Laurie lay on his bed, tapping his fingers on the bed nervously. His hazel eyes darted around the ceiling of his room anxiously. He checked his watch. It had been almost twenty-five minutes. Standing up, he brushed off his jeans and walked across his drab room. He had never liked decorating. Going over to his window, Laurie stared out at the evening London skyline. In the glass's reflection, he could see his tousled chocolate-brown hair, his thirteen-year-old face. Worry currently creased his brow.
He couldn't stay up in his room. He had to know what they were saying.
Laurie opened his door and snuck downstairs. Halfway down the stairs, he leaned over the bannister to listen in on the conversation that was going on in the drawing room.
"...Promising a good education," a husky voice was saying. He recognized that voice. The man it belonged to had walked through the door twenty-five minutes ago, and his parents had sent Laurie to his room.
"And for how long?" he heard his mother ask.
"Until June," said a buttery voice. It belonged to the man who had walked in with the husky-voiced man.
"I see," said his father. Laurie heard them talk a little more, although he couldn't make out the words. Then some papers rustling. After another moment, the door to the drawing room flew open. Out stalked the man with the husky voice and the buttery-sounding man. Laurie jumped back, and sat tentatively on the stairs as they walked down the hall to the front door.
Their faces were shadowed by large hats, so Laurie couldn't see the two men's faces as they passed. Perhaps that was why they didn't notice him. Right before the man with the husky voice walked out of the house, Laurie thought he saw something sticking out of the back of his coat. It looked like a piece of black fabric. He raced up the stairs back to his room and to his window, which overlooked their street.
There was no car driving away. No figures walking.
No sign of them anywhere.
"Who were they?" Laurie asked, sitting in the drawing room with his parents.
"They're men who work at a school; the Quintaped Academy," said his mother. Her face looked tired, as it always did, for no apparent reason.
He felt a tremor run through him. When they had passed by him, he had felt… almost scared of them.
"It's a very good school," added his one-armed father. "It's a boarding school, so you'll be away all year, but you can come back for the holidays."
"But I don't want to go there," Laurie said. Why couldn't he go to the same school all his friends were going to? He'd been thinking he'd go there for months.
"The school," his mother added, "is only for children who have been picked specifically,"
Laurie looked up.
"You mean I'd be special?"
His parents nodded.
He'd wanted that all his life.
"How about this," his father suggested. "You have to catch the train at King's Cross Station two days from now. Tomorrow, you can spend a day out in the neighbourhood with your friends."
"All my friends left already for their school." He slumped back on the cushions.
"Then you can do whatever you like," his mother said. "Walk around, eat ice-creams, anything. And I hope you like this school, Laurie."
He nodded.
The following day, Laurie walked down a street, pushing past the endless crowds that blocked his way. At last, he found the alley he was looking for. Walking down it, he found the small little ice-cream shop he had been thinking of. It was decrepit, hidden, and out of the sunlight, but there was never a long line, and it made the best ice-cream he had ever tasted.
After paying for his caramel ice-cream, Laurie stood in the alley, licking it while he contemplated whether to eat it in the shade or in the enormous crowd. As he was thinking, a boy and a girl walked out of the shop. He glanced over at them. They looked about thirteen, the same age as him. Their clothes seemed mismatched, like they had been picked out at random. The boy had dark reddish-brown hair, and the girl had curly black hair. They were eating ice-creams as well, and walking with the easy gait of friends. For some reason, they intrigued Laurie.
"All I'm saying is, the spell will be easy," the boy was saying in a voice that was somehow loud and a whisper. The girl whispered something back. Laurie only heard the words, "...back at school…"
The boy opened his mouth to respond, but just then he glanced over at Laurie, who looked away. The next thing the boy said was in a whisper as well. Laurie heard, "...Won't get in trouble… Won't be caught."
With one last suspiciously furtive glance at Laurie, the boy and girl left the alley and disappeared into the crowd. Laurie realised his heart was pounding. It sounded like they were planning something dangerous, something they would be doing at school. And had the boy said the spell would be easy? Was he talking about a spelling test?
Suddenly, Laurie had made up his mind. He had to follow them. Make sure they weren't doing anything dangerous. He hurried into the mass of people, in the direction he had seen them heading. He ran along, pushing people out of the way. His fingers tapped anxiously against the cone he held in his hand. Finally, he saw two small figures with mismatched clothes disappear into another alley. He hurried towards it, and burst into the alley.
