Jean reluctantly settled with the idea that they were now committed to where ever this train was headed. She once again leaned down. "Lily." She paused. "What exactly just happened?"
Lily shrugged her shoulders. "Loads of stuff."
Jean knew it was likely not going to understand much more, but at this moment her only option for understanding the situation was through the little girl who seemed relatively unfazed. "Have you ever seen anything like that before?"
"Of course, silly. It's just magic."
It was an answer that would provide little help. Jean tried to remain patient and calm as to not upset the little girl. "Ok, well do you know what that man wanted? The man with the stick?"
Lily scrunched up her nose considering the question, "You mean his wand?"
Jean stumbled back for a moment with the motion of the train but pressed on. "Yes, the man with the…wand. Why was he coming after us?"
"He wanted to take you away."
Jean was confused even more by this statement. "Why did he want to take me away? How do you know that?"
Lily shrugged her shoulders again. "Because it's what they always do."
Trying not to sound alarmed, Jean continued. "Who are 'they'?"
Lily looked up the ceiling considering her unsure answer, "The angry men."
Well that was a dead-end response. "Why?"
Lily began to pout. "I don't know."
Realizing that this would probably be the most she would be able to find out from the child, Jean sighed and ushered Lily towards the compartments. Once again though Lily took control. Dragging her down the aisle, looking in each compartment quickly before moving on to the next until she found the one she was looking for and threw open the doors. Inside were three boys, who all looked startled at first until the raven-haired boy spoke. "What are you doing here, Lily? You aren't old enough to go to Hogwarts yet. Mum told you that on the way over."
Lily was not put off by this at all. Instead she tugged Jean into the compartment with their clasped hands to take a seat.
"She is." Lily said for the first time drawing the attention of the boys to Jean.
All three boys looked confused until one dropped his jaw. "Bloody hell, are you Hermione Granger?" The other two boys suddenly leapt forward to get a better look at her while Lily nodded. Jean's cheeks burned a little.
"Watch your language." She gently prodded them to return to their seats. "Now I am sorry to disappoint you all, but I am not Hermione Granger. My name is Jean. You mentioned Hogwarts. Is that where this train is headed? How far outside of London is that?"
The boy with shaggy red hair spoke, "Don't you know? I mean we have never been there before but you have…"
"I can assure you I have not. Now-"
"No, but you have. You're Hermione Granger! Hang on," the raven-haired boy reached for his trunk and began to rummage through it.
It was beginning to make Jean very uncomfortable to be questioned by children over her identity. "Alright well where are the adults? Are any of your parents nearby?" They all shook their heads. "Well who is in charge of this train?"
The children looked around at each other, the boy who "recognized" her shrugged his shoulders. He had short curly frizzy dark hair with a reddish tinge in the light that stood out against his mocha complexion. The boy with shaggy red hair spoke again. "Well I mean there is the trolley lady. And then the prefects. But no adults really."
"Do you mean to tell me this is a train full of just children and a trolley lady?"
The children nodded. Suddenly, the raven-haired boy jumped up pulling a small card out from his trunk. Triumphantly he handed it over to Jean.
She read the card, "Hermione Jean Granger: Hermione Granger was notable for her role alongside Harry Potter in the downfall of Lord Voldemort. Also, for eradicating pro-pureblood laws at the Ministry of Magic and campaigning for the rights of non-human beings such as house-elves. She was widely considered to be the 'brightest witch of her age'. She has not been seen publicly since the Wizarding Ball of 2005, which commemorated the seven years since the end of the war."
She flipped the card over and was surprised to see a likeness to herself. It was even coincidental that the middle name matched her own given name. She could understand the confusion her presence may have caused the children.
"While I will admit to some similarities, I can promise you I am not this woman. My name is Jean Wilkinson. Besides, this card appears to be about some character from some imaginary circumstance. I have seen trading cards like this. They are not about real people or animals." She looked it over again before grumbling under her breath, "Although I can't say I have seen one like this before." She considered its odd shape and quality of the image that seemed to move before handing it back to the boy. "Now, what are your names?"
One boy stuck his hand out, "Fred Weasley, the second, ma'am." She shook his hand and then the shaggy red-haired boy informed her that he was Louis Weasley.
"So, are you brothers?"
