Chapter Five: Till the End of August
On the 30th of August all Hogwarts students were supposed to go to the King's Cross
Station in London to board a train that would take us all to the school. On the first of
September school would start, and it would be the beginning of a whole new world. I couldn't help feeling just a bit nervous, despite everything Pop said. I completely forgot everything about keeping him happy and told him about my woes.
"Don't worry about it, Kora. If you don't already know, I went to that school and I loved it. Of course, I had more brains than friends but hey, it's the learning that's fun. And never mind what I said just then because you will get friends. You will. There's no use dreading, because no one goes without a friend at Hogwarts. People are just too nice there."
"But, Pop –! That was in your day! You don't understand what kids are capable of now!"
"I should. I've got one to take care, now, haven't I?" He laughed and slugged my shoulder, and I just sighed in dismay.
By some miraculous way, he had managed to make the Minister of Magic let him off for the whole month, just to be with me. Cornelius Fudge hadn't been happy, Pop had told me, but he had understood that I was being neglected and had agreed to give Pop a holiday. While Pop was glad with that, he wasn't happy about the arrangements for his temporary replacement.
"Bloody Al Jefferson's been appointed for my spot! There's no wonder the Ministry's going down. You wait, Kora, in a few days' time they'll be pining for me. He's going to muddle up everything just like he did last time, then everybody can blame Fudge just like they did last time!"
Pop was passionate about his work, and just as loyal to the Ministry. He's just a beautiful person. On our last month together he took me out of the valley and we set off exploring, at the same time speculating about Hogwarts.
Pop hadn't lied. He really had enjoyed his seven years there. As he talked about it – on the bus from Buckingham, on the train going to Yorkshire, on the ferry on the English Channel, walking down the street in London, eating out at a restaurant in Brooklyn – I could just hear the fun he had showing through his voice.
"I remember finding out that the first year was hard. There were so many things to memorize, so many new things to learn! Even if you came from a wizarding family you still had trouble with the school work. But then the other years came on, and although they were even harder I got through them. Then fifth year – ha ha, that was OWLs year. It was bloody well the hardest I had ever experienced, but it was worth the study. It was my fifth year that got me through to the seventh, which was NEWTs year."
"Pop, don't make it sound so hard, I know that you got made Head Boy and your marks topped almost everybody else's in your year."
"Yes, well, having almost no friends helped with that, now, didn't it? Anyway although Hogwarts sounds like all work and no fun, it isn't all like that. There's the Quidditch every year, and Hogwarts is so abundant in open space and forest so there's always somewhere to explore when you're bored, and the castle is so big –! I miss that place. Did you know that there are secret passages everywhere? Behind a portrait, under a rug, inside a cupboard, behind a statue…so many ! And they led to so many places around Hogwarts, whether it's inside the castle or outside on the grounds. You'll have fun there. Seriously, you will. As long as you keep yourself out of trouble, you'll be fine."
Pop sounded so reassuring.
When we reached the station on that final day, all my nervousness came back as I realized that this would be the first time I would be leaving Pop behind, for as long as a few months or even a year. I didn't know how I'd be able to handle the loss of his presence, and I almost didn't want to go through to Platform 9 ¾, the gateway from the Muggle station to the wizarding station. I didn't even want to let go of Pop, so we went through together.
I was used to the entrance necessities for the Leaky Cauldron, so it freaked me out when we rushed through a entirely normal brick wall between Platform Nine and Platform Ten and ended up on a entirely new Platform that was teeming with people dressed in robes and hauling trolleys mounted with trunks and suitcases and broomsticks and what not.
These were my kind, but I still felt left out amongst all of them.
"Look, Kora," Pop said over the unbelievable noise of this station. He pointed to what he wanted me to see. "The Hogwarts Express!"
I looked from where I had planted myself at his side. On the tracks there was a magnificent train, red and shiny like it had just been beautifully hand-polished. It was bellowing smoke from its engine carriage, and I pretended childishly for a moment that it was tooting to us kids, saying stuff like Hello!! and Welcome Aboard!!! It certainly felt as if it was saying just that, and I felt a bit better. Golden writing was emblazoned on its side, Hogwarts Express. It really was a pretty nice looking train, compared to the ones we'd been riding these last twenty-five days around the Muggle world.
Without my say in it Pop handed my luggage over to the custodian. I grabbed his arm and, trying to sound urgent, said, 'But, Pop, I need some stuff from my trunk. What if I get bored and I want to read a book or something?"
"You will not read books, Kora Rastrick, you will socialize. Do you hear?"
"Pop –" "It's an order, young lady."
He meant the best. The train conductor was leaning out from inside his carriage, bellowing in a magnified voice that the train would be leaving in five minutes. There was a blurry of movement – every kid remaining on the platform was rushing to get last kisses and hugs goodbye from their parents and guardians. I looked up at Pop, and realized for the second time that holiday how older he looked. He ruffled my hair, and kissed my forehead. I hugged him for that one last time and willed myself not to cry. I had never cried in my whole life, at least not to my knowledge. Anyway I failed, but I brushed the beginning of the trickle away with my hand and looked up at Pop again. He was smiling, so I managed one as well.
"You be good now, Corporal." He called me that sometimes. "Don't get expelled too soon if you're planning to turn evil without hearing my opinion first."
"That's a rotten joke, Pop." "I know, Kora. Go on, before they all leave without you."
I went inside the train and hastily found an empty compartment by the station side. I could see Pop out the window – he was waving. I waved back, then the train was moving. No matter how hard I tried, Pop was unable to keep himself in my sights. I looked at Pop's face in my mind, memorizing it for the months to come. Then the station disappeared altogether, and for that one moment I was alone again, just like I had been just that month and few weeks ago.