Hogwarts Express|O Children|Chapter 1
“Please don't go!! It won’t be the same without you, y’know.”
With a pleading tone, Charlie clung onto Bill's sleeve and attempted to bring him closer. Feeling Charlie's touch, Bill chuckled and gave his hair a little rub.
“Don’t be silly, Chucklechops.”
Bill used a funny nickname to lighten the mood. He hated to see his little brother already sad, but he had no choice. Besides, Bill was far more excited about the trip than he seemed to be, dreaming about school day and night.
“You’ll be going there soon. Just wait a couple years, alright?”
Charlie shaked his head and stepped back, letting Bill get onto the train. Suddenly, he felt his older brother, already too tall for an eleven-year-old, hugging him close to his chest and giving him a smile. Charlie hugged Bill back and whispered before all the other family members joined the hug.
“I’m gonna miss you.”
Bill nodded, hugging all the other Weasleys, and said, turning around and getting onto the Hogwarts Express.
“Gon’ miss you all, too! See you at Christmas!”
Bill stepped inside of the train and found a free train compartment. He sat down, placing his luggage under his seat, and stared out of the window, seeing his family turn to leave the platform. He saw all his little siblings’ backs, and suddenly, wasn’t feeling so excited anymore.
Bill could tell that Charlie was miserable back at the platform. It was no surprise: Bill was his best friend, and Charlie already felt abandoned. Bill couldn’t step out of the train which had already started moving while he was contemplating his little brother’s emotions, and all he could do was wait for Charlie to be old enough to attend Hogwarts as well.
Trees, mountains and lakes were appearing to flash outside of the window, but Bill had no interest in watching. He sat all alone in that train compartment — where the hell are all the people?
“Och, laddie, mind if Ah sit with yeh?”
A dark-haired head peeked out of the doorway: at first, seeing how the hair was tangled and unkept, Bill thought it was a long-haired boy, but hearing the deafening voice with a strong Scottish accent, he realized he was wrong.
In a second, he saw a short girl around his age with eyes almost just as blue as Bill’s, but with a shade of green in the tone. She was looking sloppy because of her tangled hair, but overall, her appearance was lovely. She stood in the doorway, expecting an answer.
“Why are you screaming? Come in, sit. There’s no one else here.”
Bill answered, studying the loud Scottish girl. She frowned and exclaimed even louder than before, walking in and shaking Bill’s hand in a friendly gesture.
“Ah didnae scream!!!” Feeling Bill shaking her little hand in response, she added. “Thanks, all th’others were hoachin’. Ah’m ur Alexi.”
Bill sighed, putting up with her volume and the fact she won’t speak quieter. He gave her a welcoming smile and felt her sitting beside him.
“I’m Bill. Bill Weasley. Are you also a first-year?”
Suddenly, Alexi pulled out a hairbrush, trying to brush her hair but only making the hairbrush stuck in her dark brown tangled locks.
“Feck! Th’ fifth one this month!”
She got the hairbrush out of her hair and threw it in the window, making it crack a little bit. As if trying to distract Bill from the cracking window, she finally answered his question.
“Aye, first-year jus’ li’ yeh. Yeh worried aboot the sortin’? Euphie still didnae tell meh how the students get sorted. Ah asked her an’ she began tellin’ mince aboot eagles and ravens, an’ then aboot turtles. She’s always changing the topic!”
That Euphie piqued Bill’s interest for sure, but he didn’t want to seem nosy because of asking too many questions. Coming from a family with seven kids, he respected the others’ privacy, because privacy was the thing he lacked back at home.
“Nah, I’ll be a Gryffindor for sure. My parents used to be in this house. And about the sorting? I don’t actually know how it’s done.”
Bill shrugged and looked at Alexi’s dangled hair again.
“Do you need some help? I know a spell that might make your hair smooth.”
Alexi joyfully nodded and gasped in amazement when the tangles in her dark brown hair disappeared with the help of a simple spell. Now her hairstyle looked much neater, despite the frizzy texture of her locks.
“Did yer parents also go tae Hogwarts? Mine are jus’ regular people, jus’ historians in an archive… and Ah’m a witch, like Euphie and Mary! Ah couldnae believe it! I still cannae, actually.”
“Yes, all my relatives are witches and wizards.”
Bill answered, turning his head to Alexi and looking into her eyes. Alexi tilted her head and asked, just as loud as usual.
“Jings! Magic sounds so fascinatin’! Ah wonder, will Ah be stupider than y’all wizards? Ah’wis raised as a muggle, y’know. Even mah witch sisters didn’t tell meh anythin’ befo’ the time was right. Ye’re so lucky tae be born by wizards!”
“I don’t think so. It’s not like I already know an awful lot. Just a couple simple spells to tend around the house… Besides, I don’t know as much about muggles as you do! I’ve met a girl in our village and she asked for my, uh, telephone? What is that thing? Weird.”
Alexi let out a full-throated giggle and loudly slapped her knee, trying to battle the laughter. She was clearly the loudest girl with the widest grin Bill had ever seen. Her volume was displeasing at first, but Weasley seemed to get used to it.
When Alexi finally battled her giggle, she gave Bill a cheeky wink and said, clearly trying to pester him about his lack of muggle knowledge.
