The O'Shea's let Faith look around in silent amazement for a moment. They weren't ready to get on the train until the rest of the family came to see Rowan and Riley off. Soon enough, the rest of the bunch came through the wall.
"Riley, this is Faith," Ana said to the red haired first year who was first through the barrier with her mother. "She'll be a first year as well."
"Hi there, I'm Riley!" the girl waved.
"Faith, this is our oldest daughter, Liadan, and our granddaughters Riley and Quinn," Ana pointed out. The tall red haired woman named Liadan held a small toddler, also sprouting a red top of her own.
"Lovely to meet you, Faith," Liadan responded. Her accent was not as strong as her parents. Another pair came through the barrier, this time a man and a young boy.
"That's my brother, Aidan. He's only seven," Riley said. "And my dad, obviously." The man waved. Again more redheads burst through the barrier and onto platform nine and three quarters.
"Ah, last but not least, Conor's here!" Cian said, clapping his hands together as a man and two young boys appeared.
"Well we had to see our auntie and cousin aboard the Hogwart's Express, didn't we?" Conor said, smiling. "Marie couldn't make it... she had to work. Some strange things happen at Saint Mungo's- y'never know when she'll get pulled into work! Who's this?" He smiled happily at the brunette child standing amongst his family.
"This is Faith," Ana said. "Another first year. We're helping her onto the train and such." Faith nodded.
"Good to meet you, Faith," Conor said. "I'm afraid Logan won't be joining you all for another two years, and Brady, well, he's still got a while." He had a hand on each of his son's shoulders. One boy was about nine years old while the other was still small- maybe five.
Faith nodded, then watched the family as they said their goodbyes to the two girls that would be heading to school. It took a good chunk of time for everybody to hug each girl and say their goodbyes. Soon enough, however, Faith was walking by their sides, making their way down the platform and toward the train. Older Hogwarts students were hanging about, watching the younger crowd as they headed on board and helping them with their luggage.
Rowan and Riley gave their final hugs and goodbyes and hopped onto the train, Faith closely behind.
"Have a great year, girls! Nice meeting you, Faith!" Ana called out, Cian waved close behind.
"We love you, Riley! Be safe!" Liadan called out to her daughter, a small tear escaping her eye at the sight of her oldest child boarding the train for the first time. "See ya soon, sis!" she called out again, this time to Rowan. Rowan waved and was first to turn away and head down the aisle of the train.
The aisle may have been narrow, but there were large compartments on either side that had plenty of room for students to hang out during the journey to school. There were still a lot of compartments to choose from by the time the three girls boarded. They picked an empty one facing the platform so they could wave at their family again. Faith sat down on the empty bench and placed her rat beneath her.
"What's it like having a big family like that?" Faith asked, also peering out the window at the redheads who were still waving viciously. Rowan turned back toward Faith and sat down; her owl hooted softly at her feet.
"Well," she started. "We're not always together. Usually it's just me, mum, and dad. When I was born, Liadan was already out of the house and married, and Conor was already in his fifth year. I was an only child by the time I was two."
"That must be nice," Riley chimed in, also sitting down on one of the benches. "You don't have to listen to a hyperactive little brother and a little sister throwing temper tantrums all the time!" Rowan rolled her eyes.
"You like it," she responded with a smile. Riley smirked back. Rowan then turned back to Faith. "How about you? What was it like living in an orphanage? I bet that sucked with a bunch of other kids running around all the time."
"I hated it," Faith said bitterly. She thought of the other children at the orphanage; thinking of how nobody ever wanted her to play with them or talk to them. Faith was glad to be rid of them. She was glad to be among others like her who actually want to be in her company. It was obvious the girl needed some serious help in the social skills department.
"I don't blame you," Riley said, her eyes widening. She then looked back at Rowan. "Can you imagine having like... a hundred siblings running around the house all day?"
"I highly doubt there were that many," Rowan said, shaking her head. Faith smirked, thinking, 'It sure felt like it!'.
"Anyway, Faith," Rowan started. "What house do you want to be sorted into? Do you know the houses?"
"No," Faith replied. "I don't know."
"What do you know about magic?" Riley asked. Faith tilted her head, trying to think.
"Not much," she said quietly. "I remember things floating. Dishes cleaning themselves. I remember the wands and the moving pictures and the walking toys. I was too young for my dad to teach me anything about Hogwarts."
"Can I ask what happened to your parents?" Rowan said, also quiet, almost as if her parents were still around to scold her if they overheard.
"I don't really remember the details," Faith shrugged. "But, I remember my father leaving me with my mum. It was shortly after that, she dropped me at the orphanage. She didn't want me." The girl's tone was cold. She had accepted that her parents abandoned her and didn't much want to think anything of it. She wondered to herself, however, why her father, who had seemed so in love with her when she was little, would do such a thing.
"I'm sorry," Rowan said. It got quiet; a little too quiet.
"What did you say about houses?" Faith asked. It was a good silence breaker, but she was actually quite curious as well.
"Oh! There are four houses you can be sorted into at Hogwarts," Rowan started to explain. "They're sorted by personality, but I'm sure the Sorting Hat's song will explain it as it always does." The girl caught on to Faith's curious expression. "Oh, the Sorting Hat is placed on the first years' heads and he tells them what house they are to be sorted into!"
"Rowan's a Ravenclaw like my mum was!" Riley said excitedly. "I hope I'm a Ravenclaw too!"
"What're the others?" Faith asked.
"Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin," Rowan answered.
"Grampa was a Hufflepuff," Riley said. "And Gramma n' Uncle Conor were Gryffindors! Hey, isn't Harry Potter a Gryffindor?"
"He is!" Rowan responded. Faith knew that name. It was the name she heard at The Leaky Cauldron.
"Who's this Harry Potter I keep hearing about?" asked Faith. Riley seemed offended that she didn't know who Harry Potter was.
"He's the boy who lived," she said quiet and mysteriously.
"She won't know about the dark lord either, Ri," Rowan added in. "Long story short, there was a dark wizard. He went about killing loads of people with what's known as the killing curse." Faith listened intently. "He got himself a bunch of dark followers too- called Death Eaters."
"Death Eaters?" Faith said quietly.
"Yeah, nasty people they were, too," Rowan continued. "Anyway, like I said he used the killing curse to do his murdering. The only person ever known to survive the killing curse was Harry Potter. He's famous, really." She then sat up nice and tall. "I know him personally," she added in. "He's in my year, you see." Faith nodded.
"I'd like to meet him," Riley chimed in.
"Maybe," Rowan said. "But anyway, when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named- that's what we sometimes call the dark lord- tried to use the spell on Harry when he was a baby, it backfired. Harry lived while You-Know-Who- we call him that too- died."
"They don't know if he died for real," Riley said.
"What else would have happened?" Rowan retorted.
"There wasn't any evidence, they never found a body!"
"Whatever," Rowan said, half irritated at the bickering between her and her niece, half obviously loving it. "That's basically how the story goes. He hasn't been seen since that night."
"Cool," Faith said, turning to look out the window onto the platform. More and more people filled the platform and headed onto the train. It was filling up quickly. It wouldn't be long before they were on their way to Hogwarts.