.
"Hufflepuff?" Sirius asked.
"Hell if I know. Probably."
Sirius grinned and stood up, "I'll see you guys later."
Elanus led Sirius back to the car and they both sat down in the cabin that Elanus had came from. The brunette's eyes widened a bit, and her mouth hung open a little.
"I'm Sirius Black," he said, shaking the brunette's hand, and then that of the boy next to her.
"Nice to meet you," the boy said.
"A pleasure," the brunette stammered.
"What's your name?" asked Sirius.
"Stacy," she replied.
"Well tell me about yourself," Sirius said.
Elanus stared out the window and lapsed into his day dream. His daydreams were mixed with memories of his previous years at Hogwarts. Most people knew that Remus Lupin was sickly and for a few days a month he had to go home. What few people knew was that when Remus Lupin left for home, his three friends Potter, Black and Pettigrew would routinely sneak out of the school. Last year a Slythern named Severus Snape had been injured about the same time as Remus' monthly sick leave which had prompted Elanus to investigate. Earlier that year Sirius and James had approached him about ideas on making a special map for some school project. It was a map of Hogwarts, and they wanted to know how to enchant it so it would show people. They told him it was a class project and that they knew he was knowledgeable when it came to making magical items. He helped them out a little, and was inspired to make a map of his own. No one knew about his map of Hogwarts, nor did anyone know he snuck out of the Hufflepuff dormitories on an almost nightly basis.
They had shown him their map once it was completed, they called it the Marauder's Map. It was ingenious, it showed Hogwart's in it's entirety and small dots represented people. Near each dot was the name of whoever the dot represented. Elanus had made his own map soon afterwards. It wasn't as detailed, nor did it give names of people, but it wasn't restricted to being used just in Hogwarts either. His map was also color coded and could tell if someone was using magic or if they were under the influence of a potion or magic device. James had confessed that the Marauder's Map wasn't actually a school project, but Elanus had figured that out rather quickly.
"Wake up," Elanus heard Sirius' voice say, and then felt a jab in his ribs. "We've arrived."
Elanus sighed heavily and exited the train. He lagged behind the majority of the students who were older then first year as they made their way to the school. It was going to be a boring year, he could tell.
