Reconciliation of the Prefects
Liam led Mrs. Parker and her son away from the platform entrance so they were out of the way of others coming through the barrier. “You’re so kind to us,” said Mrs. Parker. “I was beginning to panic.”
“Not to worry,” said Liam. “I was a First Year once. I needed help getting through the barrier the first time as well.”
“It’s been such a whirlwind since we received our pamphlet. I’ve always known Richie was a special boy, but I didn’t realize there was a whole country of people with their own government. The woman from Ministry was so kind.”
“Who did your orientation?” asked Liam.
In answer to his question, Hermione Granger herself came through the barrier. In her arms was a small child. “Oh, Mrs. Parker. I’m so glad you made it through the barrier. I apologize for being late. Life with young children is unpredictable, as you know.”
“Of course. This nice young man helped us through.”
Liam extended his hand. “Hullo, Ms. Granger. I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Liam Wren, and this is my brother Patrick.”
“I do remember you,” she said, setting down her child to shake his hand. “NMP, but a wizard uncle somewhere along the line.”
“That’s right.”
“He’s a prefect now!” interjected Richie.
“Oh, congratulations!” She shook his hand again. “My old friend Neville is coming to teach Herbology this year. He and his wife should be coming through soon. And Harry, whom I believe you have met, will be here, too, to see off his godson.”
Liam shook Mrs. Parker’s hand and then set his hand on Richie Parker’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s stash your stuff on the train.”
The train was still mostly empty. Liam picked a compartment at random and stashed his case, along with Richie and Patrick’s. Patrick said, “She mentioned Harry. Did she mean Harry Potter?”
“Yes.”
“You met him?”
“Mmm-hmm,” said Liam, idly. “He came to campus when I was a Second Year, and I met him.”
“Why is it that I’m a Gryffindor, and I haven’t met the famous Harry Potter, and you’re a Hufflepuff and you have?”
“That’s how it goes, Pat,” said Liam.
The first of Liam’s friends to come through the barrier was Vanessa, with her parents right beside her. Her mother had the same long blond hair and light blue eyes as Vanessa had. The father, meanwhile, looked to be considerably older. Vanessa gave her parents a wave and walked straight up to Liam, her enchanted trunk following behind her.
She gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the mouth. “Where’s your badge, Mr. Prefect,” she said, pushing a long finger into his chest.
“Oh, it’s in my pocket,” said Liam. He fished it out and pinned it to his shirt. “Didn’t want to wear it on the train ride down, see.”
She gave a questioning look to Richie, who was lingering by Liam’s side, gazing wide-eyed up at her. “This is Richie. He’s a First Year,” said Liam. “I’m watching over him for a bit. We’ll see if we can pair him up with some other First Year boys.”
“How would you even know who the First Year boys are?” wondered Vanessa.
“Hermione Granger’s here, doing orientation, making sure people make it through the barrier. I’m watching for her to bring somebody else along.”
Just then, Hermione came through the barrier with another young boy. “There you go!” said Liam to Richie. “Why don’t you introduce yourself to that boy. He’s new, just like you.” Richie ran off.
Vanessa gazed critically at Hermione. “You know, I walked right by that woman at the station, and I didn’t realize who she was. Is she really Granger the War Hero?”
“Yes. I met her as a First Year. She did orientation with me.”
Another group came through the barrier, a man and a woman with a young brown-haired boy. The trio stopped where Hermione was standing. The young boys were all introduced, including Richie. The man, with dark untidy hair and round frame glasses, gave Hermione a hug.
“Is that who I think it is?” asked Vanessa.
“Yes,” said Liam. “That’s Harry Potter. Granger said that was his godson.”
“Liam acts like he knows Potter,” said Patrick. “They’re old chums.”
“I didn’t say I knew him,” said Liam. “I met him once. I’m sure he doesn’t remember me.”
“When was this?” asked Vanessa.
“When we were Second Years. He visited campus. Don’t you remember?”
“I guess I don’t,” said Vanessa.
“I hear there’s another war hero coming to campus this term, too. The new Herbology teacher.”
“Longbottom,” said Vanessa. “I did hear about that.” Sadie walked by wearing her prefect badge. She smiled at Liam but did not stop to talk. “I heard there was quite an uproar in Ravenclaw circles when they heard Thompson would be prefect. Addlesson was furious.”
“Yeah, well I’m happy for Sadie,” said Liam. “I’m also happy I don’t have to deal with Addlesson as a fellow prefect.” This made Vanessa laugh.
“Who’s the girl prefect on the Hufflepuff side, do you know?” asked Vanessa.
“No, I don’t. I’ve been out of touch with those girls. It doesn’t matter to me who it is.”
“Umberto’s money is on Guishar, and he’s usually right about things like this.”
“Yeah, I’d say that was a good bet, too,” agreed Liam.
Michael Bendrix greeted them. “Uh-oh! Prefect! We better behave ourselves!”
