The sun is fast approaching the western horizon when the door to the compartment slides open and a bushy haired girl is silhouetted in the light, "Sorry to intrude, but have any of you seen a toad?"
Everyone shakes their heads and Harry speaks up, "Is it your toad?"
The girl shakes her head, "No, I'm trying to help the boy that was sharing my compartment find it."
"I know something that might help, but it will only work for the owner."
The girl looks relieved, "Oh, thank you. I'm Hermione Granger by the way."
Harry smiles at her, "I'm known as Harry Danann."
"Is Dr Morgana Danann your mother?" Harry nods, "Oh wow, I've read all her books she's an absolutely amazing writer. I've tried to get Mum and Dad to go to one of her lectures, but they keep saying that it's too far to go for just a day trip. Did you know that you're on TV?" Harry can only shake his head, "Dr Danann did a series of lectures for the Open University in the early 80's and she uses you to demonstrate some of the ways they believe Celtic people cared for children."
Harry opens his mouth to speak, but Marianne interrupts, "Hi, I'm Mari, how do you know all of that stuff?"
Hermione blushes for a moment, and stutters briefly, "I…I'm a gifted child, I finished my O-Levels when I was 8 and my parents let me study what I wanted just to keep me busy."
"It sounds lonely."
Hermione's face closes down suddenly, "I'm just going to find Neville."
Marianne looks at the others, "Was it something I said?"
Hannah nods, "I think you hit a sore spot."
"I hope she comes back, as I know what it's like for Harry. He has some of that genius too. English, particularly poetry, metal working, and physical games he excels in. I'd like to believe that he's average in everything else, but he works so damn hard at it, he might as well be a genius. That sword, he made that. It's one of the reasons he's home-schooled."
Harry ducks his head, "I'm not that good."
"Harry, I try to keep up with you, and I've been practicing with the sword almost as long as you have. You've beaten me in every home-schooling test that you've been sent. Not only that, but you've been doing it while learning magic too. I've only had magic for a month, so there's no way I could have learning magic as an excuse for why you're ahead of me. You might not be at a level where you can skip grades, but you're damn close."
"But I do have an unfair advantage, I've been getting tutoring from the rest of my family."
"I know they're exceptional, but you're still the one that has to do the work. Now own up to your achievements, or I'll tell Morgana that you've been putting yourself down again."
"I'll try, and I promised mum on my name that I'd do my best to be true to myself. But I still remember the jealousy at primary school."
Daphne shakes her head, "Sorry to butt in Mari, but did I hear you right that you've only had magic for a month?"
Marianne nods, "Uh huh. Morgana gave it to me."
Harry sighs, "Mari, you're not supposed to talk about that as we were told that various groups have opinions about magic and theft. No offence to the rest of you, but I don't think any of us know each other well enough to be sharing secrets that might get someone killed."
Daphne nods, "While we do a lot of business with that sort of family, we…" she trails off when Susan, Hannah, Harry, and Marianne all stare at her, "Ok, I don't believe in that sort of thing. Is that ok?"
Tracy lays her hand on Daphne's, "I think they just want to hear your thoughts, not your families thoughts."
Before the conversation can continue, the door swishes open again filling the room with sunlight once more. Hermione sticks her head inside, "Hi, is it ok if we come in, as I've got Neville with me."
Mari shuffles over forcing Harry to move as well before she pats the seat next to her, "Take a seat. And I'm sorry if I said something wrong earlier. It's just that Harry has had a bit of the same thing with excelling, not to the same extent as you. I've lost my own share of friends in trying to keep up with Harry, I think we've got 4 other kids we call friends between us."
Hermione nods, "It's ok, I was just hoping that this school would be different."
"Hey, it can be if you want it to be. Let me tell you something that Mrs Talls told me once. When she asks questions in the class, she's not looking for the right answer as she already knows that, she's looking for the student's that don't know the answer. That was right before she asked me to stop putting my hand up first, instead wait to see if anyone else did. Only if nobody else did was I allowed to put my hand up."
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While Marianne is talking to Hermione, Harry stands up and goes over to the door where Neville is standing nervously.
"Don't worry, I don't bite. Are you the one that's lost his toad?"
Neville nods, "I forgot to close the door after the trolley lady came, and he escaped."
"It's ok, I'm known as Harry Danann, though I prefer people to call me Harry."
"I'm Neville Longbottom, erm, call me Neville."
"Ok Neville, I'm going to use some magic that may allow you to see your toad. Is that ok?"
