Backdated to September 2020.
A story for @Samantha Salwis

It was 10:45 and Clara had found herself an empty car. Somebody had even helped to put up her big trunk. People really seemed nice and generally very excited. Of course, so was she. The energy almost oozed out of her so Clara busied herself by double checking that the trunk was secure, took off and carefully folded her coat and scarf, extracted the book dad had given to her to read on the way.

Then somebody knocked on her window and Clara almost fell off of her seat. ''For Merlin's sake, DAD!'' the girl screeched at the grinning man standing on the platform and waving at her. He motioned for her to open the top part of the window and, after a mandatory eye-roll, she complied by stepping unto the seat, lowering the top part and leaning out.

''What?'' it sounded petulant and angry, but Gerard Heart just snickered.

''I just wanted to say bye one more time.''

''We already said goodbye, like three times,'' but her ruse to sound unhappy wasn't long lived. She could never stay mad at him. Not when she really, really wanted one more bear hug.

''I'm not going to see you until school holidays, I think I'm entitled to as much father-daughter time as I want.''

''Ha! I know exactly how excited you are about me leaving. I saw all those RSVP letters to your old school friends,'' Clara emphasized by sticking out her tongue. She was glad. The older she got, the more she saw that dad always put her first. If the event wasn't family friendly he wouldn't attend and that just made her feel bad.

Gerard smiled and reached up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind his daughter's ear. ''What do you want for Christmas? Just don't tell me another pony,'' he concluded with a withering laugh.

''OK, I'm not going to say that. How about a horse then?''

''Ah, I did walk into that one, didn't I?'' her dad laughed and whatever he was about to say was drowned out by the train's whistle. It was time to go.

They shared one last wave goodbye and Clara retracted herself back into the car as the Express started moving forward. The girl was still standing on the seat as she tried to catch the last glimpse of dad.

'I'm going to mis you so much!" Samantha said to her father. Samantha was standing in the Hogwarts Express and her father was standing on platform 9 3/4. "We are going to miss you to" her father answered smiling trying to hold back his tears so his youngest daughter wouldn't see them. The doors of the train closed and separated Samantha and her family who where standing on the platform. When the train started moving Samantha waved through the little window in the door at her family. If Samantha's older sister, Anne, would have been on the train and Samantha would have been on the platform she would have run after the train to see her older sister just a little bit longer. Anne on the other hand didn't do that, after all that wasn't something a 15 year old would do. Running after a train was something only little kids did, according to Anne.

Even though Samantha and her family had been on time at platform 9 3/4 she barely made it on time in the train. Samantha's goodbyes to her older sister and parents lasted longer then planned. When they heard the whistle that the train was about to leave, Samantha and her father ran to the train. Her father was carrying Samantha's suitecase and had placed it in the train just before the doors closed.

When Samantha couldn't see her family anymore, she picked up her suitecase to find a car. Samantha had a hard time finding a car to sit in. Most of the cars where full and the one where was space had older students in it. Above all of that Samantha was trying to balance in the riding train with her heavy suitcase in her hand. She finally found a car that suited her. In the car was a girl with dark brown hair that looked around Samantha's age. Samantha opened the door of the car still holding her heavy suitcase. "Hi, I'm Samantha. Can I sit here?"

It probably wasn't a good idea to keep standing on the seat as was just proven by a particularly jerky move from side to side. Clara huffed as she climbed down and took a seat. Something that dad said had stuck in hear head and wouldn't leave her brows at ease as they creased. She felt uncertain and a little bit scared. I'm not going to see you until school holidays.

Come to think of it she had never been apart from her family for so long. For any considerable extent of time, really. Yes, she was just realizing that for the next four month - four month! - she will not see dad. Or gran. Or her ponies. The girl laid a gentle hand over stomach that did an unpleasant flip like an angry dolphin. It wasn't clear if it was the missing part or the being alone part that upset her just now, but something had put a dent into her otherwise absolutely lovely excitement of finally going to school.

The car door slid open disrupting the young witch's newly started self-discovery. Turning her gaze towards the door, Clara saw a silhouette of wavy hair against the light coming from the corridor window and, more importantly, a pair of bluest eyes she had ever seen. Blinking once into the silence after the question, the girl smiled brightly at the newcomer. ''Hi! Yes, please do come in,'' without hesitation, Clara stood and went to give the other girl a hand with her luggage.

''Samantha,'' she said, stopping in front of the other witch and allowing her smile to shine. ''I'm Clara. Do you need help with your stuff?'' she pointed at the suit case as she asked. By the way Samantha was holding onto it, it looked heavy.

Samantha smiled: "Yes, thank you! It is really heavy. I think I've packed to much stuff, well actually my mom did. She wanted me to be prepared for everything." Samantha lifted the big suitcase above her head and with the help of Clara she was able to place it in the luggage rack, which was above the heads of the two girls. After they had placed the suitcase in the luggage rack Samantha sat down in her seat.

