Chapter Five
The morning of September 1, Cain found himself packing the last of his school materials into the new trunk his parents had gotten for him. There was a knock on his bedroom door as he was loading in the last of his books. He looked up to see Anna walking through doorway.
"Hey, sis," he welcomed her warmly.
"Hi," she responded solemnly.
"What's wrong, Belle?" Cain wrapped his arm around his little sister's shoulder as she came to sit next to him on the bed.
"You're leaving today." Anna sniffed quietly.
Cain nodded and readjusted himself so he was facing Anna. He rested his hands on her shoulders and said, "Annabelle, I promise that I'll send you letters all the time. I'm sure Mom and Dad will help you read them until you get better at reading them on your own."
"But I'm gonna miss you, bubby." She threw her arms around him and wiped her face against his shoulder. Cain rubbed her back soothingly.
"I'll miss you too, sis."
Just then, Mitchell called for his children to come downstairs. It was nearly time to take Cain to the train station, and there was still breakfast to eat. Anna let out a great sniff and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She refused to let go of Cain's hand until they were seated at the table, even then, she chose the seat directly beside her brother.
"So, Cain," Louise started, "Are you excited?"
"Yeah," he nodded vigorously. "But I'm also anxious."
"That's to be expected, kiddo." Mitchell speared a link of sausage and brought it to his mouth.
"Dad, what if I don't get put into one of the Houses?" Cain nervously asked.
"Son, everything will be fine. Professor Longbottom was here, personally, to tell you that it was not a mistake that you'd received the acceptance letter."
"But what if-"
"Like your father said," Louise interrupted, "Everything will be fine, dear."
Cain looked at his plate, piled with a short stack of pancakes, some sausages, eggs, along with a few pieces of bacon. He decided that he'd better eat something before the train ride to Hogwarts and dug in.
After breakfast, Mitchell and Cain hauled Cain's trunk down the stairs and out to stuff it into the trunk of the family's blue Volkswagen Polo. They fought to make it fit before calling their family to pile into the car. Anna sat in the middle of the back seat so she could be next to her brother, while Mitchell was in the driver's seat and Louise in the front passenger. Mercury, in his cage, sat on the other side of Anna.
Cain used the car ride to talk to Anna a bit more before he would have to leave. He had absolutely no idea how the holiday vacations worked in England, so he told her that he would be home for the holidays and that he would write to her as often as he could.
Cain looked up as the car came to stop in front of King's Cross Station. He felt his stomach twist into knots as he stared at the front of the station. Mitchell and Louise stepped out of that car and went around to the trunk. Cain and Anna stayed inside until Mitchell rapped his knuckles against Cain's window and looked at him expectantly.
"What platform did you say?" Mitchell asked as they wheeled Cain's heavy trunk into the station on a trolley.
"Uhm, nine and three-quarters." Cain looked around at the large black numbers on white plaques above each platform. He saw a large number 9 and then, the next one down, a large number 10. Nothing in between but a ticket barrier.
"Are you sure?"
Cain was about to answer when he saw a familiar sandy blond head and felt a wave of relief. He called the boy's name and watched as he whipped his head around. Sebastian waved the Tenebris family over.
"I am so glad I saw you," Cain admitted breathlessly. "I have no idea where to go."
"Well, we need to go through the barrier to get onto the platform," Sebastian told him gesturing to a very solid-looking brick wall as though it was completely normal.
"Uh- um- you want me to do what now?"
Sebastian laughed and gestured to Cain's parents. "Er- but your family will have to say their goodbyes out here, I'm afraid. Muggles can't pass through to the platform."
"What?" Cain asked in disbelief.
"Sorry, mate, that's just how it was made," Sebastian told them apologetically. "Only witches and wizards can get through."
Cain looked sadly back to his family. He glanced at the caged in clock hanging on the wall: 11:00. He only had thirty minutes before he had to get onto the train.
"I'll be over here-" he pointed back to Benjamin who was holding the hand of a man who looked like a bigger version of Sebastian "-when you're ready to go through. We'll go through together."
Cain nodded and turned to say his goodbyes to his parents and sister. Anna threw her arms around Cain and squeezed him for all she was worth. "I'm gonna miss you, bubby!" she cried.
"I'm gonna miss you too, Annabelle," he told her. He kissed the top of her head.
Louise had tears in her eyes as she embraced her son."I love you, baby boy," she whispered in Cain's ear.
"Love you too, Mom."
Mitchell slapped a hand onto Cain's shoulder before yanking him into a rough bear hug. "Be good, son. I love you."
"I will. Don't worry," Cain laughed. "Love you too, Dad."
