Kapitel 2: Chapter 2: Platform 9¾
Beta read by Shigiya and DOOMRAIDER.
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--Malfoy Manor-
-Lucius PoV-
He was a strange one, an anomaly he never knew how to deal with, a riddle he couldn't solve no matter how hard he tried. The idea of putting together a puzzle only for him to never find that last piece was the only comparison he could make.
Truly, his son — Jarius — was unlike any child he had ever seen.
The moment he was born, Lucius could see he was different from his brother Draco. The latter who cried just any babies was met with silence from his brother. The small child he held in his hands looked at him with both innocent curiosity and wonder twinkling in those grey eyes which came from himself. It didn't take long for him to realize what this meant.
The boy was a genius.
Learning to read before the age of two and speaking without even having his full set of teeths grown in yet. He gained a keen interest in magic as well, having once stolen his mother's wand when she wasn't looking — which they all concluded to be an accidental use of magic. Even though such conduct wasn't suited for a member of the Malfoy family; Lucius couldn't help but grow curious with his son's development.
These abnormalities kept getting increasingly noticeable the more he aged. Always so joyful and mischievous, he never feared him like his less impressive brother. Not once has he broken eye contact with him, not once did he waiver or back away. Even when Lucius scolded the boy or punished him for his vulgar language and juvenile behavior; he never stopped smiling.
While Draco would cry and whimper, his brother would comfort him away from view. Lucius always kept a close eye on them, and Jarius kept surprising him at every turn.
On the few occasions he did cry or scream, the boy would perform Intentional wandless magic. Some magical children exhibited mild degrees of control over their magic and were able to use it with intent, but not to cast specific spells. The ability to perform specific spells without a wand was an advanced ability that even some adult wizards and witches found difficult.
Unfortunately, these instances of magic were rather… specific.
Everytime he or Narcissa would drink a cup of tea, the cup would spontaneously break and ruin their clothes. These continued to happen anytime Jarius was in the room, even guests were not spared from his theatrics. He would laugh every time one of them got sullied.
A joker he was at a young age.
This also showed Lucius that his son had some degree of control over his powers. Which was both elating and worrisome. He knew the wizarding world was extremely wary over such cases when there were rumors about his Lord being of similar prowess before the age of eleven.
At the age of seven, Jarius became more knowledgeable in many fields of magic. Having an instead understanding of basic spells and their core mechanism before having held a wand in his life. This prompted the cold patriarch of the Malfoy family to intentionally use mundane spells in front of his son, to have the child observe and understand the effects at an earlier age.
He surpassed his older brother in every way, shape or form.
Even if Draco was born the first, it was his brother who acted as the eldest. He had the most talent, intelligence and strong-willed to be considered the next heir of the Malfoys.
But with every good thing, there comes a disadvantage. And dear Merlin, did his son have many of those…
A point which both him and Narcissa disapproved of with the boy was his fascination with the Muggle world. From the various assortment of technology he bought from the other side by converting the coins he was given into coins. From literature that involved weirdly drawn characters and small handheld devices he used to play some form of games.
The day Lucius discovered these objects inside his room, the man nearly brought out his wand to curse his own son! Granted he could never bring himself to attack any of his own children, but what Jarius did was an absolute mockery of their wizarding heritage!
Yet he couldn't refute the young man as he always performed exceptionally in his home studies, to the point of having some of the teachers he hired not even having anything left to teach the boy.
Narcissa claimed that it must be a phase which the boy will grow out of once he attends Hogwarts or if he were to mingle with his fellow former Death Eaters' children.
They couldn't have been more wrong.
The day the Goyle and Crabbe family came for a visit with their kids; Vincent and Gregory. The pair decided to get to know his oldest son, Draco first. They got along quite well, their parents must have talked them into getting close to his eldest. An understandable reasoning, a leader always needs a few followers after all.
But then everything turned unexpected for the children of some of his friends and colleagues brought their children with them. These children were called Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. His son acted far more reserved and silent than he expected. He did not know what happened, but after they were taken to play outside, both boys returned frightened and afraid. He believed for his son to have been the one involved but was confused to find an equally befuddled Jarius who swore that he had no idea what happened as well. No one knew what exactly happened that day, for even Draco remained clueless.
