On Their Way
Kayla Flynn looked about her room one last time to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. Her trunk was already brimming with all her new school things. Soon she would be leaving for King's Cross Station to board the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Excitement rushed through Kayla.
It didn't look like she was forgetting anything so she closed and locked her trunk and began to drag it to her bedroom door.
Well, she tried to begin dragging it. But it wouldn't budge. It was much too heavy for just her. Kayla tugged on it again. No go. Kayla looked over her shoulder at her slightly open door. She had a plan, but it would only be safe if her mom was at least down stairs. There was no movement in the hall. Kayla took out her new wand, 15 inches, holly, and a phoenix feather. Under age magic was strictly forbidden outside of Hogwarts, but one little spell shouldn't be enough to cause trouble. Kayla whispered the spell she had heard her father use so many times.
"Pennonus." Kayla tugged the trunk experimentally. It moved easily. She smiled to herself.
"Kayla!"
Kayla jumped and spun around, keeping her wand hidden. Her mother stood in her doorway.
"Er, yes mum?" she asked innocently.
But it appeared as if her mother hadn’t seen her illegal spell work. "Hurry up, or you'll miss the train! Dad's already waiting for you downstairs!"
"Oh, er, alright, Mum, I'll be right down." Kayla sighed with relief as her mother went back downstairs. She rubbed the spot where her glasses sat on her nose, letting the sudden tension leave her. That was bloody close.
A few minutes later Kayla had brought her feather light trunk downstairs. Her dad was waiting for her, just as Mum had said. He went to grab the trunk as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh, no thanks Dad, I got it," she said, pushing past him and taking the trunk all the way out the door. Kayla put her trunk in the boot of the car and gave her mum a hug.
"See you at Christmas," Mum said. "And you'd better write."
"I will Mum."
“See you, sis,” Kayla’s older sister Abbey said as they hugged. As a squib Abbey had never been to Hogwarts and would never go, though she was two years older than Kayla. Instead the sisters said their farewells with more promises to write and see each other at Christmas.
Kayla got into the car as her dad slid into his own place. Just as he started the engine an owl appeared in the sky. Kayla's grey-green eyes widened and she rolled up her window and locked her door. That did nothing to muffle the sound her mother made when she read the letter the bird had brought.
"KAYLA FLYNN!!! NOT EVEN TAKEN ONE STEP INSIDE HOGWARTS AND ALREADY I'M GETTING MAIL ABOUT YOU?!?!?!?!"
"Drive Dad!" Kayla said frantically as her mother came towards the car brandishing the letter in her hand. To her relief Dad hit the accelerator and they were off. Kayla sighed in relief as her house and mother disappeared with distance.
King’s Cross Station was only minutes away from the Flynn house. Already the station was bustling with suspicious looking characters. Of course, such people could only be distinguished by wizards and the muggles were, as always, oblivious. Kayla looked about with a smile on her face at all of her obvious school mates. She recognized a few faces as children of her parents friends whom she had grown up with, but there were plenty more she had never seen before.
Kayla and Mr. Flynn stood back as the crowd around Platform 9 ¾ dissipated. Too many wizards in one spot meant that even muggles were likely to notice something odd in the least. Their turn came soon enough however and Kayla, as the younger sister of a squib, took her first step through the hidden barrier.
And there in front of her, so bright red it hurt her eyes, was the Hogwarts Express.
Even more people were already standing on the platform, from parents already waving to the train windows, to first years like her looking scared and lost.
Kayla was herself unafraid. She had been waiting for this day for eleven years. And yet, for some reason she felt as if she were unable to move her feather-light trunk. Getting on that train meant she would be going far away from her family and wouldn’t see them until Christmas.
Kayla took a deep breath and turned to her father. The only thing to do would be to push past this first obstacle.
“Well, I’d better go find a good seat.” She hugged her dad.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t get your first Howler at breakfast tomorrow,” Mr. Flynn said. “I’m sure I could convince Mum to wait till Tuesday.”
Emma laughed and stepped away. Then her face turned serious. “Do you think I’ll get in trouble with the ministry?”
Mr. Flynn laughed. “Everyone experiments with their magic before going to Hogwarts. The letters that come at that time are just to scare you. Mind you, you had better not be doing magic when you come home. By then you are supposed to know better and you will get in trouble.”
“Right.” Kayla hugged her dad once more. “Alright, I’ll be seeing you.” She waved as she pulled her trunk towards the train.
Getting the trunk into the car was easy enough with the spell on it. But suddenly, despite the weigh, everything got much more difficult as the narrow aisles were full of students. They all seemed to be trying to go towards the front of the train, so Kayla turned and went towards the back. She’d deal with the other students later, when she was more used to her surroundings. For now she wanted nothing more than to find a place to sit.
Already compartments were bustling with students, and the chatter was incessant. For a while, the only quiet compartments Kayla could find contained surly looking older students who would no doubt throw her out on her ear before she even opened the door all the way. And so Kayla pressed on.
Finally a compartment was found. At first Kayla thought it was empty, but once inside she saw that it had one occupant. A girl with a messy brown pony-tail much like Kayla’s own sat near the window. She was looking out the window, but a book was closed around her finger, keeping her place. At first she didn’t look up, but when Kayla sat down the girl gave a shy smile. Kayla smiled as well but remained silent as she also looked out the window.
The crowd was thinning and the train was whistling as it prepared to move. Kayla caught site of her father, standing on the platform and waved. The girl across from her had also spotted her parents and was waving as well.
The train started to move. Kayla’s heart skipped a beat at the first jolt. She leaned back in her seat and took a breath. The other girl was also sitting back and had her book in her lap. But the book was closed, and the girl just stared at the cover.
“This your first year too?” Kayla asked, though it was obvious. She was simply trying to break the ice. The silence was turning awkward.
The girl looked up and nodded at the question. She picked a real bookmark up off the seat and placed it in the book. “Yeah, it’s my first year. And my first time knowing I’ll be at one school for a whole year.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kayla was a bit surprised by the sudden rise of an actual conversation, but it beat sitting in silence.
“Well, my family has always moved a lot, so I’ve already been to a grip of different schools.”
“Wow. I’ve never been to one school. You must be muggle-born then.”
“Yeah. I’m Bryce.”
“I’m Kayla.”
“Do wizards and witches not go to primary school before Hogwarts then?”
“Not usually. It can be a bit awkward for a wizarding child to be in school when their magic is so unstable.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess I can imagine that.” Bryce was silent again, staring out the window. Already the train seemed to be passing through open countryside. Kayla also looked as new sites went by.
“Are we going north?” came the sudden question from Bryce. Kayla looked at the girl and her eyebrows went up. Bryce was facing upwards with the top of her head against the window and was looking up as if trying to see the top of the sky or maybe the sun.
“Er, I don’t know,” was Kayla’s uncertain reply.
“I think we’re going north.” Bryce straightened up again, with her head right side up. “Well, that’s a bit ridiculous.”
“What is?”
“Well, my family drove all the way to London so I could catch this train, but now it looks like I’m going back the way I came.”
Kayla laughed. “I guess that is a little ridiculous.”
Conversation was easy after that and the rest of the ride was spent companionably, with much conversation and some laughter.
