Chapter 76: The Hogwart's Express
September 1, 1991
King's Cross Station, London, England, UK.
Leonis already missed the quiet of the early morning. Early morning at Blackmoor was a very peaceful and quiet time of day. Only Leonis and Sirius seemed to be up early in the mornings and they both often spent quiet time together in the hour or two before the rest of the household stirred and began to prepare for the day. As he looked around at the chaos of parents and students milling around the train station, Leonis reflected that he would miss that quiet time with Sirius the most while he was away at school.
"Leonis," his stepmother called to him, gaining his full attention. Alicia had fretted over them all morning. It was clear to Leonis that she was not happy about their departure for Hogwarts. He gazed at her questioningly. "Are you sure you remembered to pack everything you'll need?" she asked him. It was a question she had asked Hannah three times and Orion twice. This was the first time she had asked him.
"Yes," he promised her. "Cousin Narcissa looked over my packing last night to make sure that we were all prepared for today."
Alicia pursed her lips at that but nodded. She was worried, he knew. He had overheard enough conversations that she had shared with his father to know that she was very worried about what might happen to them at Hogwarts. She was particularly worried about Hannah. Despite how his father had very publicly damaged the reputation of Lord Warring Abbott and in so doing had restored the reputation of Alicia and her daughter Hannah, there were still some who preferred to think that Hannah was not really an Abbott and that Alicia was a scarlet woman. When he had asked Narcissa why it was that so many people refused to believe the truth after it was presented, she had said that many people preferred a scandal to the truth. Leonis didn't like what that said about parts of society.
He stepped closer to his stepmother and took her hand. He liked Alicia a great deal though he was not often openly demonstrative of his affection for her. She was a good addition to their family. She was a good companion for his father and together Alicia born of House Vaisey and Sirius born of House Black were not so alone. Since neither could spend their lives with their soulmates, their marriage was ideal. It was comfortable, companionable, and there was love there that had grown over time. She was Hannah's mother, and Hannah was the sister of his heart, and for that alone Leonis would do almost anything for Alicia Black.
"People won't get away with hurting Hannah," he whispered to her as he hugged her. He felt her hand tremble slightly where she had placed it on his back as she returned his embrace.
"You are a good big brother, Leonis Black," she said with a smile and warmth danced in her brown eyes as they parted from one another.
"Come on," Sirius said then as he put an arm around Leonis. "If you don't board the train soon then it will be hard for you to find space to fit the lot of you," he chuckled.
Leonis nodded as he leaned into his father ever so slightly as Sirius led him toward the train with Orion and Hannah following right behind them. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Narcissa kissing Dane on the forehead and whisper reassuring words to the nervous boy. Dane had been particularly nervous about the sorting and he wasn't the only one.
Just last night, Ronald Weasley had been sitting in what had been dubbed the 'Children's Parlor' at Blackmoor demanding that his older brothers reveal the secret of the sorting. It was Hogwart's tradition that the means of how they sort the children into the four houses are not to be revealed to children under the age of eleven. It was supposed to be a fun surprise for the children. Leonis was of the agreement with Draco that it was actually a sadistic ploy to make children fear the sorting.
"This looks like it'll do," Sirius said choosing one of the dining cars for them to settle down in. With a flick of his wand, he had the children's trunks floating up to the luggage rack above them. "Remember, the trunks shouldn't be too heavy since Narcissa and I cast weightless charms on them."
"We remember," Hannah said. "And if we have any trouble we should ask for help from a Prefect or from Fred, George, and Percy," she recited back to him.
Sirius smiled and placed a kiss on Hannah's forehead. "Good girl," he praised her for remembering what they had been told repeatedly since they finished their school shopping back in early August.
"Father," Leonis said softly as he watched his cousins trickle into the car and begin to take up seats around him. "We'll be alright," he promised.
Sirius looked at him then and there was a wealth of emotion in his father's eyes. Love, pride, and a bittersweet sort of sorrow were warring in his blue eyes. He nodded once, though Leonis didn't think he was really agreeing with him. "Blackmoor won't be the same without you, all of you," he added as he looked around at the other children of House Black who had settled down into seats in the car.
Leonis smiled at that and moved forward to give Sirius a hug. He rested his head against his father's chest for a moment, just listening to the strong heartbeat of Sirius Black, grateful for this man and his presence in his life. "We'll miss you too."
There were murmurs of agreement and a few of the other kids took their moment to hug his father before Sirius, with great reluctance, departed the cabin, leaving them alone on the train. Leonis thought it might have been one of the hardest things that his father had ever done and Sirius Black was a man who had been through many trials. He took up his seat and looked out the window, watching as his father rejoined the other adults of their family. He stood with Alicia at his side and Remus on his other side watching the red train known as the Hogwart's Express and talking openly. Narcissa and Andromeda stood on the other side of Remus and they were engaged in conversation with Avice Parkinson.
