The Boy: Brandon Dursely

Chapter 6: Hogwarts Express

Ron sat back down, his flush disappearing, "Oh well, in that case, I highly recommend you vouch for Chudley Cannons. They're the best!" Then he went on to talk about the Chudley Cannons and described every player and every move. Brandon listened as attentively as he could.

"Sweets, my dearies?" A woman pushing a cart full of aromatic sweets went by and asked them if they wanted some. Brandon looked at Ron. He seemed to be eyeing the Chocolate frogs and the toffee jelly. Then he noticed the boy's clothes. They were a bit shabby and worn. He realized Ron may be a bit short of money, seeing that he had a large family.

"Uh, a few please," Bran said, taking a few galleons from the money Petunia and Vernon gave him for the trip and for his first week at Hogwarts. They had the consideration to give him both galleon and pound currencies. He thanked his parents for that, "Maybe, five boxes of Chocolate frogs and two packs of Toffee Jelly for my friend and one of those dark chocolate bars for me? How much, Ma'am?"

The elderly woman smiled and counted the purchase, "That would be eight galleons and ten knuts in all, young sir."

Brandon handed her the money and gave the Chocolate frogs and Toffee Jelly to Ron, who had his mouth wide open.

"These... All of these? Are for me?"

"Yeah," Bran shrugged. "I'm not one for sweets, you see. But I like dark chocolate. Help yourself." Brandon smiled  widely, pleased to see that Ron was now happily munching on the sweets.

"Woof!" Sebastian barked excitedly, "Woof! Woof!"

He had emerged from his carrier and settled on Brandon's lap where he sat contentedly. Bran chuckled. He had almost forgotten about his pet. Brandon smoothed the soft fur of the pup and Sebastian licked an offered piece of beef jerky .

"Whoa! That's a direwolf!" Ron exclaimed, amazed to see one of the rarest familiars in the wizarding world. "You must be bonded with it!" 

Bran nodded at the other boy, "I bought him from Mr. Havenshield's shop. He's name's Sebastian."

"And you'll bring it to Hogwarts?" Someone exclaimed from the doorway. "That's against the rules!"

Both boys turned to see a girl with the largest hair Brandon ever saw. She had brown eyes and a confident look on her face.

"Uh, who're you?" Ron demanded, face scrunching up.

"My name's Hermione Granger," the girl told Ron, then pointed at him. "And you are?"

"It's Ron," he answered in between bites. "Ron Weasely." At this, the girl, Hermione, raised an eyebrow as she saw Ron eating the sweets.

"What is yours?" She intentionally didn't answer the red haired boy. Seeing his teeth stained with caramel and bits of jelly irked Hermione, who was a stickler for rules. Her parents had always told her to shy away from sweets, as both of them were dentists.

Beside the Ron boy, the other boy answered almost immediately and extended a hand, "Brandon Dursely. This one here's my pet, Sebastian."

She crossed her arms in front if her chest and huffed, "You know that's not allowed, right? He may bite someone."

"Oh no, Seb here does not bite, he just doesn't like being near people he doesn't like," the other boy shook his head. "He just doesn't like it when he's grabbed, and as for rules, the shopkeeper made it sure to register Seb as a bonded pet, meaning he needs to be near his Master. Oh, look! He likes you." Brandon exclaimed as he saw the pup sniffing the girl's feet, then nuzzling with it. The girl seemed afraid and taken aback.

"Come here, Sebastian," Bran beckoned the puppy. "She's afraid now. There's a good boy. So, may I ask the reason why you're here?" He asked, not minding when the girl didn't shake his hand back. He picked up the pup from the floor and settled him on his lap again.

"I was looking for a toad. He's a pet of my friend, Neville. You saw any?"

"A girl with bushy hair, yes. And a bossy one, yes. But a toad? Oh, no siree. I'm not one for toad hunting." Ron answered and the girl's ears went red and she squinted her eyes a little.

"You could have just said yes or no. But no, you go insult people. Really great. As for you," she said, pointing at Bran. "Nice to meet you, Brandon Dursely. I hope you find your robes, soon. We're nearing Hogwarts." Then she went on her way. Ron shrugged and went back to eating a chocolate frog.

"You heard her," Bran said. "Get your robes on, Ron," Ron stopped and was about to wipe his hands on his shirt when Bran extended a handed to him a handkerchief.

"Oh, thanks mate!" Ron said and wiped his hands rather carefully. As Ron did thus, Brandon flicked his wrist and out came his wand tip and flicked it back up again.

"Sweet Merlin! A wand holster?!" Ron exclaimed yet again.

"It's useful and makes me feel safe. Don't you have one?" He asked. He expected him to say yes. It was like every person he saw back at Diagon Alley had one. Ron shook his head.

"Oh. Well, nevermind, Ron. Let's get our robes on." He then put his own robes as Ron did and clipped a magical leash on Sebastian. The pup sat still and wagged his tail. He then put him on a carrier and made sure he had all his trunk on sight and ready.

He scooted over to the the window and looked out. A castle stood tall and magnificent and vibrated with huge amounts of magic. Brandon welcomed it all with only one word on his mind.

Hogwarts.