REID'S POV
"Ah! We're almost ready to depart."
Reid was snapped out of his trance, and his eyes darted to the speaker - Professor Fig, the teacher assigned to accompany them to Hogwarts. The old man was trying to fit all of the luggage into the carriage's trunk with difficulty, and one of the two girls (he wasn't sure where the boy had wandered off to) that would be coming to the school for the first time too was helping him. Her dirty blonde hair draped down her shoulders in waves, and her hazel eyes matched some of the plants that were sitting out on the balconies of the townhouses around.
Reid loved plants. His brother, Leander, had told him about the herbology greenhouses at Hogwarts, and they were something that he was definitely looking forward to, though he wondered would Leander resent him more if he surpassed him in that, too.
The blonde girl glanced up at him and gave him a short grin, eyes sparkling, before returning to shoving down the luggage into the trunk. Reid couldn't help but return it - her smile was contagious.
Every now and then, a drop of rain would fall onto the red haired boy's freckled nose from the gloomy sky. He couldn't help hoping that the weather would get a bit nicer once they got to Hogwarts. The location they had been assigned to meet in wasn't anything extraordinary. It looked like any other street you would find in an estate, though the carriage standing in the middle of it, being seemingly drawn by nothing at all, did look quite fancy! For a moment, Reid worried if magic would be enough to hold all five of them in there, before quickly discounting it. Magic had many limits, but he doubted that was one of them.
Professor Fig left the remainder of the luggage sit on the trunk, binding it to the carriage with some kind of spell. He glanced around at the four soon-to-be students, a smile on his face. "Well, it's a shame we didn't have more time to work on your spellcasting. You all seem to be taking just fine to your second-hand wands, though. You'll be a force to be reckoned with when you get your own!"
A girl's voice from behind Reid almost made him jump, and he turned to face her, noticing her brown skin and serious expression.
"Thanks, sir. Do you think we'll make it to the sorting ceremony in time?" She moved dark hair away from her face. They had never met before and he wondered what group her family circled in. He gave her a smile and she returned it, the serious look on her face falling away easily, before she turned back to Fig.
Professor Fig brushed himself off, replying, "Yes, of course Artemis, as long as there's no more interruptions we should-"
"Eleazar!"
A man sporting formal clothing quite literally materialised behind them, with a brown moustache and an affable enough demeanour.
Professor Fig chuckled slightly, stepping forward to shake the stranger's hand. "Hello, George. It's been much too long. When I received your owl, I must say that I-"
George hastily cut him off with some gibberish, waving his hand around, before his voice lowered and he uttered slowly, "Best not speak here, Eleazar, hm?"
Reid couldn't help but frown, his eyebrows knitting together. He knew it wasn't any of his business, yet it did come off as rather suspicious. He glanced to the other two girls to check their reaction, and they both seemed as confused as he was. No elaborations were made, though, and everyone was ushered into the carriage.
The other boy accompanying the three new Hogwarts students was already sat in the vehicle by the window, his twinkling blue eyes staring out at the houses. He had short, uncombed chestnut brown hair and was restlessly fiddling with his fingers as he watched the raindrops race down the windows. Reid's eyebrows raised at the sight of him sitting so idly, but his thoughts were swept away as he was pushed into his seat.
He ended up being squashed between the dark-haired girl referred to as Artemis, and Professor Fig. George and the other two his age were sat opposite them, and it was clear by the obvious discomfort in the air that there wasn't enough room as they would've preferred.
There was a brief silence whilst everyone waited for the carriage to start, before George suddenly said, "Ah! I forgot to introduce myself to you four. I'm George Osric, pleasure to meet you all. I'm sure you'll enjoy Hogwarts, I haven't seen that old pile of rocks in years."
The blonde girl was the first to speak, a smile on her face as she introduced herself as well. "I'm Pippa Finch! Pleased to meet you sir, and, everyone else," She looked around the rest of the carriage, her eyes bright. The girl never seemed short on optimism, and Reid was glad for that.
He went next, "Reid Prewett. Nice to meet you all."
"Prewett, eh?" Professor Fig gave a small smile, like he knew something everyone else didn't, "I know your brother. Leander?"
Reid nodded slowly, "That's the one."
His heart sank as he realised that even at Hogwarts, he'd always be compared to his brother. He wondered how Leander felt about it.
Artemis seemed to notice him tensing from beside him and gave a grin to the rest of the carriage, taking over swiftly as she eased the atmosphere, "I'm Artemis Varma. None of us have met, I don't think? It's nice to meet you."
