บท 12: Journey to Hogwarts

'Pendragon? …So they still exist..' was the first thing that came to Gavin's mind as soon as he heard Brandon introduce himself.

He wasn't too surprised because he had half-expected it. After all, if a family that could harness the power of griffins could exist, what was stopping other families from harnessing the power of the other divine beasts? Though he had no proof that the Pendragons were such a family, he had a hunch that they were, especially because that was the family of Merlin and King Arthur.

Regardless, it was still too early to draw conclusions, so he put the thought at the back of his mind.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Brandon." Gavin replied cordially, smiling at Brandon.

'This guy is even more handsome than me.' Brandon thought, looking at Gavin as Gavin said that to him.

He wasn't one to focus on physical appearances but all his life he had always been the center of attention because of his looks, and he had never seen anyone with a face as handsome as his. So it was pleasantly surprising to meet someone who had such a striking face.

'He's also an Everhart…Mother emphasized to stay away from them if i met any. Should i still stay here?....Ah, fuck it, i don't care. He seems nice anyways, maybe mother is just being paranoid.' Brandon mused.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a euphonious feminine voice that seemed to originate from behind him.

"Are you going in? I wanted to sit in there, most of the other compartments are filled to the brim." The voice said.

Gavin and Brandon turned their heads to see who was the source of the voice. It was from a young girl, who looked around their age. She had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, slightly chubby cheeks and a rather attractive face.

'Never seen her before…wonder who she is.' Gavin thought as he looked at the girl.

'She's really cute.' Brandon thought as he looked at the blonde haired girl.

"Yeah, I was just going in. Sorry about that. Name's Brandon Pendragon by the way." Brandon said as he entered the compartment and sat down on the seat opposite Gavin.

"Gavin Everhart. Gav for short." Gavin said with a smile, looking at the girl.

The girl looked at Brandon and Gavin, though longer at Gavin. She was a bit taken aback by his face, though she quickly composed herself and said with a smile.

"Daphne Greengrass. Never thought I'd be meeting the famous Everhart and Pendragon houses on the train to Hogwarts." The girl chuckled and introduced herself, sitting down near Brandon subconsciously.

Though they weren't part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the Everhart and Pendragon families were both well known wealthy pureblood families in the wizarding world. Especially the Pendragons due to their combined ancestry of both Merlin and King Arthur. They were the most popular pureblood wizarding family in Britain.

"Likewise. It's certainly a pleasure meeting someone from one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight houses." Brandon spoke first, with an amiable smile.

"Pleasure to meet you Daphne." Gavin said, though he was inwardly surprised. She certainly looked very different from the movies.

"Are the two of you first years as well?" Brandon then asked.

Gavin and Daphne hummed in affirmation. Daphne then followed up Brandon's question and added, "You guys excited for Hogwarts?"

"I'm very excited, especially for quidditch. I can't wait to feel the rush of the wind as I chase down the quaffle, d'you know what I mean?" Gavin spoke first, with a faint smile.

"Oh, I definitely know what you mean. I play chaser as well. I can't wait to play and win the Inter-House Quidditch cup." Brandon added excitedly, in a confident manner.

"That's brilliant." Gavin replied to Brandon, before turning to Daphne and asking

"What about you?"

"Not that much honestly. I just hope I get sorted into Slytherin and be great at school so I can live up to my parents' expectations of me. It's honestly rather tiring to worry about." Daphne responded, with a wry smile.

"I see, I'm sure you'll make them proud and have fun at Hogwarts." Gavin replied, attempting to ease her up. Though to be honest, he knew she would be just fine because she would end up in Slytherin and have good grades. She was quite intelligent after all. Daphne just nodded and smiled faintly then changed the subject.

"Right, what about you guys? What houses would you like to be in?"

"Definitely Gryffindor, that's where my dad went." Brandon said, smiling and beaming with pride.

"Don't really have any preference to be honest. All the houses are pretty great in my opinion. Though, I would prefer to not be in Gryffindor because my brother is there. I want to play against him in quidditch and wipe his arse." Gavin said with a smirk, to which Brandon and Daphne laughed.

The trio continued to chat happily, discussing Hogwarts subjects, magic, and other things. No one else joined the compartment after Daphne, so they had the entire compartment to themselves. Gavin enjoyed talking to them both. Brandon reminded him of Cass a little, and Daphne was funny and interesting to converse with.

Gavin also learned a few things about Brandon. Apparently, he grew up in England alone with his mother while his father and the rest of the Pendragons lived in America. Gavin was surprised when he heard that, he wondered the reason behind it and had asked Brandon but Brandon said that he didn't know and that his mother never told him why even when he asked her.

The trio didn't get anything from the trolly when it came. Gavin wasn't a fan of sweets, Brandon said he was saving room for the feast at Hogwarts and Daphne wasn't really hungry.

Hours went by and soon, the train was nearing Hogwarts.

"We should probably get changed, we're nearly at Hogwarts." Daphne said as she opened the door to the compartment and stepped inside it.

Gavin was reading a book about Arithmancy that he got from the Everhart library and Brandon was reading 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration' by Emeric Switch , the first year book for Transfiguration at Hogwarts that Gavin gave him to read when he asked for it. Gavin put down his book and looked at Daphne.

"Yeah, we probably should. Do you want to change in the compartment first while we wait outside?" he asked.

Daphne was about to respond to the question when Brandon suddenly dropped his book and interjected.

"Course she is Gav, be a gentleman." He chuckled, getting up and leaving the compartment.

" I was just asking." Gavin laughed and followed Brandon outside, leaving the compartment for Daphne.

The trio quickly changed into their pre-sorting uniforms and got ready to leave the train.

"WOAH!" Brandon suddenly exclaimed as he looked out the window.

Confused, Gavin and Daphne followed suit, trying to decipher the source of Brandon's exclamation. Their gaze was immediately drawn to a majestic and archaic castle, standing imposingly in all its glory. Both of them slightly opened their mouths, awestruck at the sight.

"It's beautiful…" Gavin said, smiling. This was it. He was finally here at Hogwarts, the stuff of his dreams. He immediately became excited and couldn't wait to explore its secrets.

"Yeah it is." Daphne agreed, nodding her head vigorously.

A screeching sound was then heard, snapping the trio out of their thoughts.

"Trains stopped. Let's go before the other students get out of their compartments, I hate crowds." Gavin said as he stood up and headed towards the compartment door, leaving his briefcase behind. Daphne and Brandon nodded and followed suit.

They made their way off the train, successfully avoiding most of the crowd and exited it, coming upon a tiny dark platform. The trio quickly stood to the side of the train, leaving the entrance for the flood of students that would soon move out of it.

Not knowing where to go, they stood at a spot and made small talk in order to pass the time. After a few minutes, all of the first years were standing on the same dark platform.

Gavin was still talking to Daphne and Brandon when he suddenly heard the loud, booming voice he had been waiting for.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" The voice shouted, drawing closer to the crowd of young students.