3: The 7 O' Clock Express
Christopher stood before the entrance to the Gastello Hall Station at exactly 6:40 a.m. on the twelfth of August, taking a deep breath as he took in his surroundings. The station was perched on top of a hill at the very edge of the small town of Gastello Hall, which was very still and quiet, most likely still asleep. The building was hardly larger than any other train station Chris had seen in his life, the only difference being that its tracks led out on either side of the hill, suspended by stone archways.
He adjusted his grip on his trunk. His father looked at his watch anxiously. The hours were displayed on a little sign hanging in the glass doors in front of them. 8 a.m. – 3 a.m., yet Professor Melbourne had clearly instructed them to arrive before seven o'clock. Suddenly, a man arrived at the door and opened them politely.
"Your first year?" he asked without explanation. Chris took a second to comprehend this and gave a short "Oh," of understanding.
"Yeah… just turned thirteen…" Chris smiled weakly and walked with his father at one side, the kind man on the other. The man smiled back and stopped his stride suddenly beside a bathroom. Finding this hardly the time for him to be using the restroom, he turned to look impatiently to see an 'Out of Order' sign on the door.
"Right through here. Another wizard will assist you from there," said the man, gesturing towards the door. Chris wore a disbelieving look on his face, but bade his father farewell all the same and stepped through the door. Against the far wall was a man who looked like he was barely twenty years of age.
The bathroom around Christopher looked hardly out of order. In fact, every surface he could see was glinting with cleanliness. The man who was leaning against the wall didn't even look up from the newspaper he was reading. Instead, he rapped quickly on the door of the stall beside him, causing the one beside Christopher to open outwards, unlike other stall doors.
"Flush it," the man muttered, returning his full attention to the newspaper. Chris noticed that all of the pictures on the pages of the paper were moving. An important looking man in a suit gestured for calm as he spoke at a podium. Deciding not to test the man's patience, he walked into the stall and looked at the toilet. There was no water in the bowl, so the idea of the man rushing in to give him a swirly and shout, "Ha, we got you good, didn't we?" was gone. Chris took a deep breath, reached out slowly, and pushed the lever down slowly.
What happened next was quite strange. Instead of seeing water swirl down the sides of the toilet bowl, as he had expected, he felt the room start to spin. As it did, it seemed that little streaks of color rushed down the walls in a spiral pattern, as though covering the scene of the bathroom with that of a subway platform, which indeed was what he now stood amidst. Chris peered around at all of the people around him; nobody seemed surprised or in the least bit shocked by his sudden appearance. His weird looks did catch attention, so he hurried off to the train nearby, which looked like any other express train he had seen, much like the station.
Once he had pushed his way through the throng of magical families rushing this way and that, he had reached the threshold of the train, which presented another surprise. Instead of the typical train interior of several seats all crammed together against the walls, the inside of the train was much like an old steam train, and a quite spacious one at that. On either side of him were rows of compartments with sliding doors and blinds. Most of the ones he saw were full, up until he got to the very end of the section. Christopher stepped in and claimed the compartment, stuffing his luggage up on the rack above his seat, sitting beside the window, and setting Thade beside him.
A few minutes later, the door slid open and a thin, black boy fell in. His hair was done into dreadlocks that fell around his head in a fashion that reminded Chris of a mop. The boy looked up at Chris and grinned, holding out his hand as he stood up.
"Hey! I'm Scott. Scott Eston. You?" he asked as they shook hands. Chris returned a smile and attempted to flatten his hair as Scott put up his trunk.
"Christopher Wilde. Nice to meet you," Chris said, standing up to help his new acquaintance. They eventually got the trunk to stay and Scott turned to him with a slightly morbid expression on his face.
"Wilde…? Are you related to Astor Wilde?" he asked.
"Astor Wilde? Who? No, my parents are Muggles… well, I really only have my dad since my mom passed, but his name is Jason." Chris' smile faded when he mentioned his mother. Scott patted his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look.
"Sorry, man. Well, let's get off this depressing topic. Muggle-born, you say? I hear they're some of the best magical fellows around! Most of those pureblood snobs refuse to think so, though, but don't listen to them," Scott said, grinning as he popped a red jellybean into his mouth. He offered Christopher a handful of beans, which he gladly accepted.
"What kind are these?" he asked, eyeing an oddly colored bean that sat beside his middle finger. Scott smiled and wiped a lock of hair from his face.
"Bertie Botts! They're Every Flavored beans. And they mean it!" Scott said, pointing to the bean Chris was looking at. "Try that one and tell me if you're not convinced." Chris obliged, then attempted to open the window as he gagged on it.