"I'll send you letters all the time, I promise."
Cain said goodbye and walked over to Sebastian.
"I'm Alan Kripke, Sebastian's father," the tall blond man Cain had seen with Benjamin introduced himself. "I hear you're looking to get onto the platform?"
"Uhm, yes, sir."
"Well, why don't Ben and Seb go through first," Mr. Kripke suggested. "Then you and I will go together."
"Is that alright with you?" Sebastian asked Cain. He nodded and gestured for Sebastian and Benjamin to go ahead.
Cain watched closely as Benjamin stood between Sebastian and his trolley. Sebastian said something to his brother just before they broke into a trot, heading directly toward the brick wall between Platforms 9 and 10. He made sure not to even blink, but they seemingly vanished into thin air just before crashing into the barrier.
"Did you watch?" Mr. Kripke asked. Cain nodded uncertainly. "Well, let's hop to it then."
Cain looked back to wave a final goodbye to his family before allowing Mr. Kripke to put a hand onto Cain's shoulder and, furiously hoping that Mercury would be fine sitting atop Cain's trunk, breaking into a trot the way Sebastian had. Cain clenched his jaw as they neared the barrier. Mere inches away, Cain squeezed his eyes closed. Seconds later, Mr. Kripke halted Cain by pulling back on his shoulder.
"I thought we gonna crash into that," Cain huffed as he came to a complete stop.
Mr. Kripke laughed and called his sons over to say goodbye to Sebastian. Cain stood next to them awkwardly as he looked at the large crowd of people all milling about. There were cats twisting about people's ankles and owls that seemed to be hooted to each other through their cages. There were parents hugging their children goodbye and sending them toward the train.
"Alright, Cain," said Sebastian, "It's time to board the train."
Cain nodded and took a deep breath through his nose and said goodbye to Benjamin and Mr. Kripke before following Sebastian to the train. Sebastian and Cain hauled their trunks into the very last train car and got comfortable in their seats.
"Are you nervous?" Sebastian asked.
"How could you tell?" Cain retorted sarcastically.
"Oh, I don't know," Sebastian responded with some sarcasm of his own. "Just the way you're fidgeting. Looking around like you're expecting something to explode."
"Oh, hush." Cain laughed and rubbed his hands over his face.
Cain was still completely out of his mind with anxiety. He was terrified that as soon as he stepped into the school and they would just laugh and send him home. He felt like he was going to be sick.
"Hey, relax." Sebastian came to sit next to his new friend. He put his hand on Cain's shoulder. "You'll do fine. We'll be Sorted, we'll have a feast afterwards. Everything'll be alright."
Cain just nodded and tried to calm himself down. There was suddenly a sharp rap on the door making them jump.
"Mind if we sit in here?" asked a short girl with hair so dark, it looked almost purple in certain light. "Everywhere else is full."
Cain nodded and gestured for her to have a seat. There was a boy behind her, and Cain didn't know how he'd missed him at first. He was of average height for a boy their age, but his hair was black from the crown until about an inch from the tip, then it was a light blue.
The train jerked as it began to move. The whistle blew and the four children in the last compartment of the very last train car settled into their seats.
"I'm Ravie Ravenwood," the girl informed them as though they were just waiting on the edge of their seats for her to talk to talk to them. Cain looked to Sebastian and they rolled their eyes. Her friend looked at her incredulously.
"She's not always this snotty," Ravie Ravenwood's friend said with an Irish accent. "I'm Nick Telford." He held out his hand for the boys to shake.
"I'm Sebastian Kripke."
"Cain Tenebris."
"Your accent," said Nick. "Where are you from?"
"I'm American," Cain explained, "My family and I just moved to England about a month ago."
"Yeah?"
Cain nodded.
"Oh, like you're so special," Ravie snorted.
"Will you give it a rest, Rae?" Nick griped, "You're not going to make any friends with that attitude."
"Who says I need anymore friends, Nick?" she retorted.
"Well, you won't be keeping any either."
Ravie looked at Nick apologetically. They seemed to have a silent conversation while Cain and Sebastian watched.
"I'm sorry," Ravie told the boys after a moment. "I'm not usually like that. I'm just not too fond of leaving my home for any period of time."
Cain nodded his head in understanding. He looked over to Mercury who was watching him through the bars of his cage.
"You want outta there, Merc?" Cain asked him. The owl fluttered its wings in anticipation. Cain stood and pulled open the door of the cage and allowed the bird to flutter down onto the seat next to his owner. Cain had a sudden thought.
"Does anyone know if an owl can carry letters to different countries?"
The others just looked at him as though he'd gone mad.
"If you want to kill it, yeah," Ravie said sarcastically.
