Chapter 7: CH7 - Welcome to Hogwarts
The next time Edmund was broken out of his focus, it was to an insistent tapping on his compartment door. He looked outside the large window, realizing that the Hogwarts Express had already left the station without him noticing.
A large expanse of green rolling hills surrounded the train on all sides, a vast difference from the concrete jungle in which Tom had spent his early life. On the distant horizon, Edmund could see a small village, the only noticeable feature a building with a large cross overtop it, barely illuminated in the dreary weather.
The tapping came again, more loud and impatient.
"Come in," Edmund said, clearing his throat.
To his surprise, the intruder was someone he recognized, the small Burke girl from the station. She looked at Edmund determinedly, trying to muster the courage to speak.
"Can I help you?" Edmund asked, helping her out.
"My family didn't let me board the train till a minute from departure," she explained hurriedly in lieu of an answer. "By the time I got on, all the compartments were full."
Edmund stayed silent, contemplative.
"May I sit with you?" she asked a few seconds later when she realized that Edmund had no intentions of offering her space.
"And why would a cherished daughter of the Burke family, one of the sacred twenty-eight, want to sit with me?" Edmund asked calmly. "I'm sure you have plenty of friends on the train, those who your family would want you to spend time with."
She looked at him suspiciously.
"How do you know of my family?" she asked pointedly, before continuing stubbornly. "And why should that matter about where I sit?"
Edmund looked at her amusedly.
"Well, with your grandma loudly proclaiming her Burke heritage at the station, it's hard not to know who you are," he paused, watching as redness filled her cheeks once more.
"And," Edmund resumed, "all you pureblood kids are raised together practically from birth. You're telling me you haven't made any friends at all those balls and parties you go to?"
"I know some of them, but they're only acquaintances," she justified defensively. "Besides, we're just kids you know. Just because we're pureblood doesn't mean we don't get bored. We don't go to those stuffy events all that often."
"I haven't gone myself in," she paused almost imperceptibly, "a long time, so I don't know that many people."
Before Edmund could get in another word, she cut in and prevented him from voicing whatever he was about to say.
"Are you planning to interrogate me some more or can I sit down?" she asked irritably. "I could just find another compartment if you're gonna be such a bother."
Edmund waved his hand to the seat opposite his, tacitly signalling his agreement. The girl put her trunk away quickly, before sitting down with a book of her own.
Edmund looked down once more, planning to continue reading where he had left off. However, less than a minute later, he could feel her gaze on him and eventually looked up. He raised an eyebrow at her in question.
"Are you going to introduce yourself?" she asked in a puzzled tone of voice.
"I was here first. Typically, the person who interrupts is the one who introduces themself first, instead of staring at the other person creepily," Edmund mocked.
"Typically," she began hotly, "it's the man who introduces himself first! What kind of manners did your parents raise you with if you don't even know that."
"Oh," she said slowly as a look of disgusted realization came over her. "You're a mudblood aren't you? I don't know why I didn't pick up on it from your clothes and speech."
If this were a typical pureblood, Edmund would perhaps be warier of their reaction. But considering he had seen this girl's cute embarrassed face twice over at this point, he didn't feel quite as cautious about her. Besides, the word mudblood wasn't much of a bother to him, so he decided to answer with a laugh.
"Correct. This lowly mudblood is at your service, my dear heiress Burke," he said with a flourish and a half bow from his seat.
"As for manners, I'm afraid I didn't have any parents to teach me those at all," he added, trying to see whether it would draw forth more disgust from her, or better yet bring back her adorable pout.
Surprisingly she fell silent after that, instead of spluttering as he thought she would. In fact, after a moment of hesitation, she spoke up once more of her own volition.
"Not heiress Burke," she corrected again, although a little less harshly. "Women don't typically inherit in Magical Britain. It's Cecilia, Cecilia Burke."
"Well then Cecilia, my name's Edmund Cole," he offered, trying to return the olive branch.
Cecilia nodded, before the pair fell into silence once more, electing to return to their books.
That was until Edmund remembered once again with a jolt that the train was now moving. He could finally try some magic!
Not wanting to embarrass himself, he started simple once he had his wand in his hands.
"Lumos," he said clearly with a twirl of his wand, visualizing a bright white light emitting from the tip.
Without delay, his wand lit up, glowing strongly without any flicker. He held the spell for ten seconds, before dismissing it.
Feeling encouraged, he began moving down through the charms list, all the while Cecilia watched sneakily from overtop of her book, wide-eyed.
Slowly, but with gaining confidence, Edmund tested spell after spell, surprising himself with the ease that magic came to him. He looked at his wand curiously, thinking about Ollivander's words.
'Maybe you really did see something special in me,' he thought while caressing the wand, thanking it silently, not expecting a response.
That was the reason he almost yelped when the wand faintly buzzed in his hands, almost pleased.
His heart racing, he tried to communicate once more, wondering if he was imagining things. Once again, the wand buzzed after he mentally complimented it.
Thinking furiously, Edmund accepted it as just another thing he would have to look into.