Samantha's head was filled with questions that she wanted to ask the girl. Samantha was muggle born so she hadn't met many wizards or witches. Her trip to Diagon Ally was one of the first times Samantha had ever been in a magical place and now she was going to Hogwarts to learn magic. She was so exited and scared at the same time.

Samantha had read about Hogwarts and the different houses, so she asked Clara: "In which house do you think you will get in? I personally have no idea I would be fine with every house, since they all seem great to me. The only thing is that I'm muggle born, so I don't think I'll get in Slytherin. Anyway I'm talking to much, so in what house do you want to be in?"

They huffed and they puffed but finally the heavy piece of luggage was somehow maneuvered into the overhead compartment. ''In hindsight, we should have just pushed it under the seat,'' Clara declared, staring at the briefcase with seriousness it didn't deserve. Samantha was probably right, her mum had put in everything she could possibly need. Ever.

Huffing one last time, the girl took her seat and briefly turned her attention to the book that lay on top of the coat. She wondered if there would be a chance to flip through it while on the train, but her fellow traveler quickly dispelled all uncertainty by dropping questions like an excited brook.

She listened patiently while Samantha finished. ''They are two very different questions, you know,'' Clara said with a laugh. ''I want to be in Rawenclaw but I think I will get sorted into Slytherin,'' she announced with some pride, oblivious that the stark worry of being alone and away from home had been completely wiped away.

''My grandmother and pretty much everyone else in her family line were Slytherins, so it's kind of in my blood, you know. But my dad was a Rawenclaw and, well, I made a bet with my gran that I won't be sorted into Slytherin,'' giving the girl a conspirator grin, Clara leaned a bit closer and added ''If I win, I will get a baby dragon!'' she giggled but quickly put a hushing finger over her own mouth. With all this scheming there was really no way she wasn't a snake.

''There had never been any official rules, but when my gran was in school it was pretty much a law without exception that muggle born kids never got sorted there,'' Clara said with a conviction of someone who was raised with a full if somewhat dark history of magical Britain. ''But don't worry, dad said that things have changed a lot and we are on something he likes to call a bright new path to enlightenment ,'' her nose scrunched a bit, but only because she didn't really understand what he had meant by it. She liked using the phrase anyway.

''In hindsight, we should have just pushed it under the seat,'' Samantha giggled, :"Yes, that would have been so much smarter."

''If I win, I will get a baby dragon!'' Clara said after she had leaned closer to Samantha. Samantha was shocked, a baby dragon, the fact that Clara talked so easy about dragons made her a bit worried. What Samantha had read about dragons was that they were dangerous, like really dangerous. But that could also be something out of muggle's tales, as that had been the only times Samantha had ever read about dragons. The fact that Clara would get a baby dragon meant that there where real dragons and it wasn't just a fantasy createur what Samantha always believed. "Maybe I should have expected that there where dragons in the wizarding world, but I never really though about it. In muggle tales they are always dangerous, is that true?"asked Samantha, eager to learn more about the wizarding world.

"Is everybody in your family a wizard?" Samantha was a bit jealous. If she would have been born in a family full of wizard she would have known so much more. All Samantha knew now was based on the few books she had read since she had learned she was a witch and that one time her and her father were shopping for school supplies at Diagon Alley.

"And apparently some beast out of fairytales are real." While thinking Samantha had just realized something. "If dragons are real, are unicorns also real?", she asked hoping that the answer would be yes.

Samantha had a point there, which reflected in Clara's prolonged pondering silence after the question. ''Well, yes, I guess they are dangerous. I mean, they are dragons, after all,'' the girl absently scratched her forehead. Obviously, she had not planned what would happen after she got the said dragon. Being a child fond of creatures, magical and otherwise, had made her loose herself in the fantasy. She knew a bit about dragons from the usual stuff you learned on visits to one of their reservoirs. ''Dad took me to Romania and we went to this amazing place where they keep dragons in the wild, but not completely wild, you know? They were all so sweet, but the trainer said that that's because they are very used to humans. And I saw a Welsh Green who had the cutest little baby,'' you could practically see heart shapes floating around Clara's excited face. ''But sure, yes, they are dangerous. But so are dogs, if you upset them, you know?'' maybe this all owning a baby dragon thing needed a rethink. She certainly didn't have anywhere to keep him.

To her next question Clara answered first, with a nod, and then a grin. ''Yes, as far as can be traced. I'm a pure-blood,'' unbridled pride sounded bright in her words. ''But you are muggle born. That must have been interesting, right? I mean, I've always been part of the magical community, but for you this is the second world to get to know!'' if that was possible, she seemed even more excited about Samantha than she had about the prospect of having a baby dragon. In all possible ways, the new girl was like a rare magical creature, part of this world and part of the world she knew oh so very little about.

