25 Feb 2023, 18:05
All Broken
The best thing about having a muggle for a dad, Jaden decided, was that he was just as excited about all this magic stuff as she was. For her mum, it was all pretty normal to the woman. For Jaden and her dad, it was quite a bit different.
Every time they saw an eccentrically dressed adult in the station, they would giggle at the bright gaudiness of the strange clothing. Even the children were quite a sight, with some of them wearing their black robes as they struggled with their own trunks full of school supplies. It didn't occur to her that she would be in similar dress fairly soon, but for now she just enjoyed people watching with her muggle dad. Her mum's words of caution and motherly worrying went in one ear and out the other. Finally the woman grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her so that they were facing each other.
"I expect an owl each night. Just address it to us as I showed you last night, alright?" her mum was instructing her carefully. Maybe this day wasn't as ordinary for the woman as Jaden had thought.
"I promise," she said with a nod, quickly returning to people watching with her dad. The train was interesting, sure, but not as interesting as the people. She hoped to get just a glimpse of magic before she left, but so far things had been tame on that front.
The three of them worked together to, without magic unfortunately, load her own trunk onto the Hogwarts Express, and it wasn't long until she was giving both of them a tight hug and battling the eagerness in her belly that begged her to just run onto the train.
After a tearful goodbye, mostly from her dad, she finally found herself getting ready to board the train, but before she could do so, her dad pulled her aside and whispered quietly.
"Your mother told me you wouldn't need this, but I know how daunting long trips can be. It'll be our little secret," he muttered softly as he handed Jaden an old, early 2000s-era mp3 player with an old set of earbuds wrapped around it. "It got me through school years ago before I ever met your mother. Be safe. I love you."
Jaden gave the man another hug, pocketed the music player, and ran onto the train, hopping eagerly into the first empty compartment she could find.
Now all she had to do was wait for the train to depart and her magical studies would finally begin! She was going to be a witch! For real!
Realizing how long it would be before the train even left, Jaden bit the bullet and pulled out her dad's old mp3 player. At least trying to figure out the old piece of technology would keep her busy, and if she did, she may even have some good music to listen to. Putting the earbuds carefully into her ear, she decided to test the waters by pressing the power button on the player.
The small device lit blue for just a second before a soft buzzing sound shot out from it for even less than a second. The briefly blue screen on the device then turned a stubbornly not-working grey, refusing to respond to any of its buttons being pressed.
"What?" she whispered, surprised. Were the batteries dead or something? That didn't make sense. Her dad would have checked them before giving the thing to her. Maybe it was just old? It was possible. The thing was definitely older than her, so it made sense that it might not work as it had when her dad was a kid.
Jaden tried a few more buttons before giving up and yanking the earbuds from her ears.
"Yup, it's certainly busted," she sighed wearily, feeling a bit guilty about breaking her dad's old mp3 player already.
She hadn't even noticed the figure in the doorway watching the whole occurrence.
Every time they saw an eccentrically dressed adult in the station, they would giggle at the bright gaudiness of the strange clothing. Even the children were quite a sight, with some of them wearing their black robes as they struggled with their own trunks full of school supplies. It didn't occur to her that she would be in similar dress fairly soon, but for now she just enjoyed people watching with her muggle dad. Her mum's words of caution and motherly worrying went in one ear and out the other. Finally the woman grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her so that they were facing each other.
"I expect an owl each night. Just address it to us as I showed you last night, alright?" her mum was instructing her carefully. Maybe this day wasn't as ordinary for the woman as Jaden had thought.
"I promise," she said with a nod, quickly returning to people watching with her dad. The train was interesting, sure, but not as interesting as the people. She hoped to get just a glimpse of magic before she left, but so far things had been tame on that front.
The three of them worked together to, without magic unfortunately, load her own trunk onto the Hogwarts Express, and it wasn't long until she was giving both of them a tight hug and battling the eagerness in her belly that begged her to just run onto the train.
After a tearful goodbye, mostly from her dad, she finally found herself getting ready to board the train, but before she could do so, her dad pulled her aside and whispered quietly.
"Your mother told me you wouldn't need this, but I know how daunting long trips can be. It'll be our little secret," he muttered softly as he handed Jaden an old, early 2000s-era mp3 player with an old set of earbuds wrapped around it. "It got me through school years ago before I ever met your mother. Be safe. I love you."
Jaden gave the man another hug, pocketed the music player, and ran onto the train, hopping eagerly into the first empty compartment she could find.
Now all she had to do was wait for the train to depart and her magical studies would finally begin! She was going to be a witch! For real!
Realizing how long it would be before the train even left, Jaden bit the bullet and pulled out her dad's old mp3 player. At least trying to figure out the old piece of technology would keep her busy, and if she did, she may even have some good music to listen to. Putting the earbuds carefully into her ear, she decided to test the waters by pressing the power button on the player.
The small device lit blue for just a second before a soft buzzing sound shot out from it for even less than a second. The briefly blue screen on the device then turned a stubbornly not-working grey, refusing to respond to any of its buttons being pressed.
"What?" she whispered, surprised. Were the batteries dead or something? That didn't make sense. Her dad would have checked them before giving the thing to her. Maybe it was just old? It was possible. The thing was definitely older than her, so it made sense that it might not work as it had when her dad was a kid.
Jaden tried a few more buttons before giving up and yanking the earbuds from her ears.
"Yup, it's certainly busted," she sighed wearily, feeling a bit guilty about breaking her dad's old mp3 player already.
She hadn't even noticed the figure in the doorway watching the whole occurrence.