It was difficult to breathe at the moment. A large portion of my words were spoken in between heavy breaths. The sound of the large waterfall caused me to raise my voice in order to be heard. "Don't you understand?" I called out in frustration. The being who stood before me had a look of confusion on their face. I know the solution, and I'm ready to pay the price." A flash of green light flooded my vision before I could utter another word.
My body jolted awake. The sound of running water and echoing had been replaced with trains coming and going from King's Cross Station. A couple of pieces of spare gold were used to rent a room in the Leaky Cauldron to save time before the train departed at 11am this morning. The watch on my wrist read 9:30 a.m. Feeling slightly more relieved, I slowly gather my trunk and other personal belongings. I was currently wearing a pair of grey textured dress pants that were tucked inside black knee-high boots. My top was a gold corset with a white undershirt. Normally, there is a small bag strapped to my leg through thigh straps, but that was currently tucked into my trunk since it was designed for traveling through the forbidden forest.
Once I had all my belongings, and double checked for my train ticket, I made my way downstairs to grab a butterbeer before meeting up with Ominis and Sebastian. The nice warm butterbeer was just what I needed to wake up that morning. It was mainly a distraction to pull my thoughts away from the nightmare I had last night.
Ever since the end of last year, I kept having the same nightmare over and over again. Most nights during my summer were spent hoping that I would not fall asleep, which resulted in my family expressing their concerns far more often than I was comfortable with.
Ominis, Sebastian and Anne all wrote this summer. However, there were times when their owls went days without being answered. This was due to my fear of thinking any one of them were in a tougher situation than I was in, and information like that would only drag me down a deeper hole of isolation.
I was currently sitting on a bench in the portion of King's Cross that was visible to muggles while waiting for Ominis and Sebastian. Our current Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook was sitting in my lap as I was reading a bit of the information Professor Hecat was going to teach us this year. After seeing the results of my O.W.L.'s, I accepted that no other career pathway suited me more than being an Auror. Out of the 7 test categories of the O.W.L. exam, 5 of those resulted in Outstanding, with History of Magic and Herbology being my lowest categories of Exceeds Expectations. I was well aware being a Healer was never in the cards for me, but the O.W.L. 's seemed to give me a gentle reminder.
"Liliana". Hearing my name pulled my attention away from the textbook. Expecting to see my two Slytherin friends, Ominis and Sebastian, I'm surprised to see my parents and older brother standing before me. "One would think you're trying to make your way back to school without giving a proper goodbye", my father's orotund voice made me slightly uncomfortable.
Standing up from my spot on the bench, I tuck the textbook into my school bag before facing my family again. "Of course not. Seeing how the previous year's travel experience was rather traumatizing, you can understand my eagerness to ride the Hogwarts Express this time. The room at the Leaky Cauldron was very minimal, and it guaranteed a good seat once we're allowed to board."
I had no intention of being cold toward my family. My brother's irritated look directed toward me made my stomach churn. Dropping my defensive stance, I raised my arms to invite them into a hug. It was something that was needed, for my family, for my brother, and for me. Opening my eyes, the sight of one haired male standing next to a slightly taller male with brunette hair brought a big smile to my face. "We will be boarding shortly", I uttered to my family. Breaking away from the hug, I grab my trunk and school bag before heading over to my friends.
The two were currently engaged in their own conversation. Once Sebastian saw I was making my way toward them, he gave Ominis a small nudge. "Would you look at that Ominis, Liliana decided to join us on the Hogwarts Express this year." A small smile formed on Ominis' face as Sebastian mentioned my name. "Decided against a flying thestral carriage this time?"
A chuckle escapes my lips at Sebastian's horrible attempt of humor at 10:40 in the morning. "Yeah I heard from a few people that almost getting eaten by a dragon is only thrilling the first time it occurs." Ominis, Sebastian and I engage in conversation for a couple more minutes. Once we reached the conversation of our class schedules, Sebastian focused his gaze on someone standing nearby.
"Is something wrong?", I ask as I try to look in the direction Sebastian has his gaze.