'Stick with me, and we'll soar to magical heights like the world has never seen before,' he vowed, feeling silly talking with a piece of wood. He was vindicated, however, by an approving vibration, before the wand fell silent once more.
Eventually, Edmund progressed to Reparo, the spell he had been hoping to accomplish before reaching Hogwarts. He first tested the spell on a small handkerchief, knowing that if the spell went wrong, it would only drain him of a tiny fraction of his power. Once he was confident in his mastery, he progressed to the actual items he wanted to repair.
The first target was the pair of sneakers he had on his feet, tattered and filled with holes. Edmund had loathed the idea of trudging through the rain-soaked paths up to Hogwarts with his shoes filled with water. He was pleased, therefore, when the spell restored his shoes to mint condition. They were still dirt cheap, but they would provide much more protection against the elements than before.
Next, he moved on to his clothes. He planned to change into his robes soon anyways, but he thought he might as well start mending his everyday wear while he could.
Two waves of his wand later, his denim jeans and too-big button-up shirt looked good as new. Edmund himself, however, felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. Glad that he was sitting down already, he decided that was enough magic for right now. With a flick of his wrist, he returned his wand to its holster, before massaging his hands which were tired from two hours of fine movements.
"How long have you been practicing with a wand?" Cecilia's voice interrupted his musing.
Perplexed, Edmund looked across the seat.
"Why the sudden interest in me?" he asked. "Aren't I just another mudblood to you?"
Seeing her refuse to respond, he felt he might as well answer. After all, he was curious enough about what she had to say.
"My birthday was a week and a half ago. I tried using my wand to practice magic for the first time just now," Edmund shrugged nonchalantly.
Cecilia stared at him in disbelief, before nodding very slowly. She looked at him again, now with a new appreciation in her eyes.
"You're powerful, and a mudblood to boot. Don't look at me like that. You're going to get a lot worse from the elder students, so you might as well get used to it," she dismissed when she saw his frown. "There are many people who won't like you. There are many more who will hate you."
"Ms. Burke," Edmund said slyly as he smiled, "why, you're tugging on my heartstrings here. I didn't think you could care for one such as me."
Cecilia huffed dismissively at his attempt to dissolve the tension in the room.
"I thought you'd want to know, so I told you," she snapped, returning to her readings.
Silence reigned in the compartment again, save for the sounds of thunder coming from outside as the storm picked up while they approached Hogwarts.
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Several hours later, Cecilia stood up and removed her robes from her trunk, opening the compartment door to search for a washroom to change in.
Suddenly, the train jolted fiercely, slowing to a stop, and the door slammed shut. Cecilia stumbled backwards, almost hitting the floor if not for Edmund stabilizing her by the elbow.
She gave him a begrudgingly grateful look and was about to stand up again when she caught sight of the worry in Edmund's eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked confusedly, just as the light in the compartment went out.
"Sit down, and stay silent," Edmund commanded gravely, his voice adopting a deep harshness.
Swiftly, Edmund got up and ensured the door was closed securely, and that the latch was in place. Taking two steps back, he cast Colloportus on the door, locking it shut magically as well. For good measure, he took down his and Cecilia's trunks from the overhead storage and barricaded the door shoddily with them.
"What are you doing?" Cecilia questioned indignantly, apparently having lost some of her fear.
"Quiet," he hissed as he whipped his head to look towards her. "We aren't at Hogwarts yet, which means something's wrong."
A strange crackling sound filled the compartment, emanating from the window. Edmund and Cecilia watched as the glass unnaturally frosted up rapidly. Outside the now translucent window, the two could barely make out a shadowy cloud-like figure in the sky growing larger, approaching the train.
"Dementor," Edmund confirmed his suspicions, as Cecilia gasped, before clapping her hand over her mouth.
They two huddled up as far away from the compartment door as possible, sticking to the now freezing window. The cold was the least of their worries, however, and so they persevered without complaint.
Slowly but surely, a sense of heaviness began to encroach on Edmund's mind, his thoughts drifting against his will to sorrow and anguish. By the time a dark presence passed by right outside the compartment door, Edmund was convinced he would never feel happiness again.
The responsible eerie figure's hood was the slightest bit see-through, daring those brave enough to try to catch a glimpse at a sight only seen by those unfortunate enough to have been 'kissed' by the amortal creatures.
Seconds passed, then minutes, but neither Edmund nor Cecilia moved an inch, subconsciously holding their breath for fear of making any noise that would attract attention to them.
When it got to the point that Edmund believed he would pass out from a lack of air in his lungs, the window to the train's hallway was filled with a bright light. The fear in his heart began to diminish, being replaced with a sense of lightness and happiness.
A terrifying screeching sound grew louder, as Edmund and Cecilia watched the dementor fly past their compartment, chased by a glowing white wolf that seemed to be the source of their newfound contentment.
A few uncertain minutes later, the train began to move along once more, chugging slowly before speeding up.
When the lights finally turned back on, Edmund looked outside once more. A bolt of lightning struck far off in the distance, illuminating what could only be the majestic castle of Hogwarts, surrounded by tens of shadowy wraiths standing perfectly still, their cloaks fluttering with the storm.
'What a welcome,' Edmund thought as he shivered.
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