Neville nods, "Gran will kill me if I lose Trevor, he was a gift from my uncle Algie for getting my Hogwarts letter."
"Ok. What I need you to do then is think about Trevor, what he looks like, what he feels like, the way he moves, what his favourite foods are. As much as you can."
"I'll try, but I've only had him a month."
"Do your best, if you can't then the magic won't work so he'll turn up when he turns up."
Neville closes his eyes while he tries to picture his toad, as he does so, Harry gently touches his temples and pulls the mist down to cover Neville's eyes while also connecting to whatever he's currently thinking about. Once the magic sinks in, he pulls his hands away, "You can open your eyes now."
Neville looks around, "Why is everything a little grey?"
"It's the magic I used. If you had a good image of Trevor, then when you see him, or his hiding place it should be clearly visible to you."
As Neville runs off happily, Harry turns around only to see 6 pairs of eyes staring at him. A scene that's only slightly spoiled by Marianne sticking her tongue out at him.
Despite everyone itching to ask what he did, it's Hermione who breaks the silence, "What spell was that? How did you do it without a wand? What book is it in?"
Harry holds his hands up, "Woah, woah, let me answer the questions before asking the next one. Erm."
"What spell was that?" Marianne supplies.
"Right, it wasn't a spell in the way that you're thinking about them. It was Celtic magic, and wands are only used for Roman magic. What was the next question?"
"What book is it in?" Daphne supplies with an amused voice.
"It isn't. Celtic magic has always been passed on in an oral tradition. Mainly because it's a set of skills that you practice until you can do them without thinking about it. Much like there aren't any books on learning to walk, run, or jump."
Hermione says, "Actually there are, some olympic athletes have written books on how to run and jump better, and there are physiotherapy books on learning to walk."
Harry opens his mouth to reply before he closes it again for a moment, "You know what. Hermione, did you understand my point?"
"Um, yes."
"Then why did you bring up the books that only apply to people who already know how to walk, run, and jump?"
"Um, because the example you used was wrong?"
Marianne puts a hand on Hermione's knee, "Hermione, what toddler do you know that could read any one of those books?"
Hermione desperately wants to say she could, but her parents didn't teach her to read until she was 3, "Fine, I'm sorry, Harry was right. Happy?"
Marianne shakes her head, "Not really, but it needed saying. Harry's mum is teaching me Celtic magic, and she's already told me that it's going to be years before I can do a lot of what Harry can do. However, it's something that can only be learnt by doing it. Much like learning to read was really. If you didn't do it, you didn't learn it, then you got told off by the teachers."
Hermione slumps in the chair despondently, trying to lift the mood, Hannah asks, "What house do you all think you'll be in?"
Daphne laughs, "If you'd asked me at the beginning of the journey, I'd have been able to tell you. Now I'm not sure."
Harry shrugs, "I don't know, I promised my mother that I'd do my best to be true to myself. So whatever house would fit that best."
Susan shrugs, "Probably Hufflepuff, if I'm not I'd be the first Bones in centuries not to go there."
Hermione eagerly says, "I want to go to Gryffindor, I read that that's the house that Albus Dumbledore went to, and he's the greatest wizard alive. So that means the Gryffindor must be the best house to be in."
Marianne pinches the bridge of her nose, "I read in Hogwarts a History, that Rowana was the greatest spell caster of the four founders, and she founded Ravenclaw house. Merlin, the inventor of the Merlin scale of measuring magical power, was the most powerful wizard of his generation, and he went to Slytherin. Blonny, one of the chief architects of the magic that hides the magical communities around the world, was the strongest witch of her generation, and she was in Hufflepuff. I also read, in 101 things that ever witch should know, that there's a thing called a magical oath. Maybe we should make you take one to do your best to be true to yourself rather than pandering to the expectations of others."
"Fine, what about you? You've obviously read a lot, which house do you think you'll be in?"
"None of them, I'm not going to Hogwarts. I start at Dunblane High School tomorrow."
Hermione gapes at Marianne, "But, how?"
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Marianne is saved from answering when the door to the compartment is opened sharply with a clack. Standing outside the door is a slight blond boy with a haughty bearing. Behind him are two larger boys silhouetted by the setting sun.
"Greengrass, Davis, Bones, Abbott, I see you're slumming it with the riffraff."
Daphne's mask comes back as she looks at the boy coldly, Harry on the other hand says, "Well, I'm not so sure about riffraff. You're a pureblood?"
