Ralph Hayes sat on the bench on Platform 10 on King's Cross station. The Daily Prophet newspaper in his hand was neatly folded to prevent any of the moving pictures to be seen by the Muggles.
His barn owl shrieked in his cage and grabbed attention of a few Muggles on the platform. He eyed them until they looked away.
He hit the newspaper against the bars of the cage. "Shut up, Kiki. You are attracting attention."
Kiki returned a blank look before hiding his head under his wing, falling asleep.
Ralph looked back at the newspaper, his eyes lingering on a certain headline: 'Cursed Child's Mother Passed away'
He rolled his eyes but he still read it.
'Mary Hayes, mother of the supposed reincarnation of You-Know-Who, passed away after suffering from a mysterious disease for eighteen long year. Some say that the disease was a curse that her son placed on her during birth. However, Ralph Hayes refuses to speak up on this issue, deepening the rumor that he is the next Dark Wizard.'
Ralph hardly finished reading it when the newspaper was snatched away from his hand.
He looked down at a stout and plush looking cat shredding the newspaper into thin strips. Its fur is ochre with dark vertical bars on the torso and forelegs.
Ralph immediately recognised the cat. He shooed it away and watched as it hissed and spitted angrily at him before it darted away. He picked up the torn newspaper and watched as people in photos looked afraid to come back into the frame.
"I apologize for Batu." a voice came.
He looked up to see a bald boy with chocolaty brown complex pushing his luggage cart towards him. He wore thick woollen sweater on a pleasantly warm afternoon.
"Ah, Altan. Seems like the British autumn still gets you." Ralph said with a smile as he threw the shredded newspaper into the dustbin.
Altan stopped the cart and came around to shake hands with his friend.
"Yes, it still gets me." he replied with a wink.
Ralph looked at his pocket watch as sighed. "We have ten minutes to get the platform. Let's hurry."
He and Altan walked through the barrier to reach Platform Nine Three-Quarters.
Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owl shooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.
The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats.
Ralph and Altan pushed their way toward the end of train when the spotted Viola hanging out of the window to wave at them.
"This compartment is empty. Come in, both of you."
Ralph handed over Kiki to her through the window and climbed on the train. He and Altan entered the compartment with their luggage and tugged it away in the corner.
Sarnai slide open the door and came in.
"I am very excited about the last year at Hogwarts. I will be able to start my Aurora training." she squeaked in a thick Mongolian accent, twirling her fingers around a lock of her hair.
A whistle sounded. The train began to move. Ralph saw lots of parents waving at their children on train and felt a sudden pang of pain in his chest. His father couldn't come to drop off his son, because reasons!
"Hey, I heard about your mother." Viola said.
"Huh?"
"I said I am sorry about your mother."
"Oh." was all Ralph said. He didn't want to talk about it. It was one of the worst thing that happened to him that year.
"Did you read the newspaper? There seem to be something really interesting going on between Hogwarts and Ministry of Magic."
Viola handed him the newspaper.
It read: 'Ministry still not allowed to interfere with working of Hogwarts.'
Ralph raised his eye brows.
'Despite being thirteen long years since the second Wizarding war, Hogwart's Head Master, Severus Snape, refuses to let Ministry of Magic interfere with the working of Hogwarts.
"I can't trust these corrupt officials anymore." he said when asked in an interview.
The irony behind this fact is that he himself was deemed untrustworthy a multiple times by Ministry officials during the second Wizarding War.
The vise Head Mistress, Rose Anvil, had nothing to say on this matter. However, she sent her best wishes to the new Minister of Magic, Hermione Granger.'
"Well I don't think it is anything new." Ralph looked back at Viola, passing the newspaper to Altan.
"How it is not new?" Altan cried. "You know Professor Rose's surname? It's Anvil."
Sarnai rolled her eyes. "Brother, you are such a dunderhead. Everyone knows that. It is no secret."
"But still I don't think it is her actual surname." Ralph mumbled. "I once called her Professor Anvil during the potions lessons and she didn't reply."
Suddenly there was a scratching sound on the door. Ralph went up and opened it.
A tabby cat sat outside the compartment. She meowed at him and rubbed her face affectionately against his shoe. He bend down to reach her when Lauren came running towards them.
She snatched her cat from the floor, not letting Ralph touch her. She quickly apologized and ran back.
Ralph took a deep breath and closed the door.
"Was it Lauren?" Viola asked.
"Yes, although I doubt she likes me as much as her cat does."
"My Ravenclaw friends tell that she is most inwardly drawn person they have seen. But she surely finds trouble in form of Wrede twins. No wonder they are obsessed with her."
Ralph nodded. In pit of his stomach, he knew something bad was going to happen.