It was a truly chaotic day.
The parents didn't dare complain, but this act was no better than a slap to his face. Fortunately, Jarius came forth and tried to apologize to both the parents and the two boys — only for the latter to hide behind their parents.
Aside from that incident, his son kept a rather open and uncivilized attitude. There were times he would act properly and in a manner befitting of the Malfoy house, unfortunately, those moments only occured when guests came over the manor. A sight that made him both proud and frustrated, it showed his cunningness at keeping a certain image to fool the general masses at such a young age. But what annoyed Lucius was rather his true self he only showed with only him, Draco and Narcissa.
"Hey pops! We got ourselves some cool wands!"
He sighed.
At least he never showed such disgraceful behavior to those outside the family, or his name would have been tainted beyond repair by now. A father that couldn't teach manners to his youngest son, a news that he knew his enemies and rivals would go at any length to inflate into something completely preposterous and demeaning. If only they knew it was not him keeping an on his sons, but rather the youngest mercilessly testing his patience whenever he had the opportunity.
"Huh… dad, have you seen Dobby? I need him for some errands with the Muggle merchant."
"..."
Lucius needed some peace for once.
Even working for his lord wasn't so stressful.
{Break}
(1st September 1991)
-Platform 9¾-
My last months with my parents were bittersweet. True, Lucius was now happier with his sons who would be soon attending Hogwarts, but our mom — Narcissa — was the exact opposite. True, she had her pride as a pure blood and hoped for us to achieve great things, but it still pained her to see us go. I grew attached to her and even cared about her to some extent. Living for years with a woman who despite her rather cold surroundings could exclude such an intense motherly feeling that it made me actually consider my true mom was hard to ignore. I neither held any resentment or hatred for anything, she never once hurt either Draco and I, treating us like any mother would with their beloved children and I appreciated that.
But then again, there was something as too much affection.
I understood where Draco got his arrogant attitude in the movies. He was heavily spoiled rotten by the mother and father, especially the former, the same was happening with us.
Still, I did take the time to study some of the first year subjects. Potion making was the hardest of course and defense against the dark arts was a lost cause to begin with. Lacking the usage of a wand for the majority of my time here until now prompted me to experiment with magic in other ways. And I made sure to learn as much of the basics I could before attending Hogwarts and basically have a strong foundation from the beginning. Just like in the movies, we would never truly learn anything of use from that class. It was cursed and was attended by a parasitic Voldemort stuck to the head of the turban teacher who I forget the name of.
Did I have a plan for my first year? I did.
First, I needed to locate the main protagonist of this world, Mr. Harry Potter and his gang. I didn't want to become the fourth member, I promised to live my life to the fullest so I couldn't be chained to them. Didn't hate them or anything like that, I like the bunch and even was looking forward to seeing them face to face
They could count as a barrier against the villains of the story. Wherever they were, trouble would arise at any moment.
But… I wasn't so foolish to believe that everything could or would end up as I envisioned it. There was bound to be some changes that derailed my plans and events that would go against my desires and wishes. The best option in such cases was to adapt and learn from any mistakes I would inevitably make.
There was the troll, the unicorn blood sucking teacher, a three headed dog and this whole sorcerer's stone. I was curious about what it could do. I won't lie that I had plans to steal it for myself, but with Dumbledore on the lockout; that's gonna be a major challenge. That headmaster could easily become my ally in this whole fiasco, but if I'm not careful, he might become a hurdle as well.
Draco was fine, he did well in the first movie. Now that Crabbe and Goyle weren't around to ruin his character, he might just end up being a normal Slytherin student. Sure he might get in trouble with the whole mudblood thing in the future… he won't die. The boy needs to learn from his mistakes on his own as well. I'll protect him when the need arrived, though aside from that, he's on his own.
Speaking of houses, there was a fifty-fifty percent chance that I would get chosen for either the Gryffindor house or Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw was impossible since I studied out of necessity for my future adventures instead of enjoying the act of learning itself. I wasn't a genius, merely an adult in the body of a child which gave me more time to learn than others.
Slytherin on the other hand…
'I am a Malfoy, so the hat might immediately sort me in Slytherin. As shown in the movies, it can be persuaded by the opinion of the wearer.' Harry was very close to being sorted in Slytherin, and that's what I was counting on.
