━ mind over matter
❝you know you're on my mind...❞
「 Liliana Granger knew chaos like the back of her hand.
It confronted her, challenging her to find calm wherever she could.
But some days the madness in her mind became too much.
...
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❝ My bet is fourth year. ❞
⋅☾☼☽⋅
"Woah."
Liliana opened her eyes, relieved that she didn't have a concussion like she had anticipated when she ran at the brick wall between platforms nine and ten seconds earlier. A loud train whistle snapped her attention away from her not-so-insane actions and over to the scarlet steam engine that had produced the noise. She stared in awe at the clouds of white smoke that hovered above it.
All around her people packed the platform, each with a trolley that carried a school trunk like hers. Some had cages with owls and cats atop it, others had small boxes with rats and toads. A white, polka dotted cat strutted over to her and Hermione, and she watched it with wide eyes and an even wider smile. When they bent down to pet it, it wandered away into the sea of people.
The Granger sisters had not purchased pets at Diagon Alley when they had visited, but they had really wanted to. The distinct creatures around the platform had an aura about them, like a strange magic that turned their hoots, meows, and ribbits into words. Liliana hoped someday to have her own owl to bond with like her peers.
Elated chatter and loud screeches echoed around them as they continued through platform nine and three-quarters, their mum and dad at last catching up to them; they had been a bit skeptical of the barrier and waited a minute or so to enter it. Minerva McGonagall ended up passing through the barrier with them like a mother with her children when crossing the street.
Hermione and Liliana laughed a bit at this, but were appreciative all the same. Minerva had spent all summer assisting them in understanding the processes involved in the wizarding world, not once impatient with their doubts. They had started to search for an empty compartment, but the first few carriages were already packed with students. Some hung out the window to talk to their families, some argued over seats.
They then passed a round faced boy with sandy hair.
"Gran, I've lost my toad again," he said.
"Oh, Neville," an older woman sighed, her vulture hat tipping over a bit.
Liliana then looked over at a boy with dreadlocks surrounded by a small crowd.
"Give us a look, Lee, go on."
The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the surrounding people shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg. Liliana shuddered, turning away as goosebumps pricked her warm ivory skin; she hated spiders.
Hermione spotted an empty compartment near the end of the train and started to help her dad heave her trunk into it when Minerva stopped them. She waved her wand and the heavy school cases atop both trolleys bopped up the stairs and into the train without a struggle.