"Just a figure I don't recognize." I turn my gaze once again and notice an older student I do not recall seeing throughout the halls last year. This male figure appeared to be around 6ft in height. He had a brown, almost black, hair that was the same length as Sebastians, however, he did not seem to have any curls in his hair. The only way Sebastian and I were able to tell he was a student was due to his black robe that appeared to be missing a house tie.
"I would assume we have another older student joining us at Hogwarts this year". I suddenly noticed the older male that was standing beside him. The older male appeared to be in his late mid-thirties or early forties. The two had very similar features, and for that reason I assumed the older male was his father or father figure to the new student. His stand was directed toward the new student and appeared to speak to him in a very demeaning manner. Turning my attention back to my two friends, Sebastian was the first one to re-engage in conversation.
"I guess we will learn more at the sorting ceremony. We should make our way onto the train before all the compartments are taken." Sebastian spoke in a very dead tone. I tried to listen for any hint of annoyance or pain. Then it made sense that Sebastian wanted us to get a compartment, so we did not have to listen to everyone else engaging in conversations about their amazing summers.
A large portion of the train ride was spent in silence. Sebastian decided to read a couple of chapters from his Divination textbook, which was a class I was not taking this year. Most of my classes aligned with both Sebastian and Ominis' schedule. All three of us were taking the same four core classes, which happened to be Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Charms. At King's Cross station, Sebastian mentioned he would be taking Divination, Ancient Runes and Apparation, in addition to his core classes. Ominis, on the other hand, was taking History of Magic with me, Apparation, and Arithmancy. In addition to History of Magic, my course schedule also consisted of the Herbology and Care for Magical Creatures classes. Since Fig had taught me how to apparate prior to my arrival at Hogwarts last year, I saw taking the course during the next term to be a better opportunity to have more time for studying.
The train coming to a halt awoke me from my sleep. My head had been resting on Sebastian's shoulder the whole time I slept. "Oh, I'm sorry." The embarrassment is clearly noticeable in my tone.
Sebastian did not say anything in return. A small smile appeared on his face as he looked up at me. Both Ominis and Sebastian began to return their belongings to their school bags as we prepared to get off the train.
Before I was able to make my way up across the Hogsmeade station bridge, my arm was cautiously pulled back. Ominis pulled me aside as many students made their way toward the stone stairs of the station. "That route is always crowded. Let's take the pathway to the right." Being thankful for Ominis' observation, the three of us walked down the hill pathway. The castle couldn't be seen when we made our way off of the train, but the stone castle peaked into view as we traveled down the pathway.
Sebastian noticed my slowed pace when we walked under the Glenfinnan Viaduct. He slowed his own pace as well. "Better experience than last year?", he asked with a smile.
Turning my attention to him, I returned the smile. "Absolutely".
"It's well deserved, Calloway", I heard from Ominis, who was already choosing a carriage for us to travel in.
Two rows of carriages were waiting in front of a wrought iron gate. Once my trunk was placed in the back of the carriage, my attention was immediately pulled to the crowd of students that were making their way down the Hogsmeade staircase with their personal trunks. A small chuckle escaped my lips as many of them seemed like they were getting shoved back and forth.
Sebastian, Ominis and I successfully managed to get a carriage to ourselves. When the three of us were settled in, we noticed a small group of adult witches and wizards watching us from the pathway to our right. "Look! It's Hogwarts' savior!", one of them cheered. My heart rate seemed to pick up when it was noticeable that they were talking about me.
Turning back toward my friends, I give them a look with a raised eyebrow. "What is that about?"
"You're the reason Hogwarts is still standing today. Everyone who's been within a 50-mile radius of the castle believes you to be a hero", Ominis said in a casual voice.
I suddenly felt paralyzed in the spot I was sitting in. Those people cheered for me because they heard about the battle in the repository. None of them were aware of the whole story, and everything that occurred down there. None of them were aware I was the reason for Fig's death, and that I still blame myself to this day.
Hoping none of my fellow Hogwarts students saw the awkward encounter, I see several of them situating their personal belongings in the other carriages. However, the new student that Sebastian and I noticed at King's Cross was looking directly at me from his spot on the pathway.
A normal experience at Hogwarts was not in the cards for me either.