...
Rodrick couldn't help the snort as he read through another chapter of Hogwarts: A History. Which according to, muggles only saw a literal danger and stop sign should they ever come anywhere close to the northern-based castle. At which point said sign was supposed to keep them away from attempting to enter the castle.
Having lived with muggles for the past 11, almost 12, years he knew full well that such a sign wouldn't have stopped him, let alone muggles who, he was frankly certain off, had a bigger death wish.
Hogwarts itself on the other hand was an absolutely fascinating castle. It was said to have been built almost 1000 years ago, though no one really knew the exact date as such records were lost to time.
The absolute shame! Frankly, he couldn't imagine that such an important part of history would so easily be forgotten!
The more he read, however, the more he realized, nay understood how much he'd missed out on whilst stuck in that god-awful orphanage. Truly, as much as it gave him hope for all sorts of, well, everything to do with his future. It didn't help the fact that up until he'd received genuine proof, he'd more or less put the thoughts of a magical reality to the back of his mind. It wasn't that he'd ever been limited in terms of what he could potentially learn, or even visit, given he'd had free reign to more or less do what he'd wished, provided it didn't get in anyone else's way. But rather it was the fact it had simply been so far away from what he could comprehend whilst awake that he'd simply thought it some sort of continuous delusion.
Some sort of fantasy he'd come up with to fill the hole he'd had since the first day he'd felt the barest hint of sentience.
He certainly wasn't the first orphan to experience such a thing.
Still, all of that had ended the moment he'd received his letters, the first true proof of his magical heritage.
So far, judging by what he'd read of the castle itself, it looked like he'd chosen the right school. And as he was about to turn the page, to learn more of the magical world he'd missed out on, Rodrick heard the rustle of his compartment door open.
The cause being one of the girls he'd met on the platform.
...
Daphne Greengrass, after realizing he had no intention of doing so himself, quickly broke the silence first.
"Hello, I am Daphne Greengrass..." She clarified, earning no response from him. "From the platform, you helped my sister?" Her eyes slightly narrowed as she added on, albeit once again not earning an immediate reply, leaving the girl confused at his sudden supposed memory loss.
"I remember, I am just curious why you're standing there," He eventually stated with a small smile.
She didn't like said smile if the scowl on her face that appeared on her face was anything to go by.
'I must look rather pretentious, I suppose.'
Getting rid of the smile, Rodrick promptly stood up off his seat and offered his hand to shake properly; receiving a better response in the process.
At which point the girl quickly took the seat opposite his own.
'Rather forward of her, didn't even ask for permission... though I suppose I don't own this compartment, so perhaps she doesn't need it? Even then politeness demands some attempt of... ah forget it.'
"I imagine you're looking to be in Slytherin?" He remarked, catching the girl by surprise though at the very least it didn't seem to be upset her if her tugging lips were anything to go by.
"Yes I suppose I am, either that or Ravenclaw, my parents were in those houses," She freely divulged such personal information, to his surprise. Matching it was a longing look to her expression at the mention of her family.
'Wonder what that feels like,'
Still, the girl eventually followed with asking why he'd thought such a thing, even if it seemed to please her.
"What makes you say that?" Her voice almost sounded sincere.
'I think so anyway, I am not entirely sure what sincerity is supposed to sound like, for all I know I could confuse it with contempt and never know the difference,'
It was only, following said thought, that Rodrick realized how big a different world an orphanage was to the wizarding world. Or really, anywhere for that matter. Given at least everyone in said orphanage had never bothered to keep their honest opinions to themselves.
"No reason," Was all he decided to answer with; an answer that, unfortunately, met two slightly narrowed eyes.
Oh, yeah. Straight to Slytherin,' He couldn't help the thought.
Daphne's eyes, almost as if she could read his mind in regards to said book; despite the impossibility of such a thing went over to the book itself.
"Reading a book like that? On this train?"
Confusion promptly took over his face, his mind wondering if he'd made a mistake in using said book as some sort of guide.
"Is that bad?" He questioned, his voice wavering the slightest in the process.
The girl seemed to study him for a second before replying.
"Well... You said you were from an orphanage... I had thought you would prefer the view out the window over reading about a castle you're bound to experience," She finished with a raised eyebrow.
Content with the answer, he deflated to his seat.
"I can watch the view next year if I make it out alive this year, I ought to prepare for that don't you think?" He stated the last part with a hint of amusement. An action that earned him a small, albeit patronizing chuckle out of the girl.
"I hardly see the danger! Hogwarts is the largest wizarding school in Britain and the safest," She looked about to continue the argument before stopping abruptly for some reason. If Rodrick sensed said abruptness, he didn't show it. Instead, he simply stared back at the book and gave his own opinion.
"I would rather not be turned into a frog on my first year, preferably would be better if I turned someone else into a frog as some form of intimidation..." He stated without a hint of sarcasm.
Despite his talent with Transfiguration, his own modified face the literal proof of the fact, he still didn't have a clue as to how to undo one of the most historic uses of the subject.
