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  This chapter was edited by Gdiusx. Check his works on HP and ASOIAF, I highly recommend them.

  Harry groaned as he felt a wet tongue licking his face.

  “I’m awake, get off, Ghost. I’m awake already.”

  The direwolf huffed, and Harry opened his eyes to find himself in the Godswood of his mind.

  “Ugh, I have a bad feeling that my head will be killing me once I’m back outside.”

  He ignored his canine friend’s amused gaze as he stood and walked to the pool. Even though he was fully awake in his mind, some cool water on his face would always feel nice.

  After dunking his head into the pool for a minute, Harry felt more than ready to face the coming day.

  “Okay, my memories are all over the pce. Anything you want to add, Ghost?”

  The white wolf simply looked at the Weirwood, and Harry sighed, “might as well.”

  Touching the bone-white bark of the tree, Harry shifted through his memories of the previous day. He chuckled slightly as he recalled his conversation with Neville and was gd he didn’t blurt out anything that would have caused some raised eyebrows.

  Rewinding his memories to his time in Hagrid’s hut, Harry froze the images and moved to the pool.

  “Time to see the fruits of your bour,” he patted his liver and watched closely the events of st night.

  .

  .

  .

  “That’s a lot of nasties. Acromantus, centaurs, ogres, trolls, feral beasts… not to mention the few he raised like the Hippogriffs and Thestrals, whatever they are, that I should steer away from. Don’t want to upset the big man if I accidentally hurt them. Unfortunately, that was all Hagrid mumbled before he fell asleep, for such a big man, he really couldn’t hold his drink well.” Harry shook his head as it turned out he didn’t learn as much as he hoped to. “What do you think, boy?”

  Ghost shook his head sideways as he watched the rolling memories on the pool. He raised his paw, causing it to stop on a scene of Hagrid warning him about Fae.

  “Yeah… Technically, pixies and doxies are also Fae, but I don’t think that’s what Hagrid was warning about.” Harry rubbed his chin as he viewed his rge friend’s worried face as he talked about the elusive creatures of legend. “They sound like the Children of the Forests, only a lot more malicious than the tales say. At least I won’t have to worry about their winter retives… I hope.”

  The idea of potentially fighting the counterparts of the Others of his world did not appeal to him, at least not so early in his magical education. Nevertheless, Hagrid mentioned that while the Fae were dangerous, they could still be reasoned with, though he highly advised against speaking to them in the first pce. Harry wondered if the big guy got duped into one of their deals or something.

  Nevertheless, encountering Faes is even rarer than Unicorns, which were already incredibly rare. His main concern was the myriad of aggressive beasts that called the forest home, for some of them would serve their purpose as ingredients for his ritual. Yet, he could not deny his desire to get something from a Unicorn, such powerful magical creatures would surely… but no, Firenze’s warning echoed in his mind about harming the pure creatures. There was no way the centaurs would appreciate anyone attacking the Unicorns after Voldemort’s stunt st year.

  At least he would be content with the many valuable flora that Hagrid showed him, all things potion masters and apothecaries would pay top galleon for. While they would be useless for his ritual, and Harry wasn’t short on gold, it would always be better to have more than less.

  There were a few more things that the gentle giant mentioned, such as his own secret hideaways in the forest, but Harry felt that was enough for now; He could always review the memories ter. Moving away from the pool, he hugged Ghost, getting a wet lick in return, before leaving the ancient grove. As always, he could not see Winterfell beyond the gates. Just a dark, misty void.

  A*L*S*M

  Friday morning, 11th of June 1993.

  Harry groggily woke up, and the first thing he saw were two rge, familiar orbs of green staring at him from far too close a proximity.

  “Dobby, what have I said about waking me up this way?” He scowled inwardly as he fought the urge to flinch or accidentally hurt his servant.

  “Not to, Harry Potter, sir.” The elf threw a gnce at the nearby mp with twitching hands, “unless it's an emergency.”Harry groaned as he sat up in his bed, noticing the empty dorm room, the packed trunks meant his dorm mates had already left for breakfast.

  “Is this an emergency, Dobby?”

  The elf fidgeted hesitantly, “Dobby has prepared Master Harry’s luggage, but if the Great Harry Potter sir takes too long, he will miss breakfast. Was Dobby mistaken?”

  A yawn escaped his mouth, and he idly scratched his head, “It’s okay this time. You can go now, take the trunk and my broom to the leaky cauldron. I'll call you if I need you.”

