Kenneth gets the unfortunate luck of being the mirror image of an infamous dark wizard - his grandfather. As if school and prophecies aren't hard enough to deal with.
[cedric diggory x omc]
[hp:gof]
[bxb]
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After eight years of living together, Kenneth still couldn't claim to understand his Auntie Thilda. The woman was old and clever, but she was slowly losing her sanity in the way that all old people do. Her whimsical stories dropped long before their end, her thoughts died half-way off her tongue, and her memories were now hazy at best.
The tabloids picked up on it, of course, those vultures could never let an old woman be. The eccentric lady didn't deserve that sort of attention — Bathilda Bagshot had worked so hard her entire life, and had written far too many books to be remembered as another mad old hag. It was for this reason, that Kenneth had asked to go unaccompanied to King's Cross Station since his second year. Of course, he was always as nervous as he was excited, but after all those stares and rumours began, surely it was better that she stayed away? It was out of love that he refused her company and Kenneth was glad she understood that. But by no means was Bathilda happy about it, so she would always go with him to London and leave only once he entered the station. This was her one chance to bring a child to Hogwarts and there was no way she was going to miss it, even if that right should've belonged to the teen's late Mother and Father.
(There was also the fact that Bathilda Bagshot was late for everything, whilst Kenneth appeared unable to be anything other than early.)
So, after a tight squeeze and a reminder to write ("Be careful, and don't forget to write me soon. You know I worry about you." She told him, brushing an imaginary strand of hair from his face as though he would ever allow one to fall from its place. Kenneth nodded and rolled his eyes slightly, swearing that one would be written and sent as soon as he reached the dormitories, Auntie Thilda seemed content with such a promise.) Kenneth finally headed into Kings Cross Station.
Passing through the barrier was somehow like a weight of his chest, and a weight added. Like so many, Hogwarts was a home to him, but unlike the others, any place that was not the Bagshot house in Godric's Hollow was just another place to be filled with half-truths and lies of omission. His house may suffocate him with the inescapable truth, but everywhere else suffocated him with falseness — truly, Kenneth couldn't tell which was worse, he had grown too used to being unable to breathe. For a boy that hated lying, it was perhaps the worst life to live.
There was no point to waiting on the platform for anyone, so Kenneth never bothered. It was better to get in early, when it was less crowded, and claim a compartment, rather than having to squeeze in with judgmental strangers later. Grindelwald's grandson found an empty compartment at the front of the train (everyone else seemed to gravitate towards the back for some reason) and settled in. Kenneth never brought large trunks to school, he knew that they were supposed to but after a vision of his future roommate's misfortune before his first year, he wasn't willing to risk it. No, he had decided when he was preparing for his first year, it was far easier to get Aunt Thilda to shrink his trunk and place it in a bag with an undetectable extension spell on it (also done by the wonderful Bathilda Bagshot), with a couple of books for the journey and robes to change into on the train. Other than the advantage of always knowing the location of his things, the bag was a small brown messenger bag, which meant it suited his muggle outfit quite nicely and could be easily concealed beneath his school robes.
