New chapter is live.
Settle in, take your time, and let’s see what waits in the dark 🖤
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The next morning, Callan woke early.
He pressed down his messy hair, shuffled slowly to the mirror, and began brushing his teeth.
Still half-asleep, he greeted it.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, child.”
The mirror sounded as if it had only just woken too.
“Are you leaving today?” it asked.
Callan spat out the water in his mouth and nodded.
“That’s right.”
“What a pity.” The mirror’s tone turned almost resentful.
“I shall no longer see such a lovely little face every day.”
Callan smiled.
He picked up his wand and cast Scourgify, clearing all the mist from the glass.
“Thank you, child.” The mirror still sounded reluctant to part.
“Goodbye. I shall miss you.”
“Goodbye.”
Callan said it softly, then took his trunk and left.
When he saw Tom, who had just woken, Callan greeted him with his usual politeness.
He refused Tom’s offer to take him to the station, saying it would interfere with business, and walked out alone.
Callan could not Apparate.
He had no Portkey and could not use Floo powder to reach the station.
However…
Callan raised a hand, and a taxi stopped.
Callan had money.
After paying the fare, he found King’s Cross already busy with travelers.
Following the instructions on his ticket, he stopped before a barrier and, when fewer people were watching, walked straight through.
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Callan turned back to look at it in wonder, but quickly moved aside to avoid being hit by anyone coming after him.
“I am going to Hogwarts.”
Even Callan felt a surge of expectation and excitement.
His brown eyes moved over the platform.
Cats meowed in their owners’ arms.
Owls beat their wings inside cages.
Some students had already put on their robes.
They were loading luggage onto the scarlet steam engine, calling happily to classmates they had not seen all summer.
First-years were saying their final goodbyes to their families.
Callan stood alone with his trunk and looked around.
No family.
No friends at his side.
Only himself.
“A little miserable. A little pitiful too.”
Callan laughed at himself, took a deep breath, and carried his trunk toward the train.
The trunk was heavy, but only in appearance.
He had secretly cast a Levitation Charm on it already, so boarding the train was easy.
He passed the front compartments, which were already crowded, and found an empty one near the middle.
He went in.
“I will wait for them here.”
Callan sat by the window and watched the lively crowd outside.
For once, a trace of confusion appeared on his face, and his thoughts slowly drifted.
The rush of the past few days had somehow made him forget one thing.
In a sense, he was a solitary traveler.
Soon, he pressed the feeling back down.
He took out his ash wand and carefully stroked it.
“As long as I have you, perhaps that is enough.”
Callan murmured to himself, and that fierce, eager light returned to his face.
He suddenly felt the wand tremble faintly, as if it were struggling to answer him.
“Good child. Good child.”
After running his fingers along it a few more times, Callan carefully put the wand away.
He glanced at the scenery outside, closed his eyes, and tried to take a nap.
“Do you think he is asleep?”
Through the haze, Callan seemed to hear a voice.
“Probably.
Look how tightly his eyes are shut.
“Lily, what are you doing?”
Lily sounded angry.
“He just left that day, made us wait for him on the platform for ages, and he was already here. And now he dares sleep in! Petunia was so upset she cried.”
Snape sounded hesitant.
“Maybe do not do that. What if Callan gets angry? I cannot stop him.”
“Um… it will be fine.” Lily seemed to realize the problem only then, but she still forced herself to sound confident.
“Besides, I have Balian. Balian will protect me.”
Balian: “Meow.”
Snape muttered weakly, “I would too.”
Callan’s eyes snapped open.
Across from him sat Snape.
He had already changed into his school robes.
Perhaps because it was the first day of school, his long hair was not quite as greasy as usual.
He had clearly washed it carefully.
Beside Callan, Lily held a pen and leaned toward him.
The nib was pointed at his face, hovering just in front of it.
Balian crouched in Lily’s arms, claws also aimed at Callan, apparently hoping to avenge their earlier staring contest.
“What are you trying to do?”
Callan asked them coldly.
His temper had woken before he had.
The two children and the cat all jumped.
So did the other two boys in the compartment.
James Potter and Sirius Black.
They had originally planned to watch a good show, only to feel as if they had been dragged into it.
Under Callan’s icy tone, the whole compartment seemed to chill.
“We… we…” Lily’s fingertips shook, and so did her voice.
Before she could explain, the pen floated out of her hand by itself and fell to the floor with a sharp click.
The four children and one cat all felt as if they could barely breathe.
“Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!”
Balian suddenly cried out.
She was slowly floating too, even drifting toward Callan.
She clawed desperately in Lily’s direction, but her owner wisely pretended not to see and gave her a look that wished her well from afar.
“Meow! Meow! Meow!”
Balian’s cries turned plaintive.
Callan caught her and pressed her onto his lap.
He stared straight into her eyes.
Balian’s gaze darted everywhere except back at him.
“Look at me!”
Callan roared in a low, hoarse voice.
James and Sirius sprang up in fright and pressed themselves against the compartment door.
Snape recoiled so hard he nearly tipped back.
Lily screamed.
“What are you doing?”
The compartment door suddenly opened from outside.
An older student in green-trimmed robes stood there, a shining silver badge bearing the letter P pinned to his chest.
Even without a name tag, Callan recognized him from the pale blond hair.
Lucius Malfoy, seventh-year Slytherin prefect.
Behind him stood two large, heavyset students, most likely the future fathers of Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, already trailing a Malfoy in much the same way their sons later would.
All three were future Death Eaters.
“Nothing,” Callan said lazily, meeting Lucius’s gaze.
“Only a joke.”
Perhaps because there were no Slytherins in the compartment, and perhaps because the atmosphere truly was strange, Lucius only narrowed his eyes and said, “It had better be, first-year.”
Then he left with his two followers.
The others carefully sat back down.
Callan gathered the trembling Balian into his arms and gently scratched her neck.
The kitten did not dare move and simply let him do as he pleased.
“Next time, don’t disturb me while I’m sleeping.”
Callan’s voice was soft.
“For your own good.”
Lily and Snape nodded immediately.
James and Sirius nodded too, though no one was quite sure why.
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Want to keep going?
I hope this chapter gave you another reason to stay with the story.
There’s still plenty ahead, and things are only starting to unfold.