"Putrid!" he gasped, trying his best not to retch.
"Pus flavored. Coincidentally, that's the first flavor I ever got, too. I know to avoid them. Some of the gross flavors actually appeal to my brother though. He stockpiles toenail flavored ones." Scott laughed as Chris' vomit control was set back even further.
"That's disgusting!" Chris replied, sniffing every bean before putting them in his mouth.
"That's my brother. His name is Gregory. Avoid him if you can, but he is useful sometimes… he's a third year now. He's in Canis." Scott leaned back in his seat comfortably.
The door slid open again and a girl popped her head into the compartment. Her long, mahogany hair fell over her face, appearing very messy. She looked like she had just checked every compartment in the train and ran a lap or two around it. The girl's hazel eyes looked exasperated and tired as they darted from Chris to Scott.
"Do you mind if I sit in here?" she asked, shooting Chris a frustrated glance. He shrugged.
"Go ahead. The more the merrier." He nodded at Scott, who grinned and helped her with her trunk. The girl plopped down beside Chris and leaned back against the wall, letting out a thankful sigh. Chris shot Scott a silent stare, getting a simple shrug in return.
"I should introduce myself. I'm Kayla Gaines!" she held out her hand and shook with Chris and Scott, who smiled in return.
"I'm Scott Eston," said Scott, offering her some of his beans. She took three and turned to Chris, who noticed that Scott had given her a pus-flavored bean, most likely on purpose. He shot the boy the slightest of glances, gaining a 'shh!' signal and a grin.
"Christopher Wilde," he said. Kayla's face turned just as dark as Scott's had been only moments before now.
"He isn't," said Scott, "he's a Muggle-born!"
"Oh, good…" Kayla said, obviously relieved.
"What's the big deal with this Astor guy?" Chris asked, looking from Scott to Kayla.
"You don't know?" Kayla asked.
"Hello? Muggle-born?" Chris asked impatiently.
"Oh yeah… sorry. Astor Wilde… well, he was one of the Dark Wizards of the 70s… he was a really powerful wizard, but something made him snap, and well… he went and killed 300 people in one go. He's still on the run to this day…" Kayla bit her lip after she finished. Scott silently chewed a bean and looked at the caged owl, which was glaring back at him. There was a sudden jerk as the train began to move forward.
"Oh… well, yeah, that would explain things…" Chris muttered. The compartment door flew open for the third time that day, and Chris swore under his breath as a bang erupted. Confetti and paper shot everywhere, causing Thade to screech angrily.
"Hello, all!" said a voice from behind the blizzard of color. Two boys stood beyond the threshold, one holding a large party popper that was now empty. The other boy looked exactly like the first, and he was blowing a party horn that emitted a different animal noise every time he blew into it.
"Ready to celebrate?" asked the party-popper wielding boy, leaping into the room ecstatically. His twin followed suit and they sat, in unison, on either side of Scott.
"Where are your trunks?" Chris asked.
"Oh, damn…" the other twin muttered, "I knew we forgot something. I'll get them." He dashed out of the compartment and disappeared down the corridor.
"Who are you two?" Scott asked. The remaining twin grinned and shook his head wildly. His hair, which was dyed a bright green color, flew around madly.
"We're the Addelow Twins!" he said proudly, "I'm Dustin, and that's Martin."
"Hello," Martin said, hauling the two trunks into the room by himself. Dustin helped his brother store the luggage in the overhead rack and sat back down in unison, again. The other twin's hair was dyed a blazing red.
"I'm Christopher Wilde. And no, I'm not related to Astor Wilde," he added before they could interject.
"Wouldn't think so," Martin replied. "I don't believe he'd have time to do any 'mating' while he was escaping the law. Do you Dustin?"
"I don't, Martin," Dustin replied, immediately after Martin had finished his sentence.
"These two looked like I had just killed someone in front of them when I told them my name," Chris said, gesturing to the other two passengers.
"Well, bearing a name like Wilde, you might as well have," said Dustin. Martin nodded.
"Anyhow, I'm Kayla Gaines. It's, er… nice… to meet you," Kayla said, shaking hands with the twins. They smiled and shook hands with both of Scott's.
"I'm Scott Eston…" he muttered, stifling a chuckle. The twins sat back and began to juggle various objects between each other over Scott's head.
"So, we all first years here?" Martin asked, catching an orange rubber ball as he did.
"Yeah," Chris answered, watching this feat and becoming more amused the more annoyed Scott became.
"So Chris! What do you think of everything so far?" Kayla asked.