Fred pulled an arm around Louis, "No, but he wishes, wouldn't have to be stuck with the girls all time then right?"
Louis shoved him back. "You have a sister too."
Fred scoffed, "Yeah, but Roxanne doesn't count. She could beat your arse in Quidditch any day."
"You aren't even old enough to play!"
"Doesn't matter, it's in the blood." Fred puffed out his chest a bit with emphasis.
While they shoved each other back and forth, the third boy stepped forward. Still watching with suspicion as well as intrigue. "James, I'm Lily's brother. But we are all cousins."
Looking at his face, Jean could see the resemblance. He bore more familiarity to his sister than the other black-haired boy she had seen earlier at the platform, even though the boys shared the same messy dark hair. She nodded towards him and looked back at Lily, who was positively beaming.
"Right…well… I think I will go find this trolley lady." Jean stepped out of the compartment and into the aisle. After a moment of recollecting herself, she dug through her purse and pulled out her cell phone, only to find that it had no service and the battery was quickly draining. How odd, she thought to herself before stuffing it back into her bag. Heading towards the front of the train, it did not take her long to find the trolley lady.
"Um…madam?"
The woman turned towards with a gentle expression. "Yes, dear? Would you like something from the trolley?"
Jean managed a smile, "No, I was wondering if there was any way to get off the train?"
The woman looked confused by the request. "Off the train?"
"Yes, well you see I am not supposed to be on this train. I need to get back to London or find a transfer that can take me to Oxford another way."
"No. No one gets off the train until we arrive at Hogwarts."
Jean sighed, "Alright, and when do you expect that to be?"
"Not for another few hours. Don't worry we will be there in plenty of time for the feast." The trolley lady appeared to believe that answer would settle it as she continued to push the trolley to the next compartment and began serving the children inside. "Hello dears! Would you like anything from the trolley?" A couple of the children gave her some odd bronze and silver coins in exchange for pastries and chocolates.
Jean twisted her hands, "Um…madam?"
The trolley lady turned back to her, "Yes dear, would you like anything from the trolley?"
Jean was perplexed by this woman's behavior. "No. I'm sorry, but what feast? How far away is Hogwarts? Also, are there any other adults on the train?"
"The Start of Term feast." She paused for a moment. "I am not sure of the exact distance." As she pushed the trolley to the next compartment. "Hello dears! Would you like anything from the trolley?"
Jean began to feel a bit like she was going mad. "Start of term? Wait is that why there only children on this train? Are they all going to school?"
"Why yes, of course, it is a school."
"Ok, and what time do you expect this train to arrive at the school?"
"The same time it always does," the woman said as she handed out treats to the students inside.
Jean huffed and whirled around to head back to compartment. But when she found the compartment that she believed she left them in, no one was around. A small part of her began to panic. Lily should be with her brother, but Jean felt as though she was responsible for the child now.
A voice behind her startled her briefly. As she turned she saw a boy with shockingly pale blue hair. He gave her small smile. "Hello. Can I help you?"
"Yes." She paused, what was her most pressing need? To get off the train? To find out the destination? To find her way home? To find out what in the world was going on? In the end, she settled on a different question. "I need to find a little girl. Lily is her name. I was with her a moment ago. But I had to go find the trolley lady to find out a way home, and in the mean time I appear to have lost her. She is, she is this tall," she gestured quickly with her hands, "with red hair. She's young…" She trailed off because while she had been rambling she also realized she knew very little else about the girl. "She has a brother! James. He is here too."
The boy laughed. "I know exactly who you are talking about. They should be back in a minute. I believe she went to visit with her cousin while her brother and the others changed into their school robes. You must be… Jean?" He said gauging her reaction with a sad sort of smile.
She nodded. "Yes." One problem solved. "Do you know how quickly I would be able to return to London?"
He looked at her for a moment before responding. "I'm not sure honestly. We should arrive around 4, but I don't know that the train leaves again for some time."
"Well perhaps I could take a taxi somewhere else?"
The boy shyly smiled about a secret he kept to himself. "There aren't many taxis around there."
It must really be in the country, she thought to herself. "So where exactly is Hogwarts?"
"Scotland."
"Scotland?! That is much farther than I had hoped to go. Is it closer to Edinburgh or Glasgow?"