“Cummoan, people flew tae space an’ yeh dunno what a telephone is? It’s a hingway yeh can use tae speak tae someone far far away.”
“Flew to space? Like, on broomsticks? Do those even fly that high?”
With a loud cackle, Alexi ruffled Bill's hair and began explaining the concepts of rocket science and physics to him. It turned out that Alexi was skilled in physics and received top grades at her previous muggle school. Then, when Bill didn’t understand a word, she began lecturing him about fuel engines, but it only made him more confused, so she stopped.
“What Hogwarts House do you want to be in?” Bill asked, trying to battle the awkward silence.
“Eh, Ah kennae!” Alexi answered cheerfully, and Bill was shocked to see she didn’t care. “Mary used tae be a Gryffindor, she studied with Lily Evans, o’ what was her name again? That ginger lass who got butchered a year ago o’ somethin’. Och, an’ our Euphie’s a Ravenclaw, she’s the new prefect. S’ maybe Ah’ll get into one o’ these houses, bu’ maybe i won’t. Ah’d like tae be a Slytherin, Euphie told meh they throw crazy parties!”
Suddenly, Bill became serious and a tiny bit resentful: not towards Alexi, but towards Slytherin.
“If I were you, I wouldn't want to get into Slytherin. This house’s full of dark wizards who resent muggleborns. Even You-Know-Who used to be a Slytherin, and he was the one who butchered Lily Potter.”
Alexi stared at Bill in shock, feeling like a thunderbolt hit her right in the head. It felt depressing to know that some people are hateful towards her origins, to remember what fate fell upon Lily just a year ago. Alexi pitied her, even though Lily and she were only acquainted through Mary, Alexi’s older sister.
“Ah didnae know…”
Alexi lowered her voice just a little bit (considering her usual deafening volume, she was still loud). Her face filled with grief, but then, in a couple of seconds, she was grinning again.
“Ah want tae be a Hufflepuff, then! Their common room is the closest tae the kitchen. Jus’ imagine how easy it’s gan tae be tae steal food!”
Bill let out a quiet chuckle and grinned back at Alexi. His face lit up a little bit, because he was hungry and wanted some food as well.
“You can’t imagine how perfect it sounds to me right now. I haven’t eaten since morning!”
Alexi shrugged her shoulders and giggled a little bit.
“Ah heard ye can buy food here. Older lassies told meh somethin’ about an old lady with a trolley full o’ magic sweets and scones.”
Bill felt uneasy when Alexi mentioned buying sweets. He was starving, but what could he do if he knew that his family was too poor to afford giving him any pocket money? Shopping for school already drained his parents’ budget so much they wouldn't be able to buy yarn to knit Percy a sweater he asked for.
Weasley was ashamed of his family income. He loved his parents and knew they were trying their best, but deep down, he hated being poor. He dreamed about his family finally getting rich, but the more he grew, the more impossible it seemed.
His thought process was interrupted by Alexi patting his shoulder and pointing at the woman selling sweets, who was already standing in the doorway of their compartment.
“Care for some sweets, kids?”
The old woman asked sweetly, and Bill felt his blood rising to his cheeks. Alexi was already buying chocolate frogs and candy, and he… just sat and watched, only feeling a small knut in his pocket. A knut isn’t enough to buy anything except for a small piece of candy.
“Eh? Why deh yeh buy somethin’? Ah thought yeh were hungry, nae?”
Alexi loudly asked, looking at Bill’s flushed face and noticing his gaze running around the room, avoidant to look at the trolley witch. Bill rubbed his ginger hair and looked down, feeling ashamed to lie but not wanting to admit that he didn’t have any money.
“Changed my mind. Maybe we’ll eat something better than sweets when we arrive there.”
Alexi didn’t feel convinced. She pulled out a couple more coins and gave Bill an inviting look.
“Ah can pay fo’ yeh, if yeh want.”
“No, thank you. Really, Lixie, i’m not that hungry.”
The trolley witch left their compartment, and Alexi decided to brush it off, sensing Bill’s embarrassment. Suddenly, she started giggling loudly, and when Bill asked her why, Alexi answered.
“Yeh called meh Lixie!!! That nickname’s pure magic! Call meh that fae now on, Alexi’s borin’!”
Bill blushed a little bit more, feeling embarrassed, but decided to play along and nodded.
“Okay, Lixie… If you say so.”
Bill and Alexi kept chatting for the entire train ride. No one else came to their compartment, so they sat alone, exchanging silly jokes and absurd life stories. Bill understood for sure that Euphie’s Alexi’s older sister, and told Alexi about his adventures with his younger siblings. Alexi hadn’t given up on teaching Bill about physics, and taught him the formula of velocity. None of them was sure if Bill would need that in the future.
Trees, mountains and lakes were appearing to flash outside of the window, but this time, Bill could see the Hogwarts castle towering on the mountain somewhere near the horizon.
“I can see ma hoose fae tha fuckin’ train!! Ya entitled English cunts!”
Alexi exclaimed, swearing profusely and looking out of the window. She was obviously displeased with the fact she had to travel all the way to London to sit on the Hogwarts-Express, when Hogwarts was so close to her house.
In a half an hour, the train finally stopped. Bill and Alexi stepped outside, breathing in some fresh air of Scottish highlands, and rushed to the prefects, ready to enter their new life in Hogwarts.