Briar Shafiq struggles to live her life as a young witch, two years after Voldemort was defeated. An unsupportive family, a mountain of expectations, and the troubles of being a teenager make her life a living hell.
(This story includes none of the...
"Leaky Cauldron!" The rough, groveling voice interrupted her blissful sleep and someone shook her arm.
"Is that you, dear?" Briar opened her eyes and saw an old woman poking her arm.
"Last call for the Leaky Cauldron!" She stood up, her body still stiff from sleeping. She grabbed her stuffed leather trunk and hoisted her broomstick onto her shoulder. This woke her sleeping barn owl, Willow, who fluttered onto the other shoulder.
Briar made her way down the bus, passing other sleeping passengers of the Knight Bus. She waved goodbye to the elderly driver, Erny Prang, and the conductor, a young woman with long blonde hair. The conductor helped her lower her trunk onto the asphalt road. The wheels of Briar's cart rumbled on the sidewalk as she strolled through the darkness.
She approached a small pub nestled between a Muggle bookshop and a record store. She pushed the door open and a bell rang. Inside the pub, it was dark and shabby, with a bar and several tables in the shadows of the corners. The clock mounted on the wall read 4 am. Tom, the old and quite-bald barkeeper, welcomed her. He resembled a toothless walnut with a dusty face covered in many wrinkles.
"Good evening, Miss..." His voice faded off, waiting for her.
"Shafiq. Briar Shafiq. My father prepaid for my room."
"Ah, yes. Shafiq. Room 34 I believe." He dropped a silver key in her hand and she turned to head upstairs. Her trunk thumped against each of the steps as she dragged up the stairs. She inserted the key into the dusty keyhole of room 34 and it clicked. When she opened the door, the dank musty smell of dust and mold greeted her. She locked the door behind her and shook the dust off her sheets. Briar placed her trunk, a large leather case with her initials, B A S, printed on it in gold, in the corner. She flopped onto the bed, passing out cold. In the morning, she woke up to the room service people knocking on her door.
"Go away!" she groaned, rubbing her eyes.
"Ugh, rude," they scoffed. She sat up and checked her watch to see that it was 10:30. She got ready and changed into her uniform, a white dress shirt under a gray sweater. She paired them with some slacks and black boots. She pulled her hair into a sleek ponytail with her curtain bangs hanging out. She grabbed all her stuff and hailed the Knight Bus again. Ernie pulled up in a matter of moments.
"Good to see ya, kid." She loaded her stuff into the violently purple triple-decker bus and she climbed in.
"King's Cross Station, Prang." Briar sat down on the cushioned seats and hummed a tune as the bus drove at amazing speeds through the roads.
After a few stops, Ernie announced, "Kings Cross Station!" She grabbed her things and raced off the bus. She navigated through the sea of colorful people, all rushing to catch their train. Finally, she located the 9th platform. After checking to see that no one was looking, she ran towards the brick pillar between platforms 9 and 10. She passed right through the pillar and emerged into an even more cramped station. Witches and wizards bustled around, loading their luggage onto the large red train. The large letters on the side marked it The Hogwarts Express. There were teary goodbyes and screaming kids. Briar shoved through the crowd until she reached the door of the train. As she saw parents wishing their kids well and kissing their heads, a deep jealousy grew inside her. You don't need that shit. She didn't have any family there to wish her goodbye so she turned to head into the hallway.
"Wait!" A woman yelled from the crowd of wizards. Briar glanced back to see a familiar face. She had long black hair and cold blue almond-shaped eyes. She wore a long sweeping black wizard robe.
"Mrs. Taurin!" Briar said, delighted. The woman rushed to the train and hugged her. The smell of freshly baked bread and warm spices filled her senses. She squeezed the air out of Briar's lungs with the strength of her embrace.
"Oh, we missed you so much this summer." Briar laughed and looked around.
"Where's Calypso?" She asked.
"Oh, she's inside already." Mrs. Taurin squeezed her one last time and then released her. "Well, you best be heading off."
"Goodbye!" She waved to her as Briar entered the train. She searched down the hallways until she recognized a face in one of the compartments. When Briar opened the door, a delighted scream announced her arrival.
"Briar!" A blur of black hair rammed her and Calypso scooped her up in her arms. "We missed you!" Briar looked around the room to see the rest of her colleagues.
"I missed you guys too." Calypso placed her down and Briar got a full view of her. Calypso had dark black hair piled on top of her head in a bun. She was petite and had large ice-blue eyes, in striking resemblance to her mother.
Briar turned to observe the rest of the room. Silas and Ephyra were across from each other, midway through a game of Exploding Snap. Silas had wavy dark brown hair that looked simultaneously messy and styled. He had laugh lines from his constant charming arrogant smile. His stormy gray eyes were sharp, matching his angular face. Just looking at him made her smile. Across from him was Ephyra, a girl significantly tall for her age with long and lanky legs. Her auburn hair was a short pixie cut and freckles spattered her face. She dressed in an oversized t-shirt and shorts.
Before she could greet them another body slammed into her. "You're here!"
She laughed, "Hi, Finn." She rubbed his head, making his hair frizz up.
"Alright, group hug," Silas said, wrapping his arms around Finn and her, quickly joined by Ephyra and Calypso.
"Oh, I've missed you guys. You have no idea how insufferable my father has been." She groaned. She shifted her voice down an octave and clipped her letters to mimic her father's voice. "You're such a disappointment, Briar. All you brothers get EE and O's every year."
"Cool." She nodded as she sat down on one of the seats. "Okay now, spill the tea. My summer's been so boring. Calypso, how's it been with Jasper?"
"Eh, I didn't see him that much. His family went on a huge trip through Italy so I got a lot of postcards." Calypso explained and they turned to Finn signaling his turn to talk. Finn was midway through explaining his family's trip to France when the door slid open.
A boy with a dirty blonde mullet and warm brown eyes stepped into the room. He was rammed with hugs and encountered similar greetings. He sat down next to Calypso after kissing her cheek and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
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