A few moments later his eyes were pulled away from watching the family he was leaving behind, albeit temporarily so that he could attend to his education, to look to the open door. There stood Pansy Parkinson with Ron, Fred, and George Weasley. Fred was lugging along what looked to be a heavy trunk that held the initials PP in silver.
"What's in this thing, rocks?" Fred grumbled as he stopped before an empty spot in the car. Then he attempted and failed to heft the trunk up onto the luggage rack.
Pansy sniffed. "It's not that heavy," she pronounced.
"Oh really?" Fred muttered darkly even as his twin brother, George, moved forward to help him lift it onto the luggage rack. There was a bit of grumbling and grunting involved but both boys finally managed to put it onto the luggage rack.
Pansy smiled, her tone falsely sweet, "See, now that wasn't so hard now was it?" she asked of them. "Not for such strong strapping Beaters like you," she pronounced.
The twins glanced at each other and engaged in what Leonis had always dubbed in his mind as 'Twin Speak'. It was speaking without words, just looking at each other and the Weasley twins seemed to hold full conversations. It drove Hermione up the wall. She had spent some time over the summer looking into information about magical twins to try to better understand some of the strange quirks of the Weasley twins. Leonis was pretty sure most of their quirks were innate to them specifically, but he hadn't bothered to tell Hermione that. It was best when Hermione went on a research binge to let her attack the data with unbiased opinions.
"I think we've been had," George chuckled while Fred growled.
"An astute observation, Forge," the twin that Leonis knew to be Fred insisted.
"Why thank you, Gred," the twin that was George replied.
"The question is why did our darling sister-to-be decide to cast a heaviness charm on her school trunk," Fred demanded as he looked pointedly at Pansy, who was doing her best to look innocent of the charge.
"And when did she cast it?" George added to the questions.
Pansy sat down beside Estelle Burke and smiled up at her future brothers-by-marriage. "Why I should think the answers to both questions obvious," she said in a sweet tone as though she were inviting the twins to partake of tea at her table. "I cast the charm while you were trying to show off to Ms. Angelina Johnson," she told them. "As for the why, well, you were a bit condescending. Trying to show off your strength as such strong burly men, such strong Beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team," she sniffed in disdain at that. "As if Ms. Johnson doesn't already know how strong you are and how good you are at Quidditch. She plays on the same team as you. Furthermore, her father is the Coach for Tutshill Tornados. She probably knows more about Quidditch than you do when you consider her family history," she said the last in such a flippant tone that it had a few of the girls seated with her giggling.
Leonis chuckled as he turned his attention away from the twins and Pansy. Clearly, Ron's betrothed was more than capable of holding her own against the twin pranksters. He just hoped that she would get along well with Hermione and Eleanor. The Parkinson family was not known to be friendly toward muggles and muggleborns. Scorpius was fond of his cousin Pansy and it was Leonis' hope that Pansy would actually befriend Eleanor and Hermione or at least not cause them any troubles during their school years. The truth was, he didn't know Pansy well enough to get a good handle on just how she would interact with Hermione and Eleanor.
He looked out the window once again and smiled to see his mother and his father were now standing together, their heads bent toward each other and speaking quietly. A moment later his half-brother, Ernest Macmillan entered their compartment and he immediately went to sit beside him. "You are late," Leonis said turning to glance at him.
"I know," Ernie said with a sigh of regret. "Mum was in a fine state this morning," he revealed. "She checked my luggage three times yesterday but then she checked it again this morning. I swear it was like she thought I would forget something or try to smuggle in contraband, one or the other."
He chuckled at the thought of their beautiful and austere mother rummaging through Ernie's school trunks, performing revealing spells just in case her clever son had managed to conceal anything he was sneaking away to Hogwart's with. He glanced out the window and smiled to see Malcolm was now standing beside Olivia and Narcissa stood with Sirius speaking with him. Then the whistle blew and Leonis knew that they would be departing the station soon. He waved toward his father and smiled, hoping to convey to Sirius that he would miss him but that he was excited to be journeying to Hogwarts.
Narcissa waved and called out to them. "Be good children!"
"And don't get caught!" Sirius bellowed out making Leonis and his kinsmen laugh.
"We'll write!" several of his kinsmen yelled back to the adults and Leonis smiled at his father as the train began to pull them out of the station.