  The elf nodded before popping away, taking his stuff and Hedwig’s empty cage along. Harry stood and stretched, and a satisfied sigh escaped from him as his joints popped. He looked at the window and idly wondered where Hedwig was. Closing his eyes and focusing for a second, he found her flying south. Clearly, she had decided to hurry ahead to London, rather than get stuck on the train for eight hours. A quick sniff had the boy with enhanced senses gagging. Grabbing the change of clothes that Dobby prepared, tattered dark trousers and a grey T-shirt, he hurried to the bathroom for a much-needed shower.

  .

  .

  .

  “Hey, Harry. Fancy meeting you down here.”

  He had just exited the kitchens after having an enlightening conversation with Leeney about handling Dobby when he found Shafiq in the corridors. His prefect badge was on, which was usually his way of announcing I’m on duty, so don’t give me a reason to ruin your day.

  “Rick, what are you doing down here?” Harry chewed on his sandwich as he joined the older boy.

  “Last-minute patrols. The Hogwarts Express leaves in an hour, and all the students are already gathered by the carriages. You were notably missing st night, so the teachers asked us prefects to ensure no students were te.” The Ravencw prefect led the way out of the dungeons or basements if you asked a Puff. Harry had learned from observation that the teachers had prefects from other houses patrol the Dungeons, while Slytherin and Hufflepuff prefects patrolled the towers. Probably in an effort to prevent bias from prefects to members of their houses.

  “I see, well, you’ve found me. Caught me red-handed at the kitchens’ exit, where I’m not supposed to be.” Harry shrugged carelessly and grinned at the Egyptian.

  “Did I now? I could have sworn I only saw you in the corridor, where you must have been admiring the elegant decor of our illustrious forebearers.” The older boy’s turquoise eyes squinted in mirth.

  “Indeed I was, my good man. I mean, have you looked at this pce?” He pointed at a dark corner where mould and fungi had formed around a leaking pipe. “Free food for the pixies.”

  “Nature’s work at its best.” They both chuckled good-naturedly as they bantered along the way to the Paved Courtyard, or as the students preferred to call it, the Quad.

  “So, what are your pns for the summer, Rick?”

  “Oh, a bit of this and that. Might visit my cousins in Egypt ter on, though I’m really not a fan of going there in summer.” Ironic for an Egyptian not to be a fan of the heat, although Harry would admit he wasn’t the biggest fan of the rain either. “More importantly, I am excited about the first Wizengamot meeting of the summer.”

  That caught his interest. “When was it again?”

  “It’s set a couple of days before the summer solstice.” Tariq looked around the courtyard as they finally arrived, noticing the heavy crowds. All of Hogwarts was gathered here, and Harry could see some of the teachers patrolling and talking with the students. Even Filch was pretending to be busy as he could hear him threatening some first-year, even as Colin Creevey sneaked a dung bomb into his back pocket.

  A chortle came unbidden when the bomb exploded once Filch walked away, grabbing a few people’s attention. Harry turned to find Shafiq with a slight smile, “sorry, you were saying it was before the solstice?”

  Tariq, or Rick as he preferred to go by, nodded. “The gathering will be in the morning, and ter, there will be a ball for the rest of the day. The ministry had at first tried to make the meeting and the ball on the solstice itself, but attendance was non-existent due to many families having their own pns on that day.”

  “I take it the solstice is significant, then?” The two of them walked around the edge of the crowd as they each searched for their respective groups.

  “Yeah, it’s a good time for many ceremonies connected to the summer, the sun, heat, and many other things that you would learn in Astronomy ter on.”

  “Astronomy? So far, it's been a bit of a let-down, to be honest.” Harry scrunched his brows.

  “Baby steps, Harry. You can’t learn how to run before you walk. The first few years will have you learning about the cosmos and other celestial bodies and then memorising their orbits and affinities. In your fourth year, you would put those lessons to practice in benign rituals and ceremonies.”

  “What exactly do you mean by ceremonies? Are they different from Rituals?” They stopped by a wall to finish their talk, unwilling to join their friends just yet.

  “Put simply, all rituals are ceremonies, but not all ceremonies are rituals.” At Harry’s confused look, the older boy chuckled. “Ceremonies are religious in nature. British magicals kept to their pagan beliefs from the olden times, even with the advent of Christianity, which introduced its own ceremonies as well. Perhaps because of it, they hold closer to it these days so as to not forget their traditions.”

  “And those ceremonies actually have effects?” It was always a contentious issue for Jon, as the gods of his homend were never active, or at least not in an obvious way.