“You especially, mate,” said Liam. He shook Michael’s hand.
Michael’s eyes glazed over as he smiled at Vanessa. “Nice summer, Ables?” he managed to say.
“Yes, thanks!”
It was getting close to eleven. Liam brought Vanessa’s trunk aboard the train while she selected a compartment. Michael sat across from her, while Liam went back onto the platform. He wanted to check on the little boys. He gazed down the row and saw Richie climbing the steps on to the train.
Walking through the crowd was a handsome couple: a tall dark-haired young man with a pretty blond woman on his arm. As they passed Liam by, he heard the woman say, “God, Nev, they’re gawping at you like you’re a zoo animal.”
“You never know, sweet,” said the man. “There could be Hufflepuffs in this crowd saying, ‘Look! There’s Hannah Abbott.’”
“Will you hush!” said the woman, blushing.
That was Liam’s first glimpse of Neville Longbottom and his wife Hannah Abbott. They walked a little further down the platform and entered the next car. The platform was emptying out, except for parents waving at the windows. He got back on board and took his seat next to Vanessa.
The boys were sharing stories of their summer adventures for her benefit. In the background, Vanessa’s long strands of blond hair were singing like a choir. He slipped his arm around her and immediately collected a few hairs on his arm. The singing was right at the edge of hearing, but it was warm and comforting.
At ten minutes to one, after a quick lunch with his friends, Liam stepped out into the corridor. There waiting for him, her prefect badge pinned to her robe, was Lara Guishar. As soon as he set his eyes on Lara, the long, silver-white hairs on his robe and shirt immediately stopped singing.
“Oh! Congratulations,” said Liam. “We weren’t sure which of you girls got elected.” She was gazing at him, but her mind was momentarily elsewhere. Liam wondered if she wasn’t having a vision. “You alright?” he asked.
She snapped back into her present moment. “Yes I am, thank you. Congratulations to you, as well.”
They walked down the corridor together. Though Vanessa was considered by many to be the most beautiful girl in his year, she never made Liam feel as nervous or tongue-tied the way Lara did. Lara was beautiful, too, with golden blond hair and deep brown eyes that could gaze beyond the current moment into the past or the future. Liam had once saved her life, and though he spent very little time with her otherwise, the foundations for a strong bond between them was already laid.
Liam pulled the door open to the next car and let her go ahead of him. “You have a nice summer?” asked Liam.
“Yes I did. Very relaxing. Are you happy to be back among wizards and witches?”
“You have no idea. I love my mum and all, but it kills me not to use magic or fly a broom for three months.”
“I couldn’t imagine going three months without doing magic.”
“Well, Patty and I do a little, but we really have to keep it to ourselves.”
They reached the car where the prefects were gathering. Ronald Reuel of Ravenclaw went in just ahead of them. There to greet them was Mary O’Leary. Now a Seventh Year, Mary had been a prefect for Hufflepuff. In the last term, she had gently teased Liam about his growing intimacy with Vanessa Ables.
Mary, in her Irish brogue, said, “Here you are! I’m so proud of the two of you. Wrapping one arm around Liam and the other around Lara, she gave them both a firm hug.
Liam surveyed the compartment. It was larger than was typical for the Express, with a wide-open space between the two rows of seats. Besides the three Hufflepuffs, there was Morwena Felwich and Umberto Calais from Slytherin, Sadie Thompson and Ronald Reuel from Ravenclaw, and Dave Evans and Alma Krauss from Gryffindor.
Sadie slipped to Liam’s side, and he gave her a brief hug. “Congrats,” he said softly, and she beamed up at him.
Mary spoke. “Alright, let’s get started with prefect orientation. Now at this point, you should be familiar with everyone in the room. Some of your fellow prefects will be friends of yours, and some only acquaintances. It is important that we all work together, that we speak with one voice. The magic that we wield can be very dangerous. That is the circumstances where, as prefects, we need to intervene – when a student presents a danger to themselves or others. In those times, it is imperative that we have good cooperation across the entire prefect team. There can be no jealousies, no tiffs, no inter-House rivalries between the prefects.
“The first thing that we’ll do today is what we call ‘Reconciliation.’ If there’s something you need to apologize for, whatever it is, this the time to do it. There’s no staff here. It’s just us. What we say here stays in this room. We need to settle any grievances between us before we can learn to work together.”
Mary stepped to the side and sat down. For a moment, no one else moved. Then, Morwena crossed the room and approached Sadie. Instinctively, Sadie moved closer to Liam’s side, and Liam set his hand at the small of her back.
Morwena gazed into Sadie’s eyes. “Thompson,” she said, “I know I was awful to you several times over the years, especially when we were First Years. I knew I should have apologized before now. I was genuinely thrilled to hear that you had been elected prefect. It shows the hard work that you’ve done, not only in class but in your efforts to build your friendships outside of your House. I hope you’ll forgive me, and I do look forward to working with you.”