He watched his father until he could no longer see him and then he sighed and settled back into his seat. He tried not to think about his father and instead focused on the excitement of going away to school. He wondered if he would like his classes. There had been an educational reform that had swept through Hogwarts a few years ago. Apparently, the previous Headmaster, Armando Dippet, had done away with several classes that he had deemed unnecessary for the future of the nation. The classes removed were Ancient Studies, Magical Studies, Alchemy, and Ghoul Studies. Headmaster Dippet's successor, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, never saw a reason to restore those classes to the curriculum. The educational reform started when Mrs. Enid Corner was placed upon the Hogwart's Board of Governors. She led the reform forward, aided heavily by the Crone's Council. Many prominent adults in society, and among the Hogwart's Board of Governors agreed that the loss of some of those classes had been detrimental to the development of their society. The Board ordered the classes restored to the Hogwart's Curriculum though they did make one small concession to Headmaster Dumbledore. Apparently, Dumbledore had felt it would be wrong to have Magical Studies, a class that would focus on the cultural history of the Wizarding World, as a mandatory class. He insisted it should be an elective like Muggle Studies. The Board of Governors refused to budge about making Magical Studies mandatory, but to appease Dumbledore they likewise made Muggle Studies a mandatory class.
"So, what House do you think you'll sort into?" Ernest asked of him.
"Slytherin," he answered without hesitation. He had been experiencing vague dreams of late. He dreamed of sitting on a stool in a hall full of other children. A raggedy, worn-looking hat had been placed upon his head and then a voice was speaking to him, murmuring about his convictions and about his love for his brother Sirius. It was yet another memory from his dead uncle, Regulus Black. One thing that had become clear to him over the years was that he held a great deal in common with his deceased and dearly-mourned uncle. Since the hat had ultimately placed Regulus in Slytherin, Leonis knew that it would also place him there.
Ernie hummed at that. "Yeah, I can see that. You always have been cunning," he added, and it was said without malice. The twins had taken a bit of time over the last few days to tell them all about how Slytherin House was a much-hated house at Hogwarts. The horror stories they told had been enough to make Leonis wish that he wouldn't be sorted into the house of Salazar Slytherin, but his nature should not be denied. He was more Slytherin in his characteristics than he was any other house.
"Where do you think you will go?" he asked of Ernie though he thought he had a good idea as to where his brother would end up. There was much of Ernie that Helga Hufflepuff valued for her house. Loyalty, dedication to a task, steadfastness and no fear of toil.
"I think that I'll be like dad and be a Hufflepuff," Ernie said confirming Leonis' thoughts. "I know mum was a Slytherin and I can be sly, but I just don't think I have enough of the traits of a Slytherin."
"I think I'll be in Hufflepuff as well," Hannah said to Ernie and she gave him a small smile. "Mum was a Slytherin too but my dad, my biological father, was a Hufflepuff."
Leonis chuckled. "And you've been raised these past few years by a Slytherin and a Gryffindor."
She smiled cheekily. "Exactly!" she exclaimed. "The obvious combination of Slytherin and Gryffindor is a Hufflepuff."
There were a few chuckles at Hannah's pronouncement.
"Then what produces a Ravenclaw?" Eleanor was curious to know.
"Hufflepuff and Slytherin," was Draco's response.
"I think I'll be a Gryffindor," Ron spoke up then. "Every Weasley since forever seems to be sorted into Gryffindor," he said.
"I'll probably be placed in Slytherin," Pansy said. "It's where the vast majority of Parkinson's have been sorted over the centuries."
"Some of them have been placed in Ravenclaw," Ron said, and there was an almost plaintive sort of hope in his voice that told them that he hoped that Pansy would be sorted into the house of the Rowena Ravenclaw instead of into the House of Salazar Slytherin.
"I don't really care where I am sorted," Eleanor revealed to them. "I just hope one of you is there with me."
"I think that will be easy enough to achieve," Hermione sought to reassure Eleanor. "There's so many of us in this family group that it is inevitable that we'll span the four houses."
Leonis nodded his agreement. "I think we need to remember something," he said slowly, drawing his family's attention to him. He took a moment to look each of them in the eye before he began to explain his thoughts. "We've heard from the twins that Slytherin House is a much-hated house and that the other houses rarely mingle, especially in the early years. I think we need to remember that we are family and friends and therefore the strange cultural trend of shunning that Hogwarts has engaged in should not affect us."
Draco nodded in swift agreement. "I would hate to think that any of you would shun me because of the House I sorted into," he said and was met with murmurs of agreement and denials that any of them would do such a thing.
"We come from a family that is quite adept at setting trends rather than following fashion," Hermione pointed out helpfully.
Pansy giggled at that. "True," she agreed as she smiled at Hermione. "No one could accuse Lady Malfoy of being a follower of fashion. She's a trendsetter."
"And she's not the only one," Eleanor added helpfully. "Why just look at the Burke's. Years ago, they built and opened Estelle's, naming it for our own Estelle here," she said as she nudged a blushing Estelle Burke.