Though it all seemed to amount to a joke to the girl before him. if the sudden laughter was anything to go by. The action instinctively earning a scowl out of him.
"What?" He quietly asked. He knew very well it was possible. And frankly trying to use magic in frog form was, for some strange reason, harder than using it in any other form...
After a few, visible, attempts to contain herself, the girl finally looked back at him: "I didn't realize muggle-borns thought of witches and wizards as those who only know how to turn one another into frogs!"
Rodrick, blinking once, calmly stated he wasn't in fact a muggle-born. Which seemed to quickly cut off whatever else the girl had been planning to say. Instead of replying to him, the words evidently earned a rather confused look out of the girl in front of him though before she could say anything on the matter, the noise of their door slamming open took both of their attentions.
Outside, another girl with bushy looking hair stood staring at the two of them. Both Daphne and Rodrick merely stared back at said girl with mild annoyance at the sudden rudeness shown albeit neither of them said anything. though a small part of him was tempted to call out Greengrass on her hypocrisy at the notion given she'd done the exact same thing.
"Have you seen a toad?" The bushy-haired witch asked, expecting the two of them to know the context. Not that he himself failed to see the sheer coincidence of the stranger asking them about the animal so quickly after he'd brought the subject up himself.
Still, on seeing the look on Daphne's face; one about to entertain the girl further by, more than likely, asking for said context. He promptly answered himself.
"No, we haven't, I am afraid,"
Which evidently warranted a harrumph out of the girl, her eyes wandering over to to the book in his hands before she proceeded to instead start babbling on about it or something else entirely. Whatever it was been blocked out. The boy electing to merely stare at the girl as he waited for the unexpected rant on the book he was currently reading to finish.
He certainly didn't exactly want any spoilers, even if there wasn't much of a story, to begin with; electing to learn himself instead.
The other girl in front of him on the other hand chose another avenue to take, electing to attempt to converse with the girl instead.
'Pointless,' He couldn't help the thought, having lived with her kind of personality.
After the initial stream of information ended, the girl had elected to leave albeit not before introducing herself as Hermione Granger. The two of them reciprocating the favor before falling into a moment of silence as they turned back to merely staring at each other.
"Have you heard?" The dark-haired girl elected to break said silence, "Harry Potter's on this train to Hogwarts!" She remarked, somewhat ecstatically at the thought.
"Who?" Was all that was needed to be said to send the girl in front of him to confusion. Her green eyes staring back in shock. "Kidding... I know who he is. I am looking forward to the year, what house do you think he'd be in?" He questioned entirely due to the reaction he'd gotten, given he seemed to be expected to know of the stranger.
Sure he'd heard of such a name and why it was famous; he'd simply not, well, heard anything else.
Particular what said boy was supposed to look like.
"...If you are going to make a joke, at least make it funny," Her voice seemed to contain some sort of serious tone to it, even if it never truly reached the expression she was sporting. "And I assume he would be going to Gryffindor, all thing's considered." What those things were, he wasn't sure. Though he wasn't bothered enough to ask.
"...I suppose I won't see much of him then," He replied neutrally, "Although I think a friendship would be quite difficult." He accidentally added on the second. Not that it was wrong, if the house rivalry the book spoke of was to be believed.
"How so?" She asked him, her expression twisting into a contemplative look.
"...I would like to join Slytherin; given it'd be the only place I'd fit in," He stated, the tone of his voice despondent in nature.
If she noticed it, she said nothing of it.
"...Well, you did say you weren't Muggle-born..." She stopped herself for whatever reason. Either not trusting herself to talk anymore or she simply didn't have enough information to make a genuine opinion on the matter.
Frankly, it was moments like this that made him wonder if his reaction was how someone his age was supposed to act.
Still, presuming it was the former, if he were, and given he was, a pureblood, calling him a muggle-born did more or less amount to an insult on his behalf.
At least his grandfather would certainly think so.
Still, he nodded along, though once again before he could continue, the compartment door quickly opened up again revealing an elder lady pushing what looked to be a trolley full of sweets and confectionaries.
Rodrick almost couldn't help the sudden stare towards the sweets, his mind silently wishing they'd disappear.
Daphne, on the other hand, promptly took a small bag of coins out of one of her pockets. Coins she used to buy a sizable amount of candy from the trolley. Once she was done, the lady quickly turned to Rodrick expecting him to do the same.
He shook his head to signal his answer, the lady taking it with an understanding look as she left.
Daphne Greengrass, currently, was sitting next to a mountain of said sweets. The girl idly picking one of them up before promptly throwing it to him without a word said.
A little surprised by the gesture, he quickly thanked her. Even if the pitying look she seemed to send him didn't necessarily help, he wasn't one to pass up on free sweets.
Throwing said sweet into his mouth, he immediately regretted the action, a small part of him wondering if it had been on purpose as he felt a sudden, hot, burn fill his mouth as the sweet melted into his tongue. Despite almost screeching in the process, his eyes very briefly lit up the slightest at the sudden joyous look that filled the girl before him.