  “Of course, they do… for the most part.” Shafiq shrugged. “A popur ceremony in spring, for example, is a fertility blessing. Each family prays to a fertility deity in hopes of healthy offspring. It was most notable after you vanquished the Dark Lord as a babe, many wizards and witches intentionally held off from having kids and waited for Beltane to commence that ceremony and then procreated like rabbits. It is said the sheer number of believers and attendees at that year’s Beltane must have made the gods notice them, considering the results.”

  Harry snorted at that. Perhaps that expined why there were so few students in the years before him, culminating with barely a dozen in Astoria’s year. Then again, that also meant that next year, Hogwarts will have more students than ever before. He wondered if the teachers would be able to handle that strain.

  Regardless, something much more important had been on his mind during this conversation.

  “Why the hell is none of this mentioned in the books I’ve read? I knew there was a Wizengamot meeting soon, but not the exact date. The rituals and ceremonies, though? None of the books in the library mentioned anything about it!” The vertically challenged boy raised his arms in the air from frustration. He and Hermione had spent countless hours in the library over the past ten days researching and reading over a lot of genres, yet for some reason, anything theological or ritual reted was conspicuously absent.

  Harry would have preferred to read on how rituals behaved considering he was in the middle of one, and sadly, neither he nor Dobby had found anything in the chamber that would help. Riddle probably cleared everything of value off, or mayhaps one of his ancestors did.

  “…You make a good point, Harry. I’m not certain on the specifics, but about a hundred years ago or so, some witch successfully advocated for the ministry to ban all books about rituals and ceremonies. I think she had some bad experience with them? Or maybe she didn’t understand them and illogically feared them?” Tariq rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and Harry scowled inwardly. So the reason so many muggle-borns are blind to the most basic information on wizarding society was due to some woman’s tantrum?

  “So there’s no way for me to learn about the matter except to ask around?” He would rather not do so, as that would just raise eyebrows and bring attention to himself. Harry still wasn’t sure if the ritual he was doing was legal or not, and considering the stance of the ministry, he was leaning towards not.

  “I don’t think there were any book burnings or such, just the banning of selling or publishing books. You might find a book about the subject in the forbidden section of the library, or maybe even for sale if you know where to look.” The prefect wiggled his eyebrows at him, and Harry smirked at his not so subtle hints. “Anyway, I have to join the other prefects. See you around, Harry.”

  “Thanks, mate.” He waved at the older boy as he approached a group of older students wearing perfect badges waving him over. Close by were Dean and Seamus, along with a few other boys from other houses, who walked over to greet him.

  “Hey, Harry.” Seamus greeted as he fiddled with what looked like marbles. “Trouble with the prefects?”

  “Nothing of the sort,” Harry shrugged with a grin. “What’s with the crowd?” He nodded to some of the boys he knew in passing, such as Boot and Goldstein, though he pretended to ignore Macmiln’s existence. The pompous boy looked like he wanted to announce his presence somehow, so Harry sought an opportunity to excuse himself.

  “We’re organising a gobstones tournament. Once you’re on the train, look for us in one of the front compartments if you’re interested. ”

  “Sounds like a pn. I’ll bring Neville as well, now if you excuse me, I have to catch up with someone.” Harry waved at them as he walked to where Hermione and Neville were waving while a few feet away, Luna was talking to Astoria, who looked so excited she would almost vibrate. The girl looked a lot healthier since the blood transfusion, and he remembered that he needed to talk to her parents once they arrived at King’s Cross.

  “Harry, we thought you would sleep the whole day and miss the train.” Neville grinned from his seat on his school trunk as he approached.

  “Harry James Potter! Do you have any idea how we found you st night?” And, of course, Hermione would look at him with disapproval.

  “On the corridor on your way to the feast?” He chuckled at the duo’s look of surprise. “I might have been tipsy, but I remember everything from st night.” Harry looked at Neville with a mischievous glint in his eyes that the blonde boy saw and gulped.

  “Hey, guys.” Astoria and Luna approached, the former with her typical wide grin, while the tter had her serene smile. “Wanna share a compartment on the train?”

  “Sure, I don’t mind,” Harry answered quickly before Hermione could devise an excuse. The girl needed to meet more people, particurly those whom she would never associate with. Especially purebloods to help her grow a thicker skin and get that chip off her shoulder, and the Greengrass girls were more patient than most.

  “Awesome! Hear that, Daph?” She turned to her sisters, who were speaking to Susan and Hannah. “We’re gonna look for one of those extra rge lounge compartments and have a party! Quickly, before they are all taken.”

