Journey begins!!

Steam curled from the train as Isadora and her parents made their way through the busy platform. Her father had most of the weight of her trunk while she gripped the other end, and her mother fussed with the strap of her satchel for the third time that morning.

“Everything’s packed, Isa?” her mother asked, voice a little too bright, betraying nerves of her own.“I checked twice,” Isadora mumbled, though her eyes were fixed on the gleaming engine.Evelyn wasn’t convinced. She leaned over and tugged at the satchel again, as though a quill might come flying out if she shook it hard enough. “Your ink bottles are sealed properly? I don’t want your books ruined before you even get there.”“They’re fine, Mum,” Isadora muttered, though a small part of her worried she might have forgotten something after all.“Let the girl breathe, Evelyn,” Thomas teased, crouching down beside Isadora. He rested one hand on the trunk, the other gently fixing a loose strand of her brown hair back behind her ear. “Now, remember,” he said, his tone that familiar mix of stern and soft, “this is going to feel exciting. It’s going to feel scary too. Both are fine. You’re supposed to feel both.”Isadora gave the smallest nod, her fingers fidgeting at the hem of her sleeve.“And make sure you eat properly,” Evelyn cut in quickly, adjusting the collar of her robes. “Don’t just live on pumpkin pasties.”
Thomas grinned. “Pumpkin pasties aren’t the worst thing to live on.”Evelyn gave him a look. “That’s not advice I want her following.”“That’s why you’ve got both of us,” he said lightly, tapping the trunk. “And don’t go losing track of this, alright? If you’re anything like me, you’ll end up leaving it somewhere ridiculous—like on a staircase.”That pulled a reluctant laugh from her, and her mother’s face softened at the sound. Evelyn leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. “You’ll do brilliantly,” she said. “And write to us when you can. Don’t you dare go forgetting.”Her father chuckled. “She won’t. She’s got too much of me in her for that.”

The whistle blew, sharp and urgent. Thomas lifted her trunk into the train with practiced ease, then steadied her as she climbed the step. For a moment, she looked back. Her parents stood close together on the platform—her mother waving, her father’s smile steady but his eyes damp.
Inside, the corridor buzzed with students leaning out of doors, shouting greetings, laughter already filling the air. Isadora edged past them, her satchel pressed tight to her side. The first compartment she glanced into was empty. Relief washed over her.
She slid the door shut behind her, tugged her trunk to the side, and chose the window seat so her parents could still see her from the platform. The view framed them in miniature, and she lifted a hand in return to her mother’s wave.When the train jolted into motion, her chest clenched. She pulled a book from her satchel—one of her favorites—and set it open on her lap. The words blurred a little at first, her excitement and nerves tangling into something too big for her small frame, but slowly, her focus steadied.