"Michael Adler," the boy with the blue eyes by the window introduced himself as well, his eyes glancing over the rest of the group. He smirked at everyone, though seemed friendly enough.
"Wonderful!" George's mouth curled into a wide smile, and suddenly, the carriage started moving forwards and then upwards. Reid looked out through the window and down with a small smile on his lips, watching the city grow smaller and smaller. They were really off to Hogwarts.
There were a few compliments passed between Professor Fig and George, where Reid managed to catch that George was a member of the Ministry. The boy wasn't quite sure why the man was with them, but he didn't have too much time to ponder on it as a newspaper was quite literally pulled out of thin air by George, whose expression had become a lot more solemn, and waved in front of Fig. Gravely, he asked, "Have you seen this?"
The students in the carriage strained to get a look at what as being displayed. On the paper, there was an image of a sinister-looking goblin beside the headline: "RANROK'S GOBLIN REBELLION: TRUTH OR GOBBLEDEGOOK?"
"I have," Professor Fig replied with a sigh, "Opinions differ on how great of a threat Ranrok really is."
The students exchanged uncertain glances, and Michael opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again. Reid was hoping slightly that he would ask the question on all of their minds, but maybe it wasn't any of their business anyway. He gazed out of the window, and through the clouds he caught a glimpse of something dark - just for a moment - pass through the fog. He frowned, yet nobody else had seemed to notice. Perhaps it was a plane.
George's voice continued: "Although I've yet to convince my colleagues at the ministry, I believe he is a significant threat. And it was your wife, Eleazar, who alerted me to his activities months ago."
Reid raised an eyebrow, feeling the way that Professor Fig stiffened from beside him and how he leaned forwards in his seat, "Miriam? How?"
The two adults were speaking like they weren't even there, and he wondered was it all that wise. Not that he had wanted anything to do with all of this 'Ranrok' talk, yet he listened in nonetheless.
George sighed, "She wrote to me about Ranrok before she died - wondering what the Ministry knew about his activities."
Now Reid felt a lot more uncomfortable than he was before. He shifted in his seat, and his eyes met Artemis' for a moment, who gave him a shrug in return and a slightly amused smile.
"... Before I could respond, I received this. It was the last thing she sent me, Eleazar."
An object was passed from George to Professor Fig. Reid looked over and noticed that the other three were also watching with interest. The object seemed like a metal scroll of sorts, or a container. It was sealed shut, yet there was something that seemed off about it.
"I cannot open it," George said, "Whatever magic protects this is powerful indeed."
Professor Fig surveyed it for a moment, turning it over before making a conclusion, "It looks like goblin metal. That symbol-"
"What's that glow?" Reid heard himself interrupt, before his eyes widened. "Sorry," he murmured, not having meant to cut the professor off. But he noticed what seemed special about it now. There was a faint blue glow coming from the metal, pulsing in and out.
"I see it too," Michael agreed, and Pippa nodded from next to him. Artemis gave a hum of agreement too, extending her arm to give it a closer look.
Professor Fig and George shared a frown. "I don't see a glow..." the professor trailed off, and George voiced his like-mindedness.
Fig carefully handed over the metal container to Artemis, and the glow grew slightly brighter. Instinctively, Reid placed his hands on it as well, and the glow again, shone more. Pippa and Michael both joined at the same time, and the metal sent a quick blue spark across the ridge on the outside, and slowly, the symbol on the front broke away to open the container.
"Merlin's beard! How did you-" George exclaimed, as the four students both gave each other looks with varying degrees of surprise and confusion.
The four of them barely knew any magic so far between them, so how on earth were they able to open something that not even someone in the ministry could?
There was a key inside the now opened cylindrical container, and Reid reached out to touch it before the professor took his chance to interrupt.
"Wait! We do not know what it do-"
It all happened so fast afterwards. There was a loud roar and suddenly, half of the carriage was torn off by a large and incredibly aggressive looking dragon. George had been taken away along with that half of the carriage, and he disappeared into the dragon's mouth with a barely audible but still horrific crunch. Artemis stifled a scream from beside Reid as he watched in complete and utter horror, his body frozen. Michael and Pippa both had somehow managed to leap over to Reid's side - barely. Pippa had herself pressed up against Reid, her breathing speeding up as she fought to keep her feet off the edge, but Michael wasn't as lucky.
He overbalanced suddenly and tipped backwards. His lips curved into an "o" shape, no sound escaping him, but the look of horror on his face enough to show everything. Artemis gasped, jumping forward to try and catch him, but only grabbing his hand. Michael let out a yelp, and Artemis grunted, fighting hard to keep both herself and Michael from falling.
"Hold on!" She yelled, over the top of the roaring wind.