  “Splendid, want to join us, girls?” Daphne turned to the two Puffs, who exchanged a gnce with him. Harry nodded genially, causing them to smile in return.

  “Of course, let me tell my brother first.” Susan hurried off to the same group of older students that Shafiq joined.

  “I didn't know Susan's brother was Headboy.” Harry rubbed his chin as the crimson-haired girl hugged an older boy with ash-blonde hair in Hufflepuff colours before speaking to him.

  “Yes, Edmund is in his final year. I heard they are giving a farewell party for him on the train. I think it's tradition every year for the head boy and head girl to receive one.” Hannah expined as they saw the older boy pat his sister’s shoulder. Surprisingly, he wasn't much taller than her, barely a couple of inches, and Harry's curiosity was piqued regarding Susan Bones.

  “By the way, where's your trunk, Harry?”

  “I had my house-elf take it ahead of me.” Harry shrugged to Hannah, “I take it our agreement is still intact, right Hannah?”

  “Of course, Harry. I have already sent an owl to Great Uncle Tom, and he replied yesterday. He is honoured that the Great Harry Potter will be staying in his establishment.” Hannah’s teasing smirk had him groan, causing her to giggle giddily with ughing brown eyes. “He has a room ready for you and promised to have treacle tart for dinner and breakfast. I might have told him about that.” Harry smiled at the amiable girl, he will have to get her a gift.

  “Attention, students!” All chatter ceased at once as McGonagall's voice resounded in the courtyard with what must have been a charm of some kind. “Prepare to board the carriages once they arrive. No more than six to a carriage, please.”

  As the deputy headmistress finished her announcement, Susan quickly joined them as they grouped up to board, chatting as they waited. They split into two groups as they approached the horseless carriages… only they weren't horseless anymore.

  “Well, this is interesting.” Harry approached the strange steeds pulling their carriage. It was a winged horse with a thin body that was all skin and bones. Its face had reptilian features and wide, leathery wings that resembled a bat's… or a dragon’s. It was the first time he had seen such grotesque creatures, yet he could feel no malice from the one he approached. Only curiosity and subdued excitement.

  “Come on, Harry,” Hermione called from inside the carriage. “What are you doing over there?”

  “You can't see it?”

  “See what?” Daphne got curious and skipped over to him from her carriage. “I don't see anything, Harry. You realise the carriages are just charmed to move by themselves, right?” The gangly girl had a teasing grin as she leaned on his shoulders. Harry frowned, The girl was getting a bit too cheeky by not so subtly reminding him of how short he was.

  They’ll see who would ugh st – Harry was not yet thirteen and had plenty of time to grow.

  “Er, Daphne? Who told you that?” He turned to Susan and was surprised to find her holding a shocked-looking Luna. Upon further inspection, he discovered Neville looking at the creature as well, though he didn’t seem surprised by it.

  “I mean, it just makes sense, innit? I'm quite the savant at deductive reasoning, after all.” The dark-haired girl exaggeratedly raised her nose at the taller girl, who shook her head.

  “No, Daphne. I regret to say that in this matter, you are sorely mistaken.” The crimson-haired witch approached the creature slowly, Luna in tow, and eyed them with orbs of ethereal glowing blue that shared the same colour as the sky above them. “The carriages were always drawn by Thestrals.”

  Daphne, who so far had a joking attitude and carefree smile, paled considerably and jumped several feet away. “Thestrals! Here in school? What the fudge?”

  Harry, on the other hand, smiled gently at the creature as he patted its chin, causing it to close its milky white eyes in contentment. “Ah, so you're the ones Hagrid mentioned. He never expined what you were or how you looked, but he did say the school had always had an entire herd of the creatures for centuries. Cool.”

  “Cool? Is that all you have to say?” Daphne looked close to having a seizure, and the other girls didn't look comfortable either. Tracey and Astoria looked warily at where the Thestral supposedly was, but they missed it by a few feet, while Hannah and Hermione looked curious, if nothing else.

  Only Neville and Susan looked at Daphne with exasperation. “Harry, don't you know that they are omens of death? To see one of them means you will die within a day!”

  “If that were true, Greengrass, I would have died a year ago when I first saw them.” Neville interrupted as he got closer to the one Harry was petting. “Thestrals are magical creatures that can only be seen by those who have witnessed death; I mean true death of the same species, not your old pygmy puff.” He hesitantly held out his hand and patted the beast's fnk, much to its pleasure, as it released a content chirp. It was a strangely gentle sound to come from such a fearsome-looking creature.

