Going to Hogwarts Open Finished

Miranda noticed a compartment that seemed quieter than all the other as she walked along the hall on the train. She dragged her ridiculously heavy trunk a few more feet, and then set it down to open the door. Inside, another first year (or so it seemed) with brown hair was sitting alone.

"Hello," Miranda said with a smile. "Is is okay if I join you? All of the other compartments are too noisy for my taste."

I hope she lets me in, her mind worried. Mother was so anxious about whether I'd find any friends. I hope the first person I talk to doesn't find me repulsive. She thought back to the awkward trip to the station, and her mother's lecture about behaving appropriately and how to act if she wanted other students to like her.

I also hope she wasn't right about all the things other kids hate. I mean, who doesn't want to learn new information? Especially the useful kind. Miranda simply didn't understand. Maybe she's right about me ending up in Ravenclaw. Although Cedar seems quite assured we're both going to end up in Gryffindor.

She picked up her trunk once again, waiting for an answer.

"Oh! Yeah, of course!" said Summer in her Leicester accent, while also trying to speak the Queen's English (that is, the Received Pronunciation). "Um, would you like any help with that trunk?"

"...I was actually hoping someone would come along." She gave a small smile of her own. "So ah, my name is... Summer. What's your name?"

For Summer, this looked like an opportunity to make a new friend. Summer wondered if this witch was pureblood, half-blood, or muggle-born, in the terms her books had taught her. It didn't really make that much difference, or at least that's what she told herself, but she was at least curious about this girl's background. (In fact, she was a little bit afraid she would experience some of the anti-muggle-born prejudice she had read about herself, but she wasn't much the type of person to dwell on her own worries, so she brushed this thought aside.)

I'm actually talking to another witch my age, Summer reflected. Everyone I've ever known was a muggle, and now I'm talking to another witch. Someone who's like me. She had of course, had similar thoughts ever since she had learned about the school, but it was different to experience it for the first time.

If she's a pureblood, she's probably been raised in a completely different type of environment than I've been exposed to.

"Thanks," Miranda said with a small smile. "But I'm good." She heaved the trunk forwards and then lifted it onto a luggage rack. "There."

She then sat down across from the other girl, who said her name was Summer. "I'm Miranda," she replied, smiling again. "Miranda Everest."

The other girl seemed to drift into thought and didn't say anything more, but Miranda was fine with that. She was finally going to Hogwarts, after all! All those years of waiting, and now here she was!

I hope the other students like me. Mother seems to think that no one will like me if I act normal. Maybe that's because I'm different? Living on our farm, I guess I never really got to interact with other kids my age much. Her smile faded slightly. Oh dear, I do hope she was wrong. Otherwise...

Determined not to spoil her previous excitement, Miranda pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. I can worry about that later.

"Are you excited to finally be going to Hogwarts?" she asked Summer. "Because I really am!" Will she think I'm weird for saying that? "My parents have been talking about it forever, and they say it's amazing."

"Oh! Okay," said Summer.

The other girl came in and introduced herself, and Summer did the same. "Oh, well it's nice to meet you! My name is Summer Hu-Buchanan," she said while smiling sweetly.

A few seconds passed, and then Miranda asked her if she was excited about Hogwarts.

"...Yeah, I'm really excited... especially because, ah, I'm... muggle-born." She said the end of that sentence, with a brief pause, in a mostly calm and casual manner which was only slightly nervous and uncertain. She grinned a bit awkwardly.

She was a little hesitant, though not that much, to say the last part. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned that at all? But no. The best thing she could do, Summer thought, was to be open and honest, like she usually was.

She then said, "So I'm guessing you're, um... your family's all wizards and witches."

"Yeah, ah, my... family was very surprised... to learn about magic, you know... and I kinda come from a scientific background, so..."

In fact, her father didn't have that much difficulty admitting that magic was real when a Hogwarts professor showed it to him. What he had trouble with was revising his entire concept of physics, which as the muggles taught it, turned out to be essentially all wrong.

"Yeah, my whole family's magic. Well, except for that one great-aunt of my mother's side, but no one really talks about her anymore." She paused to listen to Summer, then continued. "I understand. I still have a hard time understanding most of the stuff I see on a daily basis."

Miranda faintly registered Summer's nervousness. I wonder why? She seemed more outgoing earlier...was she hoping I was muggle-born too?

