Michael Brown

Sometimes human adaptability could be quite amazing.

Let's take Platform 9 ¾, for example. I could still remember the stress and wonder I experienced on my first visit, spending most of my time there stressing about possible attacks and looking in amazement at one of Harry Potter's iconic locations. Now? This was my fourth visit there and phasing through the wall and accessing the hidden magical platform seemed almost... mundane. You just go through the wall, get on the train and go to school, big whoop.

Then again, maybe it was just me. Other members of my family seemed to have quite a different reaction.

"You know, no matter how many times I see it, I still can't believe it!" Agent Father exclaimed, looking at the 9 ¾ platform with quiet wonder in his eyes. "I just can't believe that such a place was hidden right under everyone's nose for so long. I would assume that someone would have at least stumbled upon it by accident, given the number of people passing through the station every day."

To be honest, I wasn't really surprised by his reaction because unlike me, he hadn't been exposed to magic every day for the past year, making it more difficult for him to get used to magic. I wasn't exactly able to use magic outside of Hogwarts, courtesy of an oppressive Ministry device called a "Trace," so most of my family's interactions with magic amounted to seeing me read some magic books in my free time...

... Once they saw me reading 'Necromancy 101: How to Bring Back the Farm Dog,' a book I received from Tom as a form of introduction to dinosaur resurrection, which led to a very long and interesting conversation about my education. Fortunately, I was eventually able to convince them that it was just a DADA textbook, meant to teach children about the dangers of black magic, but I still received strange looks whenever I read it.

I turned to Agent Father in order to answer his unspoken question.

"Well, a few people probably did discover the platform, but they were probably just obliviated." I answered simply, causing Father to furrow his brow. At first I was a little confused by his reaction, but then I realized he was unfamiliar with the terminology. It was quite understandable, so I decided to explain it to him. "Every time a muggle discovers the existence of magic, their memories are erased with a certain spell in order to hide the wizarding world from the population."

"That's... quite disturbing, actually." Father replied with a horrified look on his face. I was pretty sure he was just pretending, since the government was undoubtedly using its own form of "Men in Black" technology to keep its secrets, but he was supposed to be playing a normal civilian, so I didn't hold his fake reaction against him. He probably would have been replaced had he broken his cover, and I didn't really... want that to happen.

"Welcome to my world." I said instead. My father gave me a strange look upon hearing that, but didn't comment on it.

As we entered the platform proper, we quickly noticed that people were already gathering in front of the train, with parents and children saying their final goodbyes before the children would board the train and depart for the death trap known as Hogwarts. While the Muggle parents behaved quite normally, it wasn't hard to see the tense atmosphere around the wizards and witches. I wasn't quite sure if it was because of the whole 'Heir' situation from last year or because of Sirius Black's recent escape, but either way I was quite pleased with this turn of events. After all, it meant that Tom's efforts to destabilize the Ministry were mostly having the intended effect.

My parents must have noticed the strange atmosphere as well, but they didn't say anything. Instead, we started walking toward the train at a slow pace, carefully navigating through the crowd. We were already halfway there when I suddenly heard a voice coming from the side.

"Michael? Is that you?" Someone exclaimed. When I turned around, fully prepared to defend myself against the unknown assailant, I saw Colin Creevey, a Gryffindor first-year (second-year now, I supposed), standing with a smile on his face next to people who I assumed were his parents.

"Is that a friend of yours, Michael?" Agent Mother asked enthusiastically, looking at the boy with some interest. I couldn't be sure why she was interested, but I suspected she was hoping for some source of information about my activities at Hogwarts. Luna was too smart to be taken advantage of in this way, so her mother was no doubt looking for some alternative source. Nevertheless, I decided to answer her question, though I wasn't sure how to answer.

"I guess you could say that?" I answered hesitantly, quite uncertain how to describe my relationship with Colin. To be honest, I wouldn't call him a friend. His inherent suspiciousness as a Gryffindor and the fact that we rarely interacted made it impossible to consider us friends. However, he attended most of my lectures, had a good rapport with Luna, and distinguished himself by writing relatively truthful articles about the protests, so I guessed that calling him something of an acquaintance would not be out of place.

After we approached Colin and his parents and started talking, it quickly became apparent that my parents and his parents took a liking to each other, apparently finding some commonality in being muggle parents. I didn't know how much of this was sincere and how much was just a cold, calculating move on my parents' part, but they began talking among themselves about the various difficulties of having a magical child, leaving Colin and me to talk to each other.