  “Did you hear that?” Daphne still looked weary as Tracey whispered. Harry noticed a few students were looking curiously at them. Thankfully, they were in a secluded enough corner of the courtyard that no one noticed the girl's outburst.

  “You can see them too, right, Luna?” Susan nudged the blonde Ravencw, who nodded hesitantly.

  “My mother, when I was nine.” The words were spoken with a careless, even tone.

  Well, that made the mood sombre. “Obviously, in my case, I've seen two people die recently. Neville?” Harry turned to the blonde boy who finished patting the Thestral and moved to the carriage.

  “My grandpa died the summer before I started school. He survived the Dragon Pox of the te seventies but had become weaker and prone to sickness. It was a peaceful death, surrounded by family.” Neville had a forlorn look before he shrugged and waved them on. “Come on, everyone, let's go. We're going to miss the train at this rate.”

  Daphne still didn't look convinced, “But –”

  “Bloody hell, Greengrass. It's not Thestrals that are omens of death, but Grim. You know – huge shaggy bck hounds? Would probably bite your head before scaring you to death? Ring a bell?” The Gryffindor was fed up with the discussion and waved his hands around him. “Do you want to grab that compartment or not? We're the st ones in the courtyard, so unless you want McGonagall to come over, let's move on.”

  Daphne did not seem amused by Neville's tone. She opened her mouth for a rebuke, but, as if to emphasise his point, a cough sounded out behind them, and Harry turned to the annoyed visage of Minerva McGonagall looking sternly at them from the empty courtyard.

  “Well? What are you waiting for, an invitation? Red carpeting to the train? Get on already!”

  They quickly hopped on their carriages, whatever order they had decided, forgotten. Harry ended up sitting between the buxom Susan and the waif-like Luna, and bloody hell if the crimson witch was tall. Even sitting, his eyes were barely level with her chin! It didn’t help that he could smell a tinge of cardamom and cinnamon, as her hair brushed his nose, that caused his heart to palpitate.

  Fucking puberty.

  “So, Susan.” Might as well break the awkwardness, “you didn’t say how you were able to see the Thestrals. Who did you see die?”

  “… I don’t know.” The girl’s voice was subdued as she looked outside the window to stare at the creatures. “I’ve always been capable of seeing them, even though I don’t recall ever seeing someone die. Just one of the many aberrations about me.” The crimson-haired girl’s words gave him a slight shiver in his spine that only piqued his interest in her more. Especially when she turned to stare him in the eyes…or at least she tried, as she had to turn sideways for him to see her from her breasts.

  The girl’s sombre mood was gone as she had a knowing grin when she saw his gaze. Harry huffed and turned to the much shorter Luna, who had an upside-down magazine out, and engaged her in conversation.

  He was definitely counting on that ritual to at least give him an inch or two.

  .

  .

  .

  “I told you this would happen,” Neville grumbled as he dragged his trunk behind them. The train was already moving, and they still did not have a compartment. Harry looked around at the front part of the train. It was where most of the older years chose compartments, and he could now tell why. There was an entire carriage, twice as rge as a regur carriage, that doubled as a common room for everyone to mingle in; he was certain it looked the same from the outside, but figured magic was at hand. Sofas and armchairs were avaible aplenty, as well as two dining tables, what should have been a pool table but had been repurposed to py card games, a gobstones pit, and even a firepce. There was also a bar, though there didn’t appear to be anyone manning it – scratch that, he saw an older student call his drink, and it appeared on the counter.

  Magic was so darned convenient.

  The carriages on each side of it were known as the lounge compartments, which supposedly were much more comfortable and spacious than the others they normally took. Those lounges were all sadly taken.

  “Ugh, this blows.” Daphne puffed out a breath to blow away a strand of hair that came close to her mouth. “Come on, gang. I still have one st trick up my sleeve.”

  Hermione looked ready to call it quits and grab a regur compartment, while the Hufflepuff girls simply smiled and distracted her with small talk, though the bushy-haired girl seemed to be more interested in her book. Harry sighed inwardly at his best friend’s antics, and gnced at Astoria and Luna giggling quietly on the side as they perused the Quibbler. Harry had read a bit of it on the carriage with the younger girl, and it was interesting enough. Much better than the rubbish in The Daily Prophet or the corniness of Witch Weekly.

  Tracey dropped her trunk beside him and used it as a seat, her face bored. Daphne dropped hers next to her sister and hurried to one of the tables, where a group of older students were ughing over something. Harry recognised one of them as Cassius Warrington, as he had pyed against him multiple times in Quidditch. The older boy sported what Jon would consider to be the cssical Valyrian look, with pale blonde hair, handsome looks, and purple eyes. His good looks didn’t hide the wicked streak he had on him, as he showcased on the pitch.