"That's true," Dudley said. "It was the first restaurant in our world that catered to both muggle and wixen clientele."
"And look at Enid Corner, Stephen and Michael's grandmother and Neville's Great-Aunt," Harry pointed out. "She went head to head with Dumbledore in order to ensure that educational reform happened at Hogwart's."
Michael smiled proudly at that while Stephen blushed beside him. "Yeah, Grandma is a force to be reckoned with once she has a cause that she believes in."
"We should follow the example of our elders," Leonis insisted. "We won't give in to the current fashion, we'll make it ourselves. We will guide society, set the tone."
The others were nodding their agreement.
"Alright then," Hermione said taking a notebook out from the small purse that she had at her side. The purse had been bought in Turkey over the summer, it was a cute little bag that didn't look like it would hold more than a small compact and a tube of lip gloss, but Leonis had been with Hermione when she had purchased it and he knew that it had an extendable charm on it. Andromeda and Hermione had managed to extend it further and reinforce the strength of the bag. "Let's start brainstorming ways in which we'll slowly take over Hogwart's society."
With that, each of them tucked into brainstorming.
It was early evening when the train, at last, stopped in the village of Hogsmeade. They departed from the train and slowly gravitated to a Half-Giant man who was calling for all of the first years to gather around him. He introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid the Keeper of the Grounds and holder of the Keys. He then escorted them to the shore of the lake where he insisted they gather four of them into rickety little boats.
Leonis balked at the idea of taking a step closer to the water. It was black, too dark for him to see underneath, but he felt a sudden terror overtake him. There were things in the water, creatures that were not quite alive, yet animated. They would grab him; they would take him under. He trembled violently and wanted to protest getting into the boat, but he couldn't get his throat to work.
"It's alrigh', nothin' ta be afraid of," he heard the Half-Giant try to reassure him but then he felt large hands on him, and he tried to fight but the man was too strong. He found himself seated into the boat and Draco swiftly sat in the boat across from him. He tried to look at Draco, tried to convey that they couldn't do this, that there was danger in the water, that it wasn't safe, but still his voice wouldn't work.
The boat began to move and Leonis wanted to scream at them to stop. Then he felt a hand settle into his and his mind homed in on the softness of the other person's palm and the warmth radiating from that hand, warming his own colder hand.
"It's alright," a soft female voice reassured him. "I'm guessing you are a bit leery of the water, eh?" the girl asked. "I'm not too fond of it myself because I'm not a good swimmer. My uncle was supposed to teach me over the summer hols but he was far too busy with matters to do with the Wizengamot. Oh, but I am rambling," she said. "Sorry about that. It happens sometimes when I am a bit nervous. My name is Susan by the way. Susan Bones."
Leonis turned his head to gaze at her. She was a pretty girl with dark red hair, pretty brown eyes, pale porcelain skin that was very lightly dusted with cinnamon shaded freckles across the bridge of her nose. He found himself slowly calming, relaxing as he held her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Bones," he said formally because he knew who this was even though they had never met before. This was Lady Bones, niece of Madame Amelia Bones who was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. This was the girl that had lost the majority of her family to Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters before she was even born. This was the girl who had lost her mother on that dreadful Halloween, the same one that had cost his cousin Harry his own parents.
"You are back with us now, that's good," she said in a chipper tone of voice. "Perhaps you could introduce yourself?"
He smiled softly at her. "Of course, forgive me, I think I left my brain back on the shore," he said making her giggle. "I am Leonis Black, and I am very grateful for your assistance Lady Bones."
"Susan, please," the girl said. "Unless you would prefer for me to always defer to you as Lord Black."
"I would prefer you call me Leonis," he said. "As I owe you a debt, I would prefer that we not stand on such strict formality."
"You owe me nothing," Susan insisted. "I just wanted to help you. I hope you would have done the same if our positions were reversed. We have not reached the castle yet, so it's possible you might get a moment to return the favor," she laughed self-deprecatively. "I was not kidding when I mentioned that I don't like the water much myself."
He smiled at her. "We'll help each other then," he promised her. He stole a glance at the other occupants of their boat. Draco had followed him to keep an eye on him. It wasn't a surprise considering Draco had seen him enter a state like this before. The last time had been at Malfoy Manor when they had been playing too near to the pond there. Ginevra Weasley sat beside Draco and she was watching him closely. When he smiled at her relief shone in her brown eyes before she looked away.
The view of Hogwart's Castle lit up at nighttime while they sailed on the dark water of the Black Lake was a truly beautiful sight to behold. He heard a breathless "Oh" leave Susan's lips and her hand squeezed his. It was only then that he realized that the two of them were still holding hands. He didn't release her hand until they, finally, made it to shore.
Next Chapter: The Sorting... so you know, that moment many have been eager to read.
