Uprooted

Welcome to Hogwarts

Leo's whole family looked quite out of place standing in the middle of the platform, all six of them dressed in muggle clothes with no indication of possessing any sort of magical abilities. Of course it won't come as a surprise to discover that they weren't magical; only Leo was. This was exactly why he was fidgeting nervously with the hem of his navy blue sweater and blatantly refusing to move from the spot in which he was standing on Platform 9 3/4.

The Hogwarts Express stood in front of him, billowing thick puffs of steam, while other families sending off their own children surrounded him. Staring down at the floor, he swallowed the lump in his throat and managed to stutter the words, "I-I really don't want to go," his American accent standing out against the sea of British and Irish voices.

His father, who was really not all that ecstatic to be there either, patted him on the shoulder. "I know you don't." Leo hummed in acknowledgement without ever lifting his eyes, and his father sighed. "I'm sorry that my job forces you to change schools so often, but my new assignment in London should mean that we stay here until you finish school."

"You think we'd be used to this by now," his mother muttered, eyeing the other families around them warily as she silently held on to her two youngest kids.

"It's not my fault I'm different," Leo mumbled. "It's still weird to me, too."

"What parts? The fact you can make stuff float with a wave of a stick, or the fact that you could potentially have some of the most obscure animals as pets?" his father joked weakly.

"Brian, we get that you're trying to help--" his mother interjected before Brian cut her off.

"But I'm not. Yeah, yeah. I know," Leo's father mumbled. "Sorry, buddy."

Leo cracked a small smile, appreciating the efforts of his dad.

An older boy standing off to the side scoffed and crossed his arms. "Can we please just get him on the train so we can get out of here?"

"Not everything is about you, Austin," Leo's mom scolded. "Unlike you, Emily, and Jacob, he doesn't get the privilege of seeing us every day. We won't get to see him again until Christmas."

"Whatever," Austin all but hissed, rolling his eyes and settling against a pillar behind them. 

"Standard teenage behavior as per usual, I see," Brian replied. "But unfortunately he's right. The train is going to leave soon, Melissa."

Leo let out a pained whine. "Is it too late too drop out yet?" he asked.

"We know you're scared, sweetheart. Hopefully this time school will be better," Melissa reassured. "You can always try to make friends on the train."

"But they'll know I'm new," Leo protested.

"I'll bet you the first years feel the same way you do. You could try to make friends with them," his dad suggested.

The blond boy groaned. "That's different," he insisted. "They're allowed to be new because they're first years."

A small voice spoke up from the side of Melissa. "You're a first year, too," Emily chimed in.

Leo blinked. "No I'm not."

"It's your first year there, so yeah you are," Jacob agreed.

"They have a point," Melissa agreed, and Brian nodded along with her.

Leo could only stare at his family's apparent stupidity.

A short ten minutes later, Leo was hugging his family goodbye, even Austin. "You might be annoying, but I'm still going to miss you being around to call you pipsqueak," Austin joked upon releasing Leo.