  He could not tell what houses the others were from, as everyone had removed their school robes once they boarded the train, revealing their casual clothes. Or what magicals considered casual. It looked like the boys came out of a 17th-century French party but decided to give a more modern touch to their frills and cuffs and added 19th-century style clothing to their already old-fashioned attire. Harry could see a boy wearing a top hat that wouldn't look out of pce on a gentleman a hundred years ago but with puffed shirts and two fancy cravats that made him look like a fmboyant peacock. Another boy tried to dress sharply in an old-fashioned tuxedo, only to be ruined when he chose Bolton pink instead of bck and had jester shoes instead of polished leather.

  The girls were slightly better, yet still looked ridiculous. One older girl, in particur, had a stuffed parrot pced on a weird headdress while wearing a close-fitted bodice and corsage that should have emphasised a modest and demure style. Should, being the keyword, as the girl had a massive cleavage cut that showed too much flesh to be proper and another cut that bared her shoulders. Harry could also see her navel as if she were wearing a shirt too small that couldn’t fit inside her skirt. Speaking of the clearly over-puffed skirts, those could act as cages for naughty children; he chuckled inwardly.

  Or short boys. He shivered at the mere thought and vowed to do everything he could to grow at least a couple more inches over the summer. Harry's sudden growth spurt from two weeks ago came to nothing in the end; he was still an inch shy of five feet.

  “At least you’re dressed prettily enough, Tracey. Pnning on an outing tonight?” Harry gnced at his green-eyed friend, observing her cssy muggle clothing, which still gave her a magical air. The blonde girl had her hair loose yet neat, and Harry could smell a hint of citrus and vender. She was dressed in a denim skirt and a yellow halter top under a turquoise jacket made from some kind of soft leather. She finished her ensemble with emerald earrings and a machite neckce.

  “Harry…” The blonde-haired girl blushed deeply at his sudden compliment, and Harry realised it had come out of the blue. He would never take back a compliment, however, and doubled down.

  “I mean, have you seen everyone else in this room.” He waved at the many witches and wizards garbed in some of the strangest attires he’d seen. Only his group were dressed normally enough, though Neville dressed like he was going to a wedding. Susan, on the other hand, had a strange gothic bck dress over her white frilly shirt that was held with suspenders and had a small yet cute bck bow-tie. “You look like a cssy princess compared to those court fools.”

  Even Jon, who had been to Whiteharbor and witnessed plenty of foreigners from around the world in their weird garbs, felt like magicals had an extremely acquired taste.

  “F-fttery will get you nowhere, wonder boy.” Tracey, having recovered, tried to counterattack, yet her reddened cheeks and happy smile said otherwise.

  “Are you sure? I can keep going, you know?” Harry whispered, adding a growling husk to his voice that caused the girl to visibly shiver. He grinned as he sat beside her and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. “I can compare your luscious hair to spun gold, your grassy eyes to the endless prairie of the highnds, your cute mole that emphasised the texture of your soft skin, your pouty lips as you lick them from nervousness, your shapely bod –”

  “A-alright, already. You m-made your point!” The girl was reduced to a stuttering mess with a blush so hot that he wagered she would steam if he spshed water on her forehead, yet her unbidden smile told him all he needed. He allowed her to push him away with a satisfied smile and gnced around to find Susan staring at them curiously. Their gazes met, and the girl's otherworldly blue eyes narrowed at Tracey's blushing face before giving him a knowing look as she licked her lips. Harry could have sworn he saw her eyes glowing bright, but he was distracted by the return of Daphne.

  “Okay, gang. I found us a solution.” Daphne interrupted any more chatter as she approached while dragging an annoyed-looking older boy. “This is Cassius Warrington, my first cousin who has just finished his OWL year with a nice and solid five OWLs. The pride and joy of his family.” The girl ribbed her cousin with her elbow, much to the boy's growing annoyance. “He's also an all-around reliable guy, so long as I mention my mom's name. She used to babysit him, you see.” The possibly mad girl mock-whispered to their group, which earned her a zy sp to the head from the now very annoyed-looking boy.

  “So this is your group?” The Slytherin chaser sauntered over to where he was standing with Tracey, giving a passing gnce to the girl before standing in front of him.

  “Potter.”

  “Warrington.”