"Oh, no!" Cain hurriedly told them. "I was just curious because I've got cousins back home who're wizards and I'd been wanting to tell them but didn't know how."
"You're Muggle-born aren't you?" Nick asked with a chuckle. Cain felt his cheeks redden.
"What of it?" he demanded.
"Whoa, whoa," Nick waved his hands. "I didn't mean anything by it. It was just a question."
"Well, how would you normally send a letter to America?" Sebastian asked quickly before there could be an argument.
"I don't know," Cain admitted. "I've never done it before."
"Perhaps you could ask your parents about it."
Cain nodded and stroked Mercury's plumage. He looked fondly at the owl and thought about what the school was going to be like. He didn't feel so sick now, but he was still nervous about being there without being able to come back to his own bed at night. There was another knock at the door of their compartment and Sebastian jumped up to slide open the door.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" a plump old witch with a friendly smile asked. Nick and Ravie immediately jumped up to have a look at the cart. Cain looked to Sebastian who pulled a few silver coins from his pocket and looked up to see Cain already watching him with a confused look on his face as he looked at his own coins. Cain's parents had given him a handful of the wizard coin in a small drawstring satchel before he'd left them at the station, but he still wasn't completely sure how to use it. Sebastian chuckled and moved to show Cain how the coins were counted.
"There are twenty nine Knuts in a Sickle, and seventeen Sickles in a Galleon," Sebastian told Cain. "You'll only need perhaps eleven or so Sickles which it looks like you have there." Cain nodded and followed his friend to have a look at what he could buy.
Cain looked at all the strange sweets that he'd never seen before in his life. There were boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Pumpkin Pasties, and Chocolate Frogs as well as some other things he'd never heard of. He also spied some bottles of orange liquid-he later found out was pumpkin juice- that looked cool and refreshing. He decided that he'd take some of everything which added up to be eleven Sickles.
Curious about the Chocolate Frogs, Cain decided to try one of them first. As he opened the container, the frog tried to leap from the box and onto the window of the compartment. Cain snatched the sweet from the glass and turned to find Sebastian and Nick chuckling merrily at Cain's struggles. Cain ignored them and chomped the head away from the frog's squirming form. Looking down at the discarded box, Cain saw a sort of card poking out. He retrieved it as Ravie explained.
"Chocolate Frogs have collectible cards inside," she said. "Which did you get?"
Cain looked down at the card to see that the picture of the man with flaming red hair was smiling and waving happily up at him. He gasped and nearly dropped the card.
"What's wrong?" Sebastian asked, concerned.
"He moved!" Cain shouted.
"Well, of course he moved, mate. D'you expect him to sit perfectly still all day?"
Cain looked at them as if there were all insane. "Pictures aren't supposed to move."
"Oh, that's right," said Nick. "Muggle pictures don't move."
"And yours do?" asked Cain incredulously.
"Well, yeah."
"So, who is it?"
Cain shook off the fact that the man in the photograph was still moving about, and flipped the card to read the name of the wizard portrayed. "Ronald Bilius 'Ron' Weasley," Cain read allowed. "I've heard that name before."
"Have you read Hogwarts: A History?" Nick asked.
"That's it! That's where I saw that name," Cain exclaimed. "He, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord, is what the book says."
"Yeah, and afterwards the three of them received their own Chocolate Frogs cards," Nick informed them.
"I want my own Chocolate Frog card," Sebastian whined receiving a laugh from everyone in their compartment.
Throughout the rest of the train ride to Hogwarts, Cain and his companions talked and laughed about anything they could think of. Sooner than Cain thought it should, the sky outside became dark and the stars began to shine through where the clouds were thinnest. Cain's stomach lurched when a voice came over the entire train announcing that they'd be arriving soon.
Sebastian noticed his friend's sudden silence and pale face and came over to give him a drink of his pumpkin juice. "You gonna be okay?" he asked quietly.
Cain nodded and took another swallow of the juice. "We should change into our robes," Cain suggested. Ravie went to wait outside while the boys get dressed and they do the same for her once they're finished.
As the train screeched to halt, Cain gripped the edge of the seat and Mercury flapped his wings, waiting impatiently to be allowed outside again. He stroked his fingers along the bird's back in an attempt to soothe him. The doors opened and the students poured from the locomotive and out into the cool nighttime air. Mercury launched himself away from the train and flew up and over a high cliff.
Before he could lose him, Cain grabbed Sebastian's sleeve. "Thanks, man." Sebastian just looked confused. "For not letting me go through a full-on panic attack."
"What're friends for?" he winked and pulled Cain by the wrist off of the train.