"What do you think I'm doing?!" Michael answered, his voice sounding 3 octaves higher with hysteria.
Pippa was still pressed up against Reid, and he slowly locked her arm in his, holding her back from falling as well. She was trying to take deep breaths, but her breath kept shuddering and her eyes seemed unfocused.
"We'll be alright!" Reid reassured her, trying to block out Artemis and Michael's screaming.
Pippa nodded, but she didn't seem convinced. She gripped Reid's arm tighter, and subconsciously, Reid did the same. The drop down looked far too high, and suddenly, he wasn't happy to see that the city was nowhere in sight below.
"We'll be alright," she whispered to herself, repeating it again and again, "We'll be alright, we'll be alright..."
Through the thin, cracked window at the front of the carriage, Reid could hear the coachman struggling with controlling the vehicle, and when he looked back six black horse-like creatures shimmered into view, their tattered yet beautiful wings flapping rapidly. Thestrals.
The fact that he'd be able to see them forever now sent a chill down his spine.
He looked up, and to his horror the dragon didn't stop at just George. It was following the carriage, a deep growl rumbling in its throat. Its eyes narrowed, and it opened its mouth, the inside glowing red and orange like a fireplace. Reid felt his heart skid to a stop.
He glanced over to Artemis and Michael to see how they were faring, and his blood ran cold as he saw her grip on the boy's hand slipping. Their faces were strained and the two of them were gasping for breath. Pippa seemed to have noticed them too, and her grip on him tightened even more.
"Jump!" Out of nowhere, Professor Fig cried out and pushed them all off of the seats along with himself.
The carriage exploded behind them in a ball of fire. Reid's screams lodged in his throat, yet he could hear everyone else's clearly. It was like the air around him was hammering against him, stealing all of the oxygen from his lungs and shoving him around in the endless sky. He felt Pippa slip away from him and involuntarily reached out, trying to grab her again for comfort but failing.
Wind whistled in his ears, almost drowning out everything else, but Reid was still able to catch Professor Fig exclaiming, "The key!"
The boy mustered all of his strength to turn his body around and face below, where he could see the key tumbling through the blue. Alongside it, Michael and Artemis were shrieking at the top of their lungs, holding onto the other's sleeve for dear life. He wasn't sure where Pippa was until he heard her call out from above him, "DRAGON!"
Almost on cue, a deafening roar sounded from behind them, and the powerful flaps of the beast's wings sent gusts of wind towards them, giving them a boost to their descent. Reid almost managed a gasp, but too much air gushed into his mouth and he choked on it all, struggling to breathe.
Professor Fig hollered for them to join hands, and without question Reid waved his hand up for Pippa's hand. A rush of relief washed over him when he felt something grasping his fingers. Then, with his free hand, he took Michael's, stretching out as far as he could. Now they were all in some way joined in the air, and the red-haired boy dared to glance back, only to see the maw of the dragon wide open from behind them, and approaching rapidly.
Reid looked ahead of him. Artemis had her eyes squeezed shut, yet Michael's were wide open, transfixed on the beast behind them. Pippa at his side was looking straight up, muttering something under her breath.
Fig's fingers grasped the key, and the second that his skin made contact with the metal the group were whisked away, barely missing the gaping jaws of the dragon.
Reid felt a tug in his abdomen and they were immediately whisked off to Hogwarts, right outside the gates. The four students fell to the ground unceremoniously in a tangle of limbs and yelps, yet Professor Fig appeared out of the sky gracefully, gently touching the ground.
The boy felt a sudden, sharp kick in his side and looked to the source to find Michael struggling to free himself clumsily.
"Ow, that's my stomach!" Artemis complained, squirming for a moment before rolling back from the rest of the group.
Michael was launched in the same direction after his arm was suddenly unlocked from Reid, and the two lay on the ground for a moment, before they both began to snicker quietly. This was the quietest Reid had heard the two of them, but considering that they had been shrieking earlier, it wasn't much of a comparison.
Professor Fig hurriedly helped everyone to their feet, and stated, "I'm going to be studying that locket as soon as I can, but first I must contact the Ministry. They need to be made aware of George and be warned of Ranrok. I ask all of you to keep what's happened today between us for the timebeing."
He raised his eyebrows expectantly, and a murmured chorus of 'Yes, sir' was given in response. He smiled, clasping his hands together. "Thank you-"
With a creak, the great doors opened, interrupting him, and another man began to stride briskly towards them, his eyebrows scrunched together. Reid could hear Professor Fig sigh, and didn't take that as a good sign.
His first day at Hogwarts was off to quite the rocky start.