In one split second, he took everything in. The boy and girl were back-to-back, pointing what looked like straight twigs away from each other. They hadn't seen him. Before he could move, or open his mouth, or anything, they shouted, "PATOCULOS!".
He saw a bright flash of blue. He felt himself thrown through the air.
Then darkness.
Laurie awoke with his parents leaning over him in his bedroom. They told him a gas pipe had exploded, but by some miracle, he had only earned an enormous bruise on the back of his head. They told him, if he was feeling alright, he would still be able to go to school.
"But what about the boy and girl?" he demanded.
Neither of them knew what he was talking about.
Laurie lay on his bed, confused. How had no one else seen them? What was it they had shouted? What was it they had been doing?
Something very strange was going on.
Laurie pushed his trolley through King's Cross station, the sound of trains and talking loud in his ears. He had said his goodbyes to his parents outside. Now he needed to find Platform Seven, which would bring him to Quintaped Academy. He hoped he wouldn't see the buttery-sounding man and the man with the husky voice there. They were creepy.
Standing on his tiptoes and looking up, Laurie spotted the sign for Platform Seven. It was ten fifty-five; his train was leaving in fifteen minutes. He pushed his trolley toward it, tapping his fingers. In between him and the platform was a massive crowd. He was uncomfortably reminded of the boy and girl…
And just then, he spotted the boy with the reddish-brown hair, walking towards Platform Nine. Abandoning all thoughts of needing to get on his train, Laurie pushed his trolley in the same direction, trying to catch up to him.
"You-"
Laurie reached the boy right as he walked to the barrier between platforms Nine and Ten. Laurie grabbed his shoulder, and just then, the boy walked through the barrier. And Laurie found himself being pulled along.
Laurie burst out and tumbled to the ground, panting from the traumatic experience. He had felt as though he couldn't breathe. He heard a loud clatter and loud thumps. His trolley must have fallen over along with him. Opening his eyes, he found himself lying on a platform next to an enormous scarlet train. Climbing into the compartments were hundreds of children, some looking younger and some looking older than Laurie. Some were in regular clothes, and some were wearing black robes that looked like the ones wizards from mediaeval times wore. He could have sworn he saw some people carrying cages with owls inside. Some people had toads. Some people had cats. All around him, loud bursts of light erupted, and loud sounds rang in his ears, making him cover them. Was someone setting off fireworks? What was going on? Something that looked like a dog-sized spider made of sweets scuttled past his foot, and he jumped back in revulsion and fear. He thought he saw a sign saying platform Nine and Three Quarters. Was he hallucinating? A gaggle of people in the robes swept past him, and he was caught in their midst. Somehow, he found himself inside the scarlet train, herded by the crowd. He raced along the compartments, trying to find a way out. More lights. More bangs. More sounds. There were too many robed people. Who were they?
A group of people carrying… were those horrible things in pots plants? Shoved their way past him. He stumbled back, and fell through a door. He hit his head right on the bruise he'd gotten yesterday. As his vision swam back into focus, he realised he was in the toilets.
Laurie crouched under the sinks. Trembling, he held his arms around his knees. What was happening? Ever since the two men had visited his house, nothing he had seen seemed possible. Outside the toilets, he heard shouts.
"Great to see you!" someone roared with delight.
"I won't forget, Mum!" a small voice shouted.
"What happened?" a husky voice wailed.
"Where is Hogwarts?" someone asked.
Laurie drew his knees tighter. He didn't know where the train was going. He didn't know what was happening. But he trembled at the thought of going back out there.
With a jolt, the train started to move. It picked up speed, until he knew they were going to wherever the train led. Perhaps when it stopped, he could tell the driver there had been a mistake, and ask to call his parents…
The train trudged along for hours. Laurie stayed hidden under the sinks the entire time. Mercifully, no one came to use the toilets. His stomach was rumbling with hunger. His throat felt dry. Several times, he almost left the toilets to find out what was going on and where they were heading, but he heard the bangs and hoots and strange noises again, and quickly sat back down.
Eventually, the train slowed. When it came to a complete stop, he summoned his courage, stood up, and walked towards the door. Outside he heard loud chattering. As Laurie took a deep breath and reached for the door, he heard two voices.
"Hurry, Ronan!"
"I just have to use the loo. Don't wait for me."
Before he could hide, the door flew open. Laurie found himself face-to-face with the boy from yesterday. He was wearing the black robes. He was staring at Laurie with horror and recognition.
"You!" he whispered.