"So where do you come from? My parents own a farm for magical creatures on the outskirts of London. It's pretty cool most days, although some of them are pretty...scary." Miranda paused before saying the last word, and an odd look crossed her face. But soon her smile was back again, quickly enough that some people might think they'd just imagined it.

I have to stay cheerful, she chastised herself. It's only my first day! The gloom and doom can wait for later! I mean, it's Hogwarts I'm talking about! My dream school!

Cedar will want me to remember everything so I can owl it to him later, Miranda realized, her smile growing at the thought. He's so jealous! I'm glad I'm not the one being left behind. I'd probably have found a way to sneak onto the train. She glanced apprehensively at the compartment door like she expected him to walk in at any moment. Then again, maybe he did. That sound like something he'd do.

"I'm from Leicester. You know about it right, it's a muggle city," said Summer. "Or at least I think so."

Really, Summer had to doubt everything she knew, now that she knew magic existed, and that the world seemed completely different than she had imagined, and there was an entire civilization hidden in plain sight. Her father was expecting her to learn a lot, such as what the true nature of the Universe really was, and to change a lot, such as giving everyone, muggle or wizard, immortality. Although he was careful to not come across as expecting too much of her, the fact was that he was expecting these things of her. (Perhaps not her alone. But he was counting on her to get the ball rolling.) She was the one with magic, after all, or else he would do it himself.

"So you said you lived on a farm with magical creatures? What kind of creatures... did they have?" Summer was quite curious. Although she'd already read about some magical creatures (and the fact that they actually existed was... wild) in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, she still wanted to know which ones this particular witch had seen. It was, after all, good to learn as much as possible, Summer figured.

"Well, all cities have wizards and witches in them as far as I can tell," Miranda answered. "Some more than others."

I wonder if there are any wizards in Antarctica, she thought idly for a moment. Maybe I can ask someone when we get to the school. Or I could look in the library!

Miranda then realized that Summer had asked her a question. "Oh, there's loads," she replied evenly. "They change a lot, though, since most are just kept there for a month or two before moving on. We only have a dozen or so permanent residents."

She smiled at the fact that she was getting to teach someone something. It had been a while. "Like, right now we have a bunch of Winged horses that my bother absolutely loves to ride, even though we're not really supposed to. We also have a house elf that helps out." She ticked the animals off on her fingers. "My father just returned a Thunderbird to its owner two days ago, and before that we had a few, er, other creatures. That was a while ago, though. Honestly, we just have so many that I only really remember the bigger or more deadly ones."

"Mm, sure. What I meant though, was that... never mind. What I meant though was pretty much that the city is run by muggles, I guess."

Listening to Miranda list all those creatures, Summer could only say, "Wow." Winged horses and more. Miranda just said all that casually. For her, it was a normal part of her life. It absolutely boggled the mind. All the legends, fairy tales, and mythology are true. And soon enough, she was probably going to see creatures like them!

Summer was silent for a few seconds, then said, "It's really interesting how, um, how different... animals are in the... muggle and magical worlds." Well, Summer supposed she only saw it that way, magical creatures as "fantastic" and non-magical creatures as "mundane", because she was used to the non-magical creatures.

But she wondered how the magical creatures first came into existence. Could wizards have created them by modifying already existing animals, as her father had speculated? It was interesting to think about, but it was also frustrating that she couldn't get an answer yet. Well, she would have to get started on her goal of becoming a wizarding scientist. She didn't know whether to start that while she was in school or after. She would have to wait and see what kind of magic they did, really.

"Oh," Miranda replied with a nod, feeling ridiculous. Why hadn't she realized that? She was supposed to be smart, for heaven's sake.

"Yeah, it really is. I mean, some are quite similar, like Winged horses. Have you every wondered how creatures like satyrs and griffins came into existence?" she asked. Cedar had never liked talking about theories or evolution, but maybe Summer would. "Because they supposedly look like a cross between muggle animals. I wonder which came first; the magical ones or the normal ones?"

She pondered that for a moment. Father says there was magic before there was mundane, but Mother disagrees. I guess no one really knows for sure. A flash of inspiration struck her. Maybe I could find out when I grow up! I can study both kinds, and then also study history, and... Miranda trailed off.

She was getting ahead of herself now. Best to work on getting through school first. I can worry about future job propositions later.

"So what do your parents do for a living? You mentioned something about science?" Miranda tilted her head slightly as she asked her question. It was an unconscious habit of hers that she couldn't explain (well, she kind of could, but wouldn't. At least, not yet).