'Better than her previous look by far,' He couldn't help the thought.
"How long did you live in the orphanage?" She suddenly asked, her brief amusement disappearing. The immediate question causing him to fumble the slightest before composing himself.
Rodrick briefly considered the question before he shrugged and gave off the answer he'd given everyone else who'd ever asked.
"My whole life," A second passed before he decided to add if only so the girl didn't bother asking him herself. "I never met either of my parents,"
And, of course, the fact he couldn't exactly just tell her his family had an honest-to-god dark-lord in its ranks. And wasn't that a hard pill to swallow?
Practically a year ago, he'd found out that every one of his dreams had in fact all been true, and that he was in fact capable of what could only amount to a fantasy dream for most! ...With the only minor downside been that he was related to one of the most infamously evil wizards on the planet.
"You don't know who your family is then?" She asked with a small twinkle in her eyes. A single shake from him been all it took to pique the girl's attention. "Oh?" She added on, leaning a little closer, "Who were they?"
"I only know of my family name; it came with the letter...But I would rather not..." He wasn't sure how to finish. There didn't seem to be any harm in letting her know; given he doubted he'd be blamed for his grandfather's ideals, yet something in the back of his mind stopped him.
The girl either noticed this and decided to move on or simply saw the futility in trying to get an answer out of him. Either way, he smiled at the action.
She was rather considerate for a pureblood. A rare combination, if his grandfather was to be believed.
"Is there any reason you sought this compartment out?" Rodrick decided to ask. "Besides me helping your sister I mean?" He quickly added on. He had been genuinely confused to see the girl show up in the first place, he knew well enough that most of the other compartments hadn't been full.
"Well..." The girl started to answer with a contemplative look, "I was curious... Back in the station, you used wandless magic like it was nothing! Almost everyone on this train saw you!"
"...Is that weird?" He asked with a slightly resigned look. He hadn't wanted to draw attention to himself so early into the year, and yet before he'd been sorted, he'd already somehow failed.
"It is... A little, but in a good way! I mean, I certainly don't know how to do it!" She quickly added. "It's impressive to do wandless magic in the first place but.. to do it already... Before we've even had our first lesson..! it's really..." The girl seemed to stop herself from continuing, for whatever reason.
"...Well then, hopefully, it'll be enough to throw me into Slytherin," He stated carefully. The words earning a strange look from the girl before him.
"Why do you want to be in Slytherin? Family tradition?" She questioned curiously.
"I wouldn't know, I am not even sure if they ever went to Hogwarts; I just know that it's the only place I can fit in to, easily enough,"
Before the girl could ask his reason, he continued. Using up whatever information his grandfather and Hogwarts: A History had told him of the houses.
"Gryffindor is too packed together, mentally at that... If that makes any sense?"
The girl's nod, regardless if she actually understood what he meant let him continue with his point, "I'd be involved with far too many people, and I am sure you can tell I am not exactly very good when it comes to meeting new people." His words seemed to cause the girl's lips to tug upwards.
"Ravenclaw, on the other hand, has a bar so high you could practically fall to death from it," And frankly the less said about his fear of heights itself the better. "No, the pressure there would probably kill me before the end of the year," And honestly, the girl's nodding head did not help his thoughts on the matter.
"Hufflepuff..." He instinctively shuddered as he considered said house. "Wouldn't even notice my discomfort no matter what I did. If I screamed it in their faces they'd probably shove a chocolate bar down my throat to calm me down. So... no, I really don't want to kill anyone before the end of the first term," He stated, earning laughter in the process.
Freaking weirdo. Given he definitely wasn't joking.
He certainly knew the right curse for it, even if his grandfather was convinced he didn't actually know how to use it successfully.
Still, he kept that particular thought to himself.
The girl on the other hand couldn't help her laughter.
"Yo-you know it's funny, my father said the exact same thing! The chocolate part anyway!"
'Ookay then... ' He frankly didn't see the funny side of it, even if he shrugged it off.
Still, while he was most likely exaggerating, he could very well see the scene happening to him. "That leaves Slytherin where you're tempted to mind your own business, hide in the shadows and plot in peace, though I just want the peace part out of it,"
Daphne found herself smiling at the end of his explanation, the girl likely wondering how accurate it was.
"You've done a good job at convincing me to go to Slytherin, who knows, we might both end up there," She said with a glint in her eyes that screamed trouble.
"Evil," Was his immediate reply prompting a light slap on his arm from the girl. And, the thought of essentially guaranteeing his future interaction with the stranger aside, he found himself chuckling along with the girl.
At which point the train promptly started blaring out the orders to change into their school robes.
Rodrick, without missing a beat, promptly left through the door to wait outside while the girl started to change. After which the two switched places.
With both of them changed, the two promptly sat in an amicable silence as they finished off the remaining sweets.
...
Hope You Enjoyed! Don't Forget Feedback!