"So... how are you doing, Colin? Did you do anything fun during your vacation?" I asked stiffly, not really knowing what to talk about. Although I could easily hold lectures or convince people to open their eyes and see the corruption of the wizarding world, I wasn't really used to having a normal conversation with someone my age. I was mature enough to realize that my relationship with Luna and Tom was far from normal due to our unusual sophistication and knowledge, so I was quite unsure how to talk to a "normie."

Colin, however, didn't seem to mind my hesitation, as he answered earnestly.

"Yes, I did! I don't know if Luna has already told you, but if not, I have great news for you!" Colin replied with a broad smile on his face, clearly excited by this 'news'. Fortunately, he didn't make me wait long, as he quickly continued his speech, clearly unable to contain himself. "I'll be running my own school newspaper this year!"

"What, how did that happen?" I asked, quite surprised. An independent newspaper sounded like something Dumbledore would never allow at his school, fearing it would interfere with his systematic brainwashing and indoctrination. How did Colin achieve something like this? Did he sell out? Did he agree to preach Dumbledore's propaganda in exchange for the opportunity to run a newspaper?

"It's actually quite a funny story. As it turned out, my articles about the protests turned out to be quite popular, so Mr. Lovegood came up with the idea to capitalize on my success. Something about using my popularity to turn Hogwarts students into future 'Quibbler' readers? I don't know. Anyway, I quite liked the idea of running a newspaper, so I agreed. Mr. Lovegood then spent part of the summer trying to convince Professor Dumbledore to let me start 'Quibbler junior'. Colin said cheerfully, with a wide smile and eyes full of happiness. "At first Professor Dumbledore was against it, but in the end he allowed me to start a school newspaper on the condition that I wouldn't copy Mr. Lovegood's ideas, but instead write about school events and such. I didn't really want to write about magical creatures in the first place, so everything worked out great. Isn't it amazing?!"

Ah, so that's how it was.

It appeared that the whole 'Heir' situation shook Dumbledore's situation more than I had originally expected. It all looked like a typical PR move, intended to show his good faith and benevolence. Dumbledore was basically screaming: 'Look at me! Aren't I great for allowing my students to start an independent newspaper? I am so nice and wise. You should all trust me!'. The only thing he didn't mention was that he would immediately get rid of the newspaper the moment his position stabilized. He would trample Colin's newspaper with the iron boot, most likely finding some half-baked justification for doing so.

Nevertheless, even if the newspaper was only going to be temporary, it was still pretty good news. After all, it meant that me and Luna wouldn't be the only source of truth in this cursed shithole known as Hogwarts, even if only for a while. Quite a clever ploy, Mr. Lovegood!

"Congratulations, Colin!" I said cheerfully, quite pleased with the development. "Do you already know what your first article will be about?"

"Hmm, actually I was hoping you'd have some ideas about it." Colin replied, looking at me expectantly. "You always have something interesting to say about the school and the wizarding world, so I'm sure you'll give me something interesting to write about."

"Well, I'm sure there are some good things you could write about, but..." I started uncertainly, not sure how to react to being put on the spot like that, but then I felt silent as I noticed something completely unexpected on the roof of the platform. Was that...? I turned to Colin "...You know, I think I have the perfect topic for your first article..."

"Really?! What is it, Michael?!" Colin asked excitedly.

"...Do you perhaps remember my lecture on house elf assassins?" I said quietly, looking up at the roof of the platform with a certain disbelief in my eyes.

There, hanging from one of the metal railings, I spotted a very familiar house elf. Since he was quite a distance away from me, I couldn't be sure of the details, but he was clearly using magic to levitate some kind of heavy object in front of him while... Was he crying? Yes, he was definitely crying, using his free hand to wipe away his tears.

Shifting my gaze downward, I saw Harry Potter, who was currently standing right under the aforementioned object, obliviously talking to his friends about something , unaware of the danger he had gotten himself into. Further observation revealed Lucius Malfoy, standing some distance away from Harry Potter's group, looking between Dobby and Potter with clear anticipation in his eyes, whispering something under his breath.

I blinked several times, trying to understand the situation before my eyes.

Yes, that... seemed about right.

It's been a while since the last chapter, but I won't apologize. Baldur's gate 3 was a blast!