Anyways, me and Draco woke up at five o' clock this morning and were too excited to go back to sleep. We got up and wore our premium designed wizard's robes — they really did an excellent job with these. Narcissa checked our Hogwarts list yet again to make sure we had everything we needed.
I saw my new pet Lucius got for my birthday; a Snowy owl. It was a large bird of the typical owl family Strigidae. With its very recognisable appearance due to its white feathers, yellow eyes and black beak. It was one of the largest species of owl I knew of.
"Ready Whitley?" I didn't know from where I got the name exactly, it popped in my head and sounded very familiar — probably from the many books I've read in my life.
It gave a screech of approval before I joined Malfoy in our private carriage which would lead to Hogsmeade, where we'll be able to catch the Hogwarts Express train.
My heart hammered in my chest, this was it… the day where I will officially embark on my journey as a wizard. A path that would test my every aspect to their limit, force me into scenarios that could cost me my life and so much more. Nevertheless, there was also the part of exploring the mystical part of this world, the creatures, mysterious areas and a well of spells to draw knowledge from.
"I hope we don't get any mudbloods sorted in our house," said Draco while looking out the window.
I chuckled at his tone, thankfully I knew he didn't really hate them. This was just Lucius lingering influence on him, which would disappear with time.
"Let's hope you don't get punched in the face by a mudblood in the future then…"
"Humph, as if they'll ever dare. Wastrels all of them. Also, no one will punch anyone in the face, only someone like you is crazy enough to do that."
Couldn't argue with that, I never was not claimed to be a brawler or saw myself as a violent person. Though if pushed back enough, I wouldn't hesitate to resort to such a thing. Seeing my brother's suspicious gaze, I decided to humor myself and try to scare him.
"I wonder how the teachers would react if I did that to one of th—" I got cut off.
"Don't you even think about it! I don't want to be expelled because of your idiocy!" I just chuckled at his outrage. What could be said… It was fun making him angry.
…
It took us about an hour's worth of time to arrive at the train station, leading us to our final destination. The iconic scene that drew many people from the movie, something I was glad to finally come to witness in person.
Boy was it a sight to remember.
A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. With the sign overhead saying Hogwarts Express, eleven o' clock. Draco already made his way inside while I stayed outside for a little longer and looked behind me and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. Standing there for the next few moments, I could help but drown in the feeling of nostalgia as more scene of the movie emerged in my head.
A young emaciated boy who would run inside with his ginger best friend.
"So that is where our main hero came from. I wonder if I missed his arrival or not." I muttered, shaking my head before going to drop my luggage and my pet owl.
Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Whitley hooted to another owl in a disgruntled sort of way. "Oi, don't try to look for a fight." I scolded the rather violent bird.
For an owl, he certainly had a nasty attitude. I wouldn't be surprised if he had the guts to face up against a Basilisk.
"Alright, time to board!" I brought my stuff to the storage compartment and gave my goodbyes to Whitley who was scaring up against another snowy owl.
.
.
.
Wait…
Wasn't that Hedwig?
"...Oh well, what can ya do?" I said, hoping Whiteley wouldn't do anything else. "Don't cause any trouble," I left him and entered the carriage.
The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. I had no idea where Draco was, nor did I worry too much about him. Some people who recognised the small Malfoy emblem embroidered on clothes immediately made way for me. I gave them a small nod, already knowing that they'll try to suck up in me in the future. It was when I passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Can someone help me, I lost my toad."
Oh shit! That was Neville! He looked just as chubby as his younger self in the movies. I didn't remember much concerning him in the next movie and basically nothing after that, still I hoped nothing bad would happen to the kid in this reality in a few years.
Concerning his pet, I wanted to help the poor boy but unfortunately didn't know how to do it. How the hell dis one search for a small toad in such a crowded train? You couldn't.
And there was nothing to worry about, he found the toad in Hogwarts.
I suspect someone played a prank on him or the pet hid itself in a suitcase.
"Can't believe mom doesn't want to ask the boy about You-Know-Who."
"She's right though, don't think I would even remember anything, let alone someone's face when he was nothing but a tiny baby. But ickle Ronniekins can ask him bout the scar, that's good enough."