Sadie flushed, and for a moment she was at a loss for words, but then she stuck out her hand. Morwena took it with both of hers. “I accept your apology, Felwich. Congratulations on your election.”
Morwena’s dark eyes moved to Liam’s. The confidence she exuded when talking to Sadie seemed to evaporate. Liam stuck out his hand, and, like she did with Sadie, Morwena took and held it with both of hers. “If Kane and I can bury the hatchet, Felwich, you and I can do the same,” he said.
“Yes, I’d like that very much. Congratulations on your election.”
“Same to you.”
Morwena moved on to Lara, who gave her a warm hug. Alma came over and hugged Sadie. Looking up at Liam, Alma said, “Hi, I’m Alma.”
“I know who you are,” said Liam.
“I wasn’t sure,” said Alma, blushing. “We’ve never talked.”
Dave and Umberto shook hands with each other, and then with Reuel, then again with Liam. Ronald Reuel always struck Liam as aloof and arrogant, but the two had never clashed the way Liam tangled with Calliope Addlessen. Liam shook his hand, and Ronald nodded. That was all the reconciliation the two boys needed.
Sadie meanwhile slipped by Liam and said to Lara, “I’m sorry I hexed you when we were Third Years. I’ve always been a little jealous of you, and that day I was insanely jealous.”
Lara reached out her arms and gave Sadie a hug. “Sadie, I forgive you, and I understood even then.”
“Thank you!” Sadie brushed a tear from her eye.
Mary spoke up once more. “If that’s all settled, then let’s take a seat and we’ll continue.” They took a seat on the long bench. Liam sat between Lara and Sadie, while Alma sat on Sadie’s other side. Morwena sat beside Umberto, followed by Dave and Ronald.
“The first thing I’ll have you do is patrol the hallways of the train. We want no horseplay, no intra-House pranks and no bullying. Be respectful of the older students. They won’t take lightly to being ordered around by a Fifth Year. If a couple is being a little too amorous, come and get me and I’ll deal with it.
“You can’t assign detention, nor can you give or take away House points. You can give referrals to Professor Gregor, who can do all of that and more. You want to be prudent and sparing with those referrals. Most situations can be resolved simply by talking. A stern word is usually all it takes. Never in my two years as prefect did I as much as draw my wand in anger at a student who was misbehaving.>
“I’ll be sending you out boy-girl. That way, someone can always go into the loo if there’s a need. And, I’ll mix up your Houses, the better to foster Inter-House Cooperation, as Professor McGonagall is fond of saying.”
For his first patrol, Liam set out with Alma Krauss of Gryffindor. The top of her head barely reached his shoulder. They walked to the very farthest car. Between cars, Liam held the door open for Alma, which brought an embarrassed blush to her cheeks.
“It’s weird,” she said finally. “You and I, we’ve never hung out before, but I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
“Sure,” he said. “We’ve been going to the same school since we were eleven.”
“It’s more than that,” said Alma. “I’m friends with Jill, see, and Sadie. And us girls, we talk. A whole lot more than you boys do. About everything.”
“So, Sadie was complaining about me?” asked Liam.
"At the end, she was complaining, but I heard about all the good things, too.”
“That’s good.”
“And your special custom spells.”
“Oh yeah.” She told Alma about the heat spell, Liam realized. Liam’s heat spell warmed him up, but it gave girls intense pleasure. Vanessa was very fond of this spell, but Liam had used it on a few other girls, too. Sadie was able to describe the spell’s effects with scientific precision.
“Don’t worry,” he said, blushing now himself, “I don’t use those custom spells on just anybody. Those are ‘invitation only.’”
“That’s good!” said Alma with a laugh.
When they reached the farthest car, they checked the boys and girls loo, and found them empty. They slowly made their way back. Before they reached the door to the next car, however, the train began to round a wide, arcing curve. Alma lost her balance and staggered into Liam. For a moment, his arm came around her, and he steadied her.
She pulled away, but gazed up at him, smiling and blushing. “You are exactly as they said you were,” she said.
Just then, the door between the cars opened, and there was Vanessa. She gazed malevolently at Alma with her ice blue eyes. “Hullo, Krauss,” she said bitterly. “Congratulations on your election.”
“Thank you, Ables,” responded Alma, coolly.
“We’re on patrol,” said Liam. “Did you need something?”
She glared at him. She must have seen the smile between us and not liked it, thought Liam.
“If you’re looking for an open loo, there’s one back there,” said Alma. “It’s clean as a whistle.”
Vanessa walked between the two prefects. She set a hand over Liam’s heart as she passed him, then she disappeared into the girls’ loo.
“Sorry about that, Wren,” said Alma. “Do you think she saw me crash into you? I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Liam. “It’s my problem. I’ll take care of it.” With a grin, he added, “I bet Sadie and Jill had a bit to say about me and Nessa.”
Alma laughed. “Yes, they did.”