A twinkling laugh echoed through out the train's car. Clara covered her mouth with a delicate hand, eyes squeezed in mirth. ''Oh yes, unicorns are very real. I haven't seen one myself, but I hope I will one day,'' it was delightful how simple were the things that Samantha found fascinating. And, all of a sudden, she felt a guilty pang of envy tremulously touch her heart. Samantha had the novelty of finding out all the things Clara took for granted. The school, the creatures, the magic. For a split second she saw herself in the other girl's shoes, the seeing of the world nobody else was allowed to, the excitement and promise of things to come. It was safe to say that they were equally matched when it came to wanting to know each other, as Clara wanted to understand the muggle world as much as Samantha wanted to tame the wizarding one.

"Yeah, that is very true. Some dogs can be really dangerous sometimes. If you win the bet and you get a baby dragon, could I see it?" Samantha would love to see a dragon, to be honest she would love to see any magical creature. From what Clara had said dragons sounded not that dangerous. Samantha noted to herself that she would look for books about dragons, since they sounded really intresting. "But you guys, I mean wizards and witches, so I geus it is we, since I'm a witch to," Samantha smiled awkwardly, but she continued with what she was going to say: " Anyway, we just watch dragons like it is the same as going to a zoo?"

Samantha hadn't really though about it that way. She had always saw the fact that she was a muggle born as a negative thing, since she didn't know anything about being a witch. But Clara was right, it was really interesting to get to know this second world. "Yes, it is really cool. But I just don't know a lot of stuff about 'this' world. The professor who gave me my letter said that it didn't really matter and all I have to know I will learn at Hogwarts." Thinking about it Samantha realized that it was almost the same as when she had moved from the Netherlands to Londen. The culture was so different in Londen then where she grew up. In the end she was doing fine and she knew then her friends in the Netherlands and her friends in Londen, who only knew what their culture was like.

Samantha was filled with happiness when she heard that unicorns are real. She would tell her sister all about it and maybe even show a real picture of a unicorn. "You wouldn't have a picture of a unicorn, would you? I would love to show my sister a picture." A wave of sadness came over Samantha, she had just left her sister and the next time she will she her would be in months. "Never mind," Samantha said sadly, "I won't be able to show it to my sister anyway."

''If I win and get the dragon I will definitely let you come and visit it,'' Clara promised, which was easy. She might not know where she would keep it, but that was a minor detail, right? There was no need to get hung up on those right now.

A zoo? Ah, right, that was one of those gardens with all the non magical animals she and dad had visited in China. There were pandas. Enough said. ''Well, sort of. The space is much larger because the dragons are so big. And, though, you can go see them that is not the reason they are there,'' did that make sense? ''The reservoir is meant for protection not... entertainment,'' the girl clarified, as that had been her impression regarding the zoo. Those animals hadn't looked too happy in their enclosed spaces. ''And they get looked after really well, too. Because dragons get used for all kinds of things, like magical ingredients, security, research,'' Clara fell silent while considering her own words. ''You know, they are very smart, the dragons. They can't be treated with anything but respect,'' she finished on a somber note.

Clara could only imagine how difficult it would be for anyone to suddenly become a witch or a wizard. What would she do if one morning she woke up and couldn't do magic anymore and would need to become a muggle? Did they have a place that taught you how to be a muggle? ''That's right, Hogwarts will help you learn everything you need. But not only in class. There are going to be so many different people there, so make as many friends as you can and they will show you what the life of a witch is really about,'' she smiled at Samantha. ''I, for example, want to learn how to use a cellular phone. Maybe you can help me with that and I could, in turn, answer all your questions,'' the smile grew an inch and Clara was pretty sure that they will now be good friends.

A picture? ''Do you mean one of those freeze frame glimpses of a singular moment?'' her dark haired head inclined to one side. She had seen a few but never held one. ''In witching world we have moving photographs. But I'm not sure if anyone has ever taken one of a unicorn as I've only ever seen illustrated cards,'' Clara offered. Somehow, the mood had dipped a few degrees after Samantha mentioned her sister. ''Why wouldn't you be able to show it to her?''

"I would love to help you to use a phone, but we are not allowed to have any muggle electronica at Hogwarts. Maybe I could help you when we have our first break. And about the friend part, I think I already made my first friend" Samantha smiled at Clara. Samantha felt that Clara and her could become great friends, since Clara didn't seem to be bothered by any of the questions Samantha had asked her, she even offered to anser all her questions. Not that Samantha though that anybody was able to anser all her questions, since she had a lot.

"Moving photographs? Don't you mean a video? Samantha giggled, a moving photograph, how weird would that be.

"Well, I'm the only witch in my family, as far as we know of. So I'm the only one who goes to Hogwarts and my sister is still home with my parents. So the first time I'll be able to see her is in-," Samantha tried to calculate the months till the first break, but gave up after a few seconds, "- a couple of months. Just like it will be the first time I'll see my parents again" Samantha sighed, she knew she was going the miss her family a lot. And she wasn't even able to videocall with them, because of the stupid rule that she wasn't allowed to bring her phone.

The door of the coupe slowly openend. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" An elderly woman was standing behind a trolley full of candy Samantha had never seen before. Samantha wanted to buy something as she loved candy, but had no idea what was what. Samantha looked confused at Clara and asked: "What kind of candy is that?"