Who would have thought Delphini Riddle could have escaped Azkaban? Telling the story of 4 unlikely friends as the 2023 school year at Hogwarts begins and an evil darkness threatens the mental health of school staff.
The train station was already packed with people in the early Autumn morning. By 10:55, families had crowded around the opened compartment windows, waving their goodbyes and wishing for the best in the new school year. By 10:58, most students had gotten onto the train and were counting down the 2 minutes until the train started its journey to Hogwarts. By 11:00, the Hogwarts Express had let out its final whistle, before departing King's Cross to its own destination.
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Students bustled around the crowded train hallway, as nervous First Years were either escorted or directed to their part of the train by 5th or 6th Year prefects.
While being led to her compartment by a prefect, a blonde, pink-faced girl couldn't help but peer into the clear, glass-paned doors.
In the first compartment, a blue-haired boy stared back at her and gave her a cheeky smile, causing her to turn away in embarrassment at already being caught in her curiosity. She continued down the corridor, often peeking into the other compartments until she reached the last compartment, where 3 curious faces looked at her as she slid open the door. She stood at the entrance for a while to look at the other faces before entering the airy compartment.
She sat down on one of the cushioned seats and looked across from her seat. A girl with medium length black hair and an eye-catching headband smiled at her and continued reading her magazine, The Quibbler. Next to her was a dark-haired girl, who was leaning against the window, staring attentively into the approaching darkness. The girl quickly whirled her head and stared back at her, a look of amusement glittering in her dark, coal eyes.
Next to the empty seat was a blonde-haired girl with bright, blue eyes who was quickly, almost greedily, stuffing her mouth with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans until she stopped to glance at the approaching girl, before continuing with her candy, occasionally blurting out the flavours she had tasted.
The prefect had gone by now, leaving the pink-faced girl sitting hesitantly on the edge of her seat, tugging at her pigtails and staring at the sparkly headband in front of her.
Time passed by in the silence, frequently broken by the girl eating the candy and gagging on an unappetizing flavour. The pink-faced-girl started a conversation to distract herself from the noise with the girl sitting in front of her, who seemed to have a kind, joyful aura. Just as she was about to speak, a nervous looking boy with a blue hat burst into the compartment.
"Oh hello," the boy said, looking a little flustered. "How do you do?"
"What?!" the Jelly bean girl said, laughing a bit.
"I'm Bella, Bella Abott, I'm from Edinburgh, what's your name?"
The girl by the window turned her head and quietly mumbled "Brooklyn" before turning back to her original position. Now, angry rain drops pelted against the compartment window, making Brooklyn seem lost, even a bit sad as she leaned closer to the window, bringing her knees up against her chest.
The girl with dark blue eyes almost as dark as grey, who had only just bothered to pay attention to the conversation and still munching on her jelly beans grumbled, "Irene Shin."
The girl sitting across from her beamed at Bella, "I'm Morgan Lesso, I'm a muggle, though I've done unexplained things. The person who came to explain to my parents that I've been accepted to Hogwarts said I've been performing magic all along."
"Where are you from?"
"Oh, I'm from Little Whinging, I live near the park, have you heard of it?"
"No, I've never been to small muggle towns, only been camping in a muggle forest once though..."
The strange hat boy leaves, as if he had only been there to start conversation for Bella.
The compartment door slid open again and a girl with puffy golden-brown hair, which strangely reminded Bella of a lion, appeared with a disgruntled look.
"Has anyone seen my mouse?" she said in a painfully whiny voice, causing the girls to wince. "I want Tsugi back!"
Morgan looked up. "Tsugi? As in Tsugiyoshi Sumino?"
The girl nodded. "Mhmm, he's been missing since I got on the train."
"Well, we haven't seen him," Bella started. "but we'll tell you if we see him."
"Aww man..." the girl whined, before turning on her heel and slamming the door behind her. A girl down the corridor, carrying a thick book about dragons, hurried out of a compartment and chased after the lion-girl, telling her to slow down.
Moments later, a tall girl with pulled back dark-auburn hair, nosily wandered around the corridor, suspiciously squinting into every compartment while cocking her head forward and probably noting everyone she saw. When she reached the last compartment, where Bella, Morgan, Irene, and Brooklyn were, a Slytherin with a 5th year Prefect badge laughed at her and told her off. The girl, surprisingly, talked back with a hiss and hit his arm before stalking back into a compartment down the corridor.
"So, um, what's your family like, Morgan?" Bella asked.
Morgan tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"
"Well I grew up in the Wizarding World, so I don't know much about the Muggle World," Bella explained, watching Morgan's mouth form into an 'o'.
"Well," Morgan started. "There's much to talk about, but I could perhaps start with the local mail we get most mornings! You know, wizarding folk use the Owl Post, but muggles make posting mail a job! For example, there's this guy with a blue truck that comes around to post mail. The funny thing is that my dog has never gone a day without running out to bark at him when the mail comes, before retrieving the mail for us!"
"Oh, wow," Bella said in awe. "I never knew that. But wouldn't it be a bit tiring for the same guy to come around every morning to deliver mail?"
Morgan laughed. "The postman-or lady- alternates each month. And, there's no Sunday post. So I guess it's not everyday that you might see a mailing truck. They get a break too."
After a while, the 5th-year Slytherin prefect came around again, this time to tell the First Years to change into their new robes. Cautiously, the four girls slipped on their long robes and clambered back into their original positions, careful not to muddy or wrinkle their uniforms.
The two girls resumed talking again until the train stopped abruptly. The girls didn't realise they were already in the Hogsmeade Station, before they were all greeted by Hagrid. It seemed that time had aged his face, but not his Hogwarts spirit.
As they got out of the train, they admired, oohing and aahing, the rambling, quite scary looking grey castle up in the hills, Hogwarts. With fog surrounding its tallest towers, it was lit up by a strange, eerie, orange light peeking through the glass windows. Below there was a lake with a clear surface, perfectly reflecting Hogwarts and the forest around it.