  They faced off for a moment, with the difference in height especially apparent. The boy was easily over six feet tall, and the top of Harry's head barely reached his colrbone. He stood his ground, however, at the older boy's attempt at intimidation and adopted a bored look.

  “Quidditch might have been cancelled this year, but next year, the cup will be ours.” Harry didn't bother replying as Warrington walked off to Astoria, giving her a surprisingly gentle hug and a pat on the head, which she eagerly reciprocated before nodding to Luna.

  “Well, it's certainly a strange bunch you've picked up, girl. Didn't I tell you to stop picking up strays from the street?” The older boy gazed at them, and Harry narrowed his eyes at the way the boy said stray as he was looking at Hermione at the time, who noticed it if her gre was any indication.

  “Now, now, Cassie. These are all my friends here.” Daphne pinched the older boy's sides, her smile turning a little wooden. “At least I'm trying to make friends with some of them. And you are not helping.” Daphne accentuated every word with a pinch, causing the boy to grimace.

  “Whatever, you owe me for this, Daphne. Take lounge four. I already paid for it for me and my friends, but they stood me up for their girls. Although,” The boy's amethyst eyes stared in undisguised lust at Susan's body, which caused her to narrow her eyes and scowl. “I wouldn’t mind getting a regur compartment for some private company. Never had a redhead yet.” Warrington wiggled his eyebrows as he leered at Susan. Harry subtly drew his wand at the sheer gal of the older boy, causing Daphne's eyes to widen.

  “Alright, guys, let's go.” She pushed the older boy away and quickly dragged him, the rest of the group following while Warrington cackled unpleasantly. Susan gred at the retreating boy while Hannah dragged her out of the common room. Once they entered lounge four, Harry quickly forgot about Warrington and finally understood what all the hype was about.

  Magic was definitely at py here, for the lounge was much rger than it had any right to be in the small train carriage. The room itself was circur, with rounded windows taking up most of the wooden wall. Harry could see the rushing ndscape of the Scottish Highnds as they travelled south to London. There was one rge round table in the middle with a menu to peruse, surrounded by a cushioned and circur bench that had reclining backs, and clear armrests to designate seats. The room could easily fit twelve adults, more than enough for the nine young teens.

  “Oh, wow. This is simply remarkable!” Surprisingly, Hermione was the first to comment and inspected the room. “The design reminds me of pictures I’ve seen of the Orient Express, but this is mad. This is essentially a conference room on a train! How did they do it?”

  “Magic, Granger. Welcome to the world of magic. You can put your trunks over here.” Tracey dragged her trunk to an accompanying closet, but Harry took this chance to call dibs on the head seat. After grumbling when he noticed he was too short to barely look over the table, he grabbed a few cushions to boost him, just in time for everyone to finally enter the lounge and choose a seat. Susan and Tracy sat on each side of him, but thankfully, the cushions he put underneath allowed him to be level with them. He vehemently ignored their smirks, though Susan’s was subdued by her foul mood.

  An awkward silence descended on the room. Naturally, Hermione took this opportunity to pull out a book and start reading. Luna also pulled her copy of the Quibbler, which grabbed Neville's attention.

  “Well, that was unpleasant.” Hannah tried to break the ice as she gnced at Susan’s dark look. “What did your cousin mean by paying for the lounge, Daphne? I thought it was a first come, first served basis.”

  “It is, but it's not free. Each of these lounges costs twelve galleons to reserve.” Daphne grabbed the menu on the table, showing a coin slot underneath it. “It comes with food and drinks if you're willing to pay, and considering it was almost always designed with rich nobles in mind, that was never an issue. Here, let me show you how it works.”

  Daphne deposited a Galleon in the slot before clearly intoning, “Turkish Delight and Tea,” to the table. Immediately, a box of candy and a pot of tea with several cups appeared on the table.

  “Go on, everyone. It's my treat; just don't go overboard, I'm nearly out of my allowance, but one Galleon should be enough for us all.” Harry didn't waste time and grabbed a handful of confectionaries as well as a cup of tea. The rest joined in as well, with some checking the menu first before ordering their preferred treat. Once everyone was settled, Susan’s simmering anger finally reached a boiling point.

  “Now then, Daphne.” Susan gred slightly at the dark-haired girl sitting next to Tracey. “What the bloody hell was wrong with your cousin? If It wasn't for you, I would have cursed his eyes out of his skull and stuffed them down his throat.” The graphic threat was jarring to hear from the normally polite and genial girl. The whole room could feel the awkward embarrassment coming out of Daphne.

