Return to Hogwarts (Elijah's POV)
He sat on the edge of his bed, watching Frankie hop around the piles of clothes scattered around. Half his things were in his trunk and he decided to take a break from packing. “Eli! We’re leaving for the train first thing in the morning!” His mum shouted from somewhere down the hall. Be packed tonight!”
“Okay!”
Frankie’s gray fur helped him not blend in and Elijah moved carefully, throwing the rest of his clothes inside the trunk, along with his books. He also made sure he had everything Frankie needed before closing it. “Hey, Mum, if I need more food for Frankie, will you send it?”
“Yes, dear, we will.” She poked her head in. “And clean your room, Elijah Orion. You aren’t in a zoo.”
The next day, trunk and cage ready, he walked through the barrier to Platform 9 and ¾ with Victoria as Remus was sick again. “Bye Mum.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too. Be careful. And have fun.”
“I will!”
As soon as his trunk was on the train, he climbed on as well, heading down the cars until he spotted Oscar sitting with Anthony Goldstein and another Ravenclaw he didn’t know by name. “Good summer?” He asked the other two, sitting down across from his friend.
“Yeah, you?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, Eli, this is Michael Corner.” Elijah nodded his head at the boy sitting by him. “You spotted Ryan yet?”
“No, thank Merlin.” Elijah opened Frankie’s cage, taking him out. “Hopefully we won’t see her until classes start again.”
“You’re always so mean to her.” Oscar chided. “And she’s nothing but sweet.”
“And annoying, Oz.”
Oscar shot him a look but said nothing else about Ryan. “Is that a rabbit?” Anthony asked.
“Yeah, his name’s Frankie.”
The tiny gray bunny got passed around, eventually falling asleep on Oscar’s shoulder. “Anything off the trolley, dears?”
Michael bought chocolate frogs for all of them, each looking at the cards. “Oh, sweet, I’ve got Slytherin.” Elijah tucked the card away. “Now I just need Dumbledore.”
“Here.” Michael handed his card over. “I don’t collect them; the moving pictures freak my Mum out.”
“She a muggle?”
“Yeah. Met my dad at the station, actually, his sixth year here.”
“That’s cute.” Oscar smiled. “My parents met when my dad fell through the window of my grandparents’ cafe.”
“Mine met at the synagogue.” Anthony said through the candy in his mouth. “Pretty sure it was an arranged marriage, but they’re happy.”
“My dad stays with us sometimes, but I don’t think they were ever together. I was a surprise.” Elijah said wryly.
The other three laughed and conversation turned to the upcoming school year.
All too soon, the train slowed down and stopped; the boys got off and headed with the crowd into the castle, Elijah separating from the three Ravenclaws and sitting down at his table with the other Hufflepuffs. He greeted his housemates with a quick smile, taking a seat beside Hannah Abbott, and across from their new fifth year prefect, Cedric Diggory. “Are you trying out for Quidditch, Holmes?” Cedric asked. “It runs in your family.”
“Oh, no, thank you.” He nervously laughed. “I have a problem with heights.”
“Ah. No worries.”
“I’ll be at most of the games though. I like to watch it.”
“Good! Maybe see if you can start commentating some to give Jordan a break.”
“I’ll look into that. Thanks, Cedric.”
He glanced around as the new first years made their way in, shivering, and noticed that Professor Snape was strangely gone, as was two of the Gryffindor trio. He thought nothing of it, though, as Professor McGonagall started the Sorting. “Addams, Issac!”
“HUFFLEPUFF!”
“Creevey, Collin!”
“GRYFFINDOR!”
“Greengrass, Astoria!”
“SLYTHERIN!”
She kept going down the list. “Harper, Ansel!”
“SLYTHERIN!”
“Lovegood, Luna!”
“RAVENCLAW!”
“Vane, Romilda!”
“GRYFFINDOR!”
“Weasley, Ginevra!”
“GRYFFINDOR!”
The little redhead was the last one to be sorted, and at Dumbledore’s gesture, the feast appeared. Elijah wasted no time in filling his plate. As much as he loved his mother, there was one thing Hogwarts did better, and that was the food.
As he ate, Ernie MacMillian, another boy in his dorm leaned over the table. “Wonder where McGonagall and Dumbledore went off to?”
“No idea, Ern.” He swallowed his food. “Maybe someone’s already getting expelled.”
The group of second years sitting together laughed. “Maybe Snape’s getting expelled.” Susan Bones giggled, causing another round of laughter at the table.
When the professors returned (with Snape, unfortunately), the feast was over, and Elijah walked into his dorm once more, finding Frankie eating some lettuce by his bed. He gave him a pat on the head and flopped down, quickly falling asleep.