"What?" he asked, peeling his eyes off of the twins for a moment.
"You're a Muggle-born, right?" Kayla asked. The twins stopped their little stunt, much to Scott's relief, to watch the conversation. "I mean, how do you like all of the magic?"
"Oh… it's great… this Melbourne guy came to my house on my birthday and showed me all of this stuff…" said Chris, yawning sleepily. He had woken up very early to get to Gastello Hall, which was an hour or so from his home, on time.
"Oh, my brother says that Melbourne's the coolest teacher he's ever met! I can't wait to get to Charms!" Scott said excitedly. The twins smiled and began their juggling again, much to Scott's dismay. In fact, Chris thought he looked like he was about to cry.
"You're a Muggy?" Dustin asked.
"We don't discriminate," Martin continued.
"Yeah, we think they're better than pureblood wizards," said Dustin.
"In fact, we're half bloods ourselves," Martin said.
"Our mom's a Muggle. She was real excited when she found out our dad was a wizard. Which, coincidentally, was only three years ago," Dustin said.
"That's when we discovered our magic," Martin went on.
"Our dad came clean and our mom just flipped," said Dustin.
"Then he told her all about magic and Ascullis and stuff," said Martin.
"She was happy, then, and she couldn't wait to get us ready," said Dustin.
"Dad taught us about all of this fun magic stuff," Martin said.
"So, blame him if we annoy the living hell out of you!" Dustin finished, bouncing one of the balls of Scott's dreadlock-covered head.
"Wow, that's a neat story," Chris said, laughing as Scott snatched their juggling objects out of the air and yelled at them. Dustin sighed and Martin said, "Aw, you're no fun Scotty…"
"I s'pose," Dustin said happily. "Oh, did I forget to mention? The both of us are Metamorphmagi!"
"Really?" Kayla asked, looking really impressed.
"Yeah!" Martin said excitedly. "Only, we can't do it constantly when we're tired like we are now. So, you'll have to wait another hour or so to see us go at it. I know! We'll represent our house!"
"Good idea!" Dustin replied, high-fiving his twin.
"What's a Metamorphmagi?" Chris asked, looking at the twins curiously.
"We can change our appearance at will!" said Martin.
"Yeah. So, if you ever see two old ladies bickering at any time where there shouldn't be…" said Dustin, trailing off. The compartment was filled with laughter, and this continued for a long while, until finally, the sky was dark and Chris could see a vague shimmer in the distance through the window. He realized that it was moonlight reflected off the water. A PA system clicked on suddenly, causing the twins to look up from their harassing of Scott.
"Attention students. We are nearing the lake, and we would like to suggest that you secure any belongings you would like to keep in its place. Oh, you should all buckle up too, just in case."
Chris looked up at the ceiling in puzzlement. Scott pulled a seatbelt from beneath Martin, gaining a mocking look and a "Not on the first date, Scotty!" He buckled himself in, as did the twins and Kayla. Dustin reached over and fastened Thade, who was squawking nervously, into the seat.
"Thrill seeker, eh?" he asked Chris, looking at him in admiration. "You know what, why not?" Dustin threw his own buckle off and looked at Martin. "Here's looking at you, mate!"
"What's going on?" Christopher asked, looking at Dustin. Martin undid his safety belt as well.
"Oh, you don't know?" Martin asked.
"This should be fun, then!" said Dustin, shooting his twin a grin.
"What?" Chris asked anxiously.
"You'll see. Just sit." Martin continued to stare at Chris with that grin, occasionally shooting excited glances at his brother. Suddenly, Chris knew exactly what the two were talking about. Kayla shut her eyes and began to mutter something under her breath, and Scott tapped the armrests of his seat anxiously. He saw that there was something rising up the side of the window. It was darker than the sky was, and it was all one color: black. Then, something darted across the window, causing Chris to swear loudly. The twins chuckled.
"Well if you're scared of that…" Dustin said, shooting Martin a glance.
"What?" Chris asked.
"Sit. Wait," said Martin. Chris realized what was rising up the windows. They were plowing through the water, down towards the lakebed. He began to shake, but then he thought of something.
"If we're just going through water, why do we need to buckle up…?" Chris asked. The twins exchanged glances again.
"Now you're catching on," said Dustin. Suddenly, the train began to pick up speed. "Hold on tight, Chrissy darling!" Faster and faster… it was like a roller coaster… suddenly there was a sharp turn, then they began to slow down again and rise. There was a distantly familiar clicking noise as they rose… it was a roller coaster. They reached the apex of the rise, the clicking stopped, and down they plunged. Chris felt the lifting sensation he got on all steep coaster drops, and just as they hit the bottom, it went into a loop. Chris hit his head on the luggage rack. The twins collided in midair and fell back onto Scott, who gave a sharp gasp of pain.