"But hey, that whole blowing up toilets thing sure was interesting, ain't it?"
"Sure is, let's send her one as a joke."
"She'll scream our ears off, again, Fred."
"You backing away, George?"
"You know my answer."
""Let's blow up the Slytherin's toilets!"" The twin duo celebrated out loud. The surrounding students grew wary of these two trouble makers. So the Weasley were already on board, huh. didn't believe they'd appreciate a Malfoy coming to greet them. Especially Ron, he'd probably be a bit hostile towards me given his attitude to Draco in the first movie. But then again, Draco was the rude one and started the whole thing. The twins on the other hand, could be unpredictable.
Soon, I found myself a single empty room at the very end of the train. Feeling lucky I went inside and relaxed on the comfortable couch for half an hour before getting bored. "Shoot, I forgot to remove my Gameboy from the main luggage…" All I had with me was a small bag with a few books on magic and a few of my clothes.
I rummaged through my robe and pulled out my wand, which I still didn't give it an official name aside from Jonathan as a placeholder for now — given that it used to be my past name. Everything still felt surreal that I had an actual wand. The design was intricate enough for it to look like it was carved by an artist. The handle was a bit squared to allow for a better grip and I liked that it felt heavy in my hands.
I further rummaged through my pockets and found an unwrapped piece of chocolate.
"Let's try some spells."
Nodding my head, I dropped the piece in front of me, on the other side of the bench. I closed my eyes and concentrated on a single spell. For this to work, I needed to be clear minded and have any stray thoughts leave my being for the spell to be successful.
Imagination was one of a wizard's most powerful weapons. So I first picture the same scene of the chocolate lying still in front of me in my head. I imagined it slowly floating upwards, a few centimeters off the bench and remained still for a few moments before descending.
Taking a deep breath, I muttered a charm.
"Wingardium—"
Knock
Knock
"Hm?" My concentration was broken and I didn't even finish spelling out the charm.
I had just raised my wand when the compartment door slid open again. I saw someone very familiar. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes, just like me.
"Have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost one," she said. She had the same bossy sort of voice and lots of bushy brown hair.
"Wha…?"
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."
She sat down, not even asking for a seat and even closed the door behind her. I looked taken aback, she sure was forward. Kinda saw how she might have had issues getting friends of her age.
'Still… weren't you supposed to be with the protagonist and his sidekick!?' I remembered her going through the different rooms and stopping Harry's and Ron's when the latter was performing some magic on his rat. For her to end up here with me, delivering the same line which shouldn't be mentioned for me kinda felt weird. Was this what they called deviating canon?
This couldn't have been my fault, I made sure to not get into anyone's way so far! The most that happened was me greeting Neville, I struggled to believe that the action was the source for this unexpected change.
'Roll with it! Nothing can be done now.' I thought to myself, taking a deep breath to calm my thoughts. There was no need to worry about these changes for now, I would just continue how I was handling things so far.
And I was bored. Having a super smart eleven year old to talk to was a good way to pass the time.
"Just a simple thing really, no need to think too much of it." Closing my eyes and refocusing again, I pointed my wand at the piece of chocolate and muttered—without disturbance.
"Wingardium Leviosa." I made sure to pronounce the 'o' like she did in the movies.
"Well done!" Hermione clapped her hands as she saw the chocolate float in the air. "You did it on your first try, I can see you've studied at least."
"Thanks, again, it's not much. Here," the floating piece of chocolate floated over her face and dropped on her hands. "For you." She was a bit surprised by my gesture, but ended up accepting the act of kindness.
"No need to be humble, not many of the people of our age here could perform a spell like that. I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"
Should I tell her my full name? I don't think she has any bad blood between my family or even a bad view of our family, yet. First impressions were rather important, so if I had acted like Draco, then things could have gone bad and would have given her a negative view of Slytherin and the Malfoys.
So, I made sure to repeat the phrase inside my head before speaking it outloud.
"Jarius Malfoy, a pleasure to meet you, Miss Granger. I hope we can become friends."
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The next 5 chapters are already available on my p@treon at /NimtheWriter. Also find my other works with some commissioned art works there.
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