The boy nods, "My name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, and our house has been pure for the last 500 years since we came to Britain."
Marianne stifles a giggle while Harry shakes his head, "So young. My mother traces her magical family line back to before the time of the first Roman invasion of Ireland. Absolutely nobody in her family has ever been without magic, or married someone that doesn't have magic."
Malfoy shakes his head, "That can't be true, I'd have heard of you if it was."
Marianne can't help it, she breaks out in laughter, "It's true, she's teaching me Celtic magic."
"Really, and what's your magical linage then?"
Marianne waves her hand, "Oh, I'm pretty sure I'm the first person with magic in my family."
"So you're a mudblood."
Susan and Hannah wince, but Harry shakes his head, "Well, you can't beat a good bit of mud. It's the foundation of all great projects after all. Whether you're gardening, building houses, or making vases, if you don't have a quality bit of mud then your project is going to fail. Tell me, what are your foundations like? Is it crystal clear like the purest ice, but only useful as long as it stays frozen? Or maybe it's like the purest white silicate sand, absolutely wonderful when turned into glass, but horribly fragile unless impurities are added?"
Malfoy struggles for a comeback, and eventually realises he took too long so instead slams the door and leaves in a huff.
Marianne leans over to Harry and whispers, "Brigid?"
Harry nods, and she hugs him comfortingly, "Don't worry about it, it's part of who you are. I know you, you'd have wanted to say something similar. It just gave you the words you needed."
Susan shakes her head, "You've probably earned Malfoy's ire with that. Blood purity is a very large thing in our culture."
Harry looks at her and says softly, "Maybe it shouldn't be, as it certainly doesn't seem to be in places like Imber."
Daphne interjects quietly, "It's not really about blood purity, it's about power and keeping it within certain families. Susan, Hannah, and I, we're all lucky in a way because there are no wizards to inherit our family seats. That means that we're free from the possibilities of arranged marriages, well mostly free. Some of the other girls, especially in Slytherin, will be looking for a good match for their families that they also like. Some families, like the Potters, have traditionally married for love rather than prestige. Because of that, they have long been a respected house, but never one of the great movers and shakers. If I remember my lessons correctly, they've only had 2 seats on the Wizengamot in the last 300 years, while the Greengrass' have held a seat almost every generation since then. Same with Nott, Malfoy, and Smith."
Marianne looks at Daphne with sad eyes, "It doesn't sound like your life was all that full of joy if you know all of that."
"I had fun, especially with trouble here."
"Oi!" Tracy exclaims.
Marianne stands up and puts her fists on her waist, "Right, that's it, you're all invited to 10 pin bowling next Saturday. Harry, don't forget now will you. I'll make sure to save up all my 20p coins for the evening."
"What?"
Harry shakes his head, "Don't worry about it, it will make sense next week."
A Prefect opens the door and sticks their head in, "The train will be arriving in 5 minutes, so make sure you're all wearing your school robes."
Hermione looks at a watch on her wrist, "Oh, I lost track of the time. I need to go and get changed."
As Hermione dashes out the door, Marianne remarks, "Does anyone else think someone needs to let her know that robes are designed to be worn over clothes?"
Susan and Hannah both snigger, while Daphne says in her best haughty voice, "I'll have you know that my robes have been tailored for me to wear as clothes." In a more normal voice she continues, "Though it would be more convenient if they weren't. Would you mind stepping outside Harry?"
Harry smiles as he pulls a robe from his bag, "Not at all."
A few minutes later Marianne sticks her head out the door, "Harry you can come back in now, it's not as though you needed to leave in the first place."
Daphne flushes, "Mari!"
"What? Your underwear has more layers than some of my dresses do. The less said about what passes for dresses amongst the older girls the better too. But you'll probably see next Saturday, as the Bowling Alley tends to be used by the teenagers before wherever they go to afterwards opens."
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As the train pulls into the station, Marianne stands up, "Well it was nice meeting you all, I hope to see you next Saturday. Harry, could you give me a hand, as I can't do the first bit myself."
Harry stands up and takes her hand before they both pass into the other. A moment later he reappears in the carriage to the shocked faces of the 4 girls.
Susan is the first one to find her voice, "What was that?"
"Would it help if I said Celtic magic?" All the girls shake their heads in the negative, "It was a form of magical transportation, and Mari is now walking back to my house. She should be there in 10-15 minutes, though I could probably do it in about 30 seconds."
"That's amazing, would I be able to learn that?"
"I honestly don't know, it depends on what my mother thinks."