Just then, a smiling woman pushed the cubicle door open.
“Anything off the trolley, dears?”
Her eyes landed on the lunchboxes in front of Will, and she gave a small, surprised smile.
“Well, someone at home really does love you.”
The other three immediately started digging through their pockets.
Will thought it over for a moment before buying a few Chocolate Frogs, figuring he’d want something sweet on hand once they reached Hogwarts.
He wasn’t exactly Dumbledore, chasing sugar for its own sake, but a treat never hurt.
As it turned out, the sugar did its job.
The mood in the compartment lifted almost immediately, and even Neville’s stammer eased up a little.
Will finished his lunch quickly, then flicked his wand and cast a quick Scourgify to clean up.
[You have used a spell multiple times.
Proficiency increased.
Spell Mastery Experience +1]
There we go.
Another bit of experience banked.
Which only added to Hermione’s growing sense of falling behind.
Childhood friendships tend to form easily.
The four of them had already settled into an easy rhythm, talking and snacking together.
Will planned to rest for a bit before going back to his book.
“Oh, I got one!” Neville said, mouth full of chocolate, holding up a card.
“It’s Hengist.
Does that mean I’m meant for Hufflepuff—”
A chocolate frog leg caught him square in the mouth mid-sentence.
“Oh no, I forgot to let Trevor out again.” Neville had only just remembered his toad.
He checked his pocket, and his face fell.
“He’s gone again!
I’ve lost him again.
He really doesn’t want to stay with me.”
Hermione couldn’t stand watching him panic.
“I’ll help you look.
He can’t have gone far, he’s still on the train.”
“Thank you, Hermione.” Neville looked close to tears with gratitude.
“You know, the Summoning Charm should be able to bring him straight to you,” Will pointed out.
There’s a common belief that the Summoning Charm can’t work on living things, though that’s not actually true.
In canon, Harry uses it on Trevor while practicing before the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, and later in the series, a wizard summons a fish with it directly.
“Wait, you already know the Summoning Charm?” Will nodded at Neville’s hopeful expression.
“I can try it for you, though I can’t promise it’ll work.
I’ll need you to describe him carefully first.”
“Easy, he’s grayish black, with these bumps all over his back…” Neville’s description was about as specific as “an ordinary toad” got, but Will took what he had and gave it a shot.
“Trevor.
Come here.” He waved his wand and waited.
Nothing happened.
The compartment fell into an awkward little silence.
Will tried again, this time pulling harder on the image of a toad he half-remembered from a film in another life.
The memory wasn’t sharp anymore.
It belonged to a version of him that no longer quite existed.
This time, the spell caught.
A grey toad shot down the corridor outside, and the others stared, half-convinced they’d just witnessed some rare magical creature in flight.
Thud.
Something had clearly hit the compartment door.
“Trevor!” Neville yanked the door open.
Poor Trevor lay stunned on his back in the aisle.
Neville scooped him up at once.
Will noticed both Sylvia and Hermione lean back at exactly the same moment the moment Trevor came through the door.
“Thank you, Will.
Really, thank you for finding him.” Neville tucked the dazed toad into his pocket, still thanking him.
“You should learn the Summoning Charm yourself once we’re at Hogwarts.
It’ll save you a lot of trouble with him,” Will suggested.
“I will, first thing!”
With Trevor safely back, the group settled into easy conversation for a while, and Will went back to his book.
Not that he had much choice.
There was experience to be earned.
[You have acquired new knowledge of Curses.
Curses Experience +1]
[You have acquired new knowledge of Curses.
Curses Experience +1]
…
Outside the window, rolling hills and open fields slipped slowly past as the sky began to dim toward evening.
Will was lost somewhere between the pleasure of reading and the pleasure of watching his experience tick upward when a pale hand suddenly waved in front of his face.
He looked up, mildly confused.
“Would our future Ravenclaw mind stepping out for a moment?
The lady needs to change,” Sylvia said, holding his gaze evenly.
Only then did Will notice how dark it had gotten outside.
They had to be close.
He and Neville stepped out into the corridor.
About ten minutes later, they were let back in.
Sylvia and Hermione had already changed into their school robes, the transformation from ordinary schoolgirls to young witches complete.
Will and Neville took their turn next.
Will swapped his regular clothes for a black satin shirt before pulling his robes on over it.
Some wizards apparently skipped trousers entirely under their robes, but Will had no interest in testing that particular tradition.
Two minutes later, he opened the compartment door and let a faintly surprised Sylvia and Hermione back inside.
Not long after, the conductor’s voice carried through the train.
“We will be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes.
Please leave all luggage on the train.
It will be brought up to the school separately.”
The train slowed, then stopped completely.
The four of them had just started to rise when Will held up a hand.
“Let everyone else push through first.
We’ll go last.
It’s not like the train’s going to leave without us.”
So they waited and watched the crowd shove its way toward the doors and spill out onto a small, dimly lit platform.
Will couldn’t help thinking Hogwarts could stand to be a little more organized about this part.
The Scottish Highlands ran cold even in early autumn, and the temperature outside sat comfortably below ten degrees Celsius.
Will could see his own breath in the air, grateful he’d dressed for it.
“First-years!
First-years, over here!
Harry, all right there?” Hagrid’s voice boomed out, lantern swinging, beard catching the light, as he waved the new students toward a dark path.
“Come on then, follow me, mind your step!
Any more first-years back there?
This way, keep up!” The younger wizards trailed after him, slipping and stumbling down the narrow, uneven trail.
The path was black on either side.
Will noticed Sylvia and Hermione drifting a little closer to him as they walked.
Neville, meanwhile, practically glued himself to Will’s heels, trailing half a step behind and nearly stepping on his shoes more than once.
No one spoke in the dark, not until the path curved and opened up.
“Whoa…”
The black lake spread out ahead of them without warning.
Rising from the far shore, atop a steep hill, stood the castle itself, towers catching starlight, windows glowing gold across the water.
Hogwarts.
They’d made it.