There was another slow ascension. Chris was panting heavily, yet he was excited and heavily awaiting the next drop. The three who had no buckles seated themselves again. At the top of this rise, however, there was no immediate drop. They had stopped moving. The PA system clicked on again.
"Are you all prepared?" it asked. A resounding yell of approval erupted from all down the train. "Hold on tight or not at all!' The train began to move again completing the arch over. Chris shot an excited grin at the twins, who returned it happily. The drop was so steep that it was actually straight down. Chris fell straight forward into Scott and the twins, who all grunted heavily. They hit the bottom of the drop and went straight into so many quick loops and corkscrews and they were going so fast, the three wizards actually floated in midair for several moments, doing several maneuvers that reminded Christopher of skydivers, and then the train went to a complete and sudden stop. The compartment door crashed open and Chris, along with the twins, was actually bowled out of the compartment and into the wall of the one across the corridor. Once he got a second to look around, he saw that a few other students were in the hall, but they hadn't hit the walls.
"Whoo hoo!" Chris yelled excitedly. The twins and him roared loudly in approval. The door to the compartment Chris was leaning against slid open and he fell over onto his back, staring straight up at the person who had opened it. A girl with long, flowing, silvery hair was staring straight down at him. Her eyes were a shimmering green color that reminded him of emeralds. "Hey…" he said quietly, holding out a hand in greeting. She grabbed it and pulled him up, shaking it once he was on his own supporting feet.
"Hi," she said, "I'm Amelia. Who are you three?"
"I'm Christopher Wilde… no relation to Astor Wilde," he added as her face began to shift, "and this is Dustin, and that's his twin brother Martin."
"Hello!" said Dustin, waving.
"How do you do?" asked Martin, leaning on Christopher's shoulder. Dustin tapped him on the shoulder, winked at him, and the two of them went back to their compartment.
"So, you're a thrill seeker?" she asked, looking at the floor where he had sat only moments before. He felt like making himself sound brave, so he conveniently forgot the part where he hadn't even known what was going to happen.
"Well, I figured I could stand to forget a few years of my life, so I said 'Why not?'" Chris smiled as Amelia giggled at his joke.
"That's funny," she said.
"Ah, those two are funnier than I am," he said, gesturing to the twins.
"Well, you're lucky that that's not all that matters, aren't you?" she asked with a smile. Before he could answer, she turned to her friends and politely shut the door.
"Yeah…" he muttered to himself, returning to his own compartment.
"So?" asked Dustin, looking at Chris eagerly. He shrugged in response.
"Aw, come on! What'd she say?" asked Martin.
"Not a lot… she just thought I was funny. Scott, you've been quiet," said Chris, quickly changing the subject.
"You haven't exactly been on Eston-friendly conversation," he replied, shrugging casually.
"We should put on our robes and get ready to head to the castle," said Kayla, standing up to get into her trunk. The others followed her and in moments they had pulled on their wizard attire and were ready to go. Chris pulled his trunk down from the rack and slid the door open, peering up and down the corridor. People were starting to shuffle down it noisily, making the hallway crowded and difficult to approach.
"Alright, we meet up outside then?" Scott asked, pulling his trunk down as well. "Don't forget your owl, Chris!" Scott threw the cage to Chris, who had completely forgotten about his companion in all of the excitement. It glared at him angrily, feeling neglected.
"Sorry, Thade…" he said, peering into the yellow eyes of the falcon/owl/thing. It clicked its beak reproachfully. Chris sighed.
"He'll get over it," Dustin said.
"Give 'im flowers!" said Martin.
"Always worked for our dad," continued Dustin.
"But then again, mom's a person, not a trippy eagowl," said Martin.
"True enough, my brother," said Dustin.
"Eagowl?" asked Chris.
"Well, it's an owl, but it looks like an eagle or something. I suppose you could use owlcon if you'd like, as well," explained Martin, smiling happily.
"That makes sense, thanks. Melbourne gave him to me, you know." Chris looked out the compartment door and saw the crowd thinning, so he seized his chance and broke out into the throng of exiting teenagers. Some were still really off-balance from the final leg of the journey. One older student behind him vomited loudly, firing off directly onto the shoes of a tall girl who was chatting with her friend as she walked. There was a scream and Chris advised his friends to duck and run as the hallway erupted with the crashing sounds of whatever the girl could get her hands on.