"I'm going to guess neither. There isn't much else around where we are going. And it's north of those cities. If you want to wait here, I'll let Lily know you are looking for her."
Jean went inside and sat in the compartment. Further north? It was a 5-hour train ride. That should take her just about the Scotland border. It didn't make any sense. But then again, this could all be ruse to some degree. She had no idea where it was going and it could be very well that the boy had lied to her or been mistaken. She paused. He did not seem to be the type. And something about him made her trust him. After anxiously fidgeting for a moment, she pulled out her book from earlier and began to read.
Not long after, the small red-haired girl burst back into the compartment dragging another student with her clasped hand. Jean smiled at them both as she looked up from her book. "I see you tend to drag many people around this way."
Lily smiled. "This is my cousin. Molly."
Molly's wavy ginger hair was cut into a bob that framed her face. She reached up and adjusted her glasses before extending her hand towards Jean. But before she had the chance to speak, another girl popped her head into the compartment.
She was a thin girl with shining smile. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a messy braid. "Is this her?" her eyes sparkled.
Molly narrowed her eyes towards the new arriver. "Yes, it would seem so. Calm down, will you?"
The new girl paused and watched Molly's face. "You look like your father when you say things like that, you know that?" Molly rolled eyes at her. "I'm Dominique. And it is an honor to meet you." Jean blushed. It was still strange the way these children were treating her. She shook the hands of both girls.
"Honestly, I'm really just Jean. There is no reason to meet me. You are too kind." She did not miss the look exchanged between the two older girls after she spoke.
A moment of awkward silence hung in the air that was apparent to all except Lily who kept fliting her eyes excitedly around the compartment.
"Would you girls like to sit down?" Jean asked. They both nodded enthusiastically before joining her in the compartment. As they did, Jean turned towards Lily, "So how many more cousins do you have exactly? Because this compartment may be filled up rather quickly."
Lily smiled bashfully.
Dominique was the one to speak up though. "We only have one other family member on this train you haven't met. My sister, Victoire. She is somewhere around here. Teddy said he would send her this way when he got the chance. After the prefects' meeting."
After a few more awkward pauses, the conversation picked up and the girls told her about their houses and the years they were entering in school. It was not like any school that Jean had ever heard of, but she listened with rapt attention as they all animatedly described it to her. As the boys returned, they joined into too.
"Well it all sounds rather magical," Jean said with a short laugh.
"Well it is." Molly said sweetly.
"Yes, I'm sure it's very lovely."
The children around her exchanged looks. "It's the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," said James proudly.
Becoming somewhat uncomfortable with their seriousness about magic and the like, Jean shifted in her seat. Her anxiety must have built up inside her as she felt and uncomfortable squeezing sensation in her chest. "Yes well, that sounds… great." They continued to stare at her.
Suddenly, Dominique pulled out a stick and looked expectantly at Jean. Correction, wand. After a moment, she looked around at the others before moving her wand in a flourish. "Wingardium leviosa!" Jean watched as the trunk above her on the ranks wiggled slightly before lifting into the air for a float.
Her eyes widened. "Well, um, yes that is quite a magical trick, but I'm sure that-"
But before she could supply an alternative explanation, Dominique pulled out a match, flicked her wand again and quickly mumbled something under her breath. Jean watched as it transformed into a needle.
She ran through her mind the likelihood of it being a trick. It could have been rigged beforehand. But she thought back to what happened at the train platform and the way they described their school. What if it wasn't myths and legends they were telling her, but the truth?
Molly leaned over and whispered to Dominique, "I don't think you should have done that." But Dominique just waved her off. The boys watched in wonder as well.
The compartment door suddenly opened to a tall blonde girl that moved with grace not usually seen in a teenager. "Hi, sorry it took a while to get out of that meeting. It is so nice to meet you. I'm Victoire." She smiled at Jean, before she realized there was something off. "I'm sorry, but what did I miss?" She ventured a glance at the others in the compartment for some sort of clue.
Behind her the boy with blue hair from earlier appeared, it was a moment before his hair flashed from blue to yellow to pink and back to blue. It may have been just enough to startle Jean, she stood up. "I think I need some air." She said as she left the compartment. Her heart pounded in her chest, her mind reeled, and her vision blurred.
"That could have gone better." James said before Louis and Dominique smacked him on the back of the head.