  “Come now, Susie. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, he was just joking, right?” The Greengrass heiress turned to her sister for support.

  “Don't look at me, Daphne. He's not my cousin, as he reminds me on every occasion.” The blonde-haired girl crossed her arms and gnced away.

  “I am sure he also did not cheat on his girlfriend a few months ago, either, that it was all a misunderstanding.” Harry sipped on his tea as he gazed at the fidgeting girl with amusement. “It was quite the scandal, I remember Wood and the twins were ughing so hard about finding Warrington cursed six ways to Sunday in the hospital wing and missing their game against Ravencw. The handsome Slytherin quidditch star, caught in bed with a girl by his two girlfriends… none of the three knowing about the other two. I don't think it takes a genius to understand his nature.”

  “W-well, that was just –”

  “He didn't even know me, yet called me a stray to my face.” Hermione flipped a page in her book. Her words sounded hurt, yet her face was stony.

  “Hey, Cassie is pretty nice.” Astoria rebuked with her mouth full of candy. “He's just an awful joker… and a womaniser.”

  “He will obviously be nice to you, Astoria. He is your cousin, after all.” Tracy sighed with a hint of longing. “Despite how annoyed he acts, he has never denied you a request either, right Daphne? “

  “I suppose not –”

  “I don't care about any of that, the three-timing bugger can shag a Thestral for all I care.” Susan still looked peeved as she angrily chewed on her treat, Mini Scones, which she washed down with tea. To be honest, while he thought she had a right to be annoyed, Harry thought she was acting a bit too over the top. The beautiful witch had no qualms when she caught him checking her out, though he had a bad feeling that had to do with how short he was, and that she didn’t take him seriously.

  It all came back to his fucking height; he scowled angrily as he munched on a cinnamon roll.

  “Susie, there are children here.” Hannah reproached softly, causing the crimson witch to sigh apologetically.

  “Er, what does shag mean?” Everyone turned in surprise at Luna's question. Harry had a bad feeling as he felt out the girl and only got innocent curiosity.

  “Oh, come on, Luna. You know exactly what it means, right?” Astoria ughed, causing her best friend to frown.

  “I'm afraid I don't, Tori. It's why I asked.” The girl was completely serious, and Harry felt a severe headache coming.

  “Er, Luna?” Hermione asked hesitantly. “Do you, by any chance, know about the birds and the bees?”

  “The what?”

  “How babies are made?” Tracey piped up at the girl's confusion.

  “Ah, of course I do.” Luna smiled serenely, causing them to sigh in relief. “Daddy told me it's a mother's job to expin it, but he still expined the crucial job that Dabberblimps have in delivering our offspring through the mail, as owls could not be trusted for the job. They work for the department of mysteries, you see, where they charm them with surveilnce runes.” The girl whispered seriously, as if worried she would be heard.

  Harry wanted to ugh, he truly did, but the silence that took the room was deafening. The surrounding girls had fbbergasted looks on their faces, yet it slowly morphed into understanding. The girl's mother died young, and Harry wondered what her father was thinking, telling her such weird tales.

  Either way, it was none of his concern. He was way out of his depth here and decided to retreat. “Hey, Neville. Want to join the other boys for a game of gobstones?”

  Harry meaningfully looked at Luna and then at the door. Thankfully, Neville understood and hurriedly agreed.

  “I'll leave Luna to you then,” Harry whispered to Tracey and agilely slipped under the table to join Neville outside the lounge, leaving the girls to handle telling a girl their age how babies were made.

  We know that Thestrals have a bad reputation in magical Britain. Considering the requirements to see them, it is natural for the superstitious magicals to fear them.

  Some people are distasteful, yet they are still human. Things aren’t just bck and white, as I have shown with Warrington.

  I would like to remind everyone that Harry sees everyone from the POV of a twelve-year-old, even if he has Jon’s sixteen-year-old memories. The brain and the hormones are still that of a twelve going thirteen-year-old. Naturally, he would feel attraction to girls his age, so when he describes certain characters with certain attributes, coughSusancough, do not judge him for his age.

  This chapter had gone far longer than I pnned. The inspiration for the train, as Hermione mentioned, was the Orient Express. If the Hogwarts Express was taken (shamelessly stolen) in the 19th century, then it should be beyond luxurious. Add magical shenanigans, and this is the result.

  Am I abusing the whole Harry is a short runt narrative? Absolutely, and until he gets his growth spurt, I will take my pleasure in putting him in such awkward situations. He should be gd that his voice had already matured in my story and that he sounds much older than he looks.