From the window of the Hogwarts Express, Elisabeth could see her best friend Celia saying goodbye to her family. Her sister-in-law Gia held her baby tightly to her chest. Last time Elisabeth had seen them she was still pregnant. Though Celia had written her about the birth of Christopher, it was very important to her family.
Elisabeth's father hadn't come into King's Cross station with her. He did not like the company of muggles. Elisabeth really preferred it this way, though she was wondering why he had acted so weird upon her departure. Her father had wished her luck and said 'I have the faith in you that when the time comes, you will do what is honourable for our family'. If there were any red flags, that was the biggest one in existence.
It did not take long for Celia to find Elisabeth, who had managed to secure a carriage for just the two of them. Before Elisabeth could even ask about Celia's summer, Celia revealed the reason why her father had behaved so oddly.
"Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year." She said, discarding her coat on one of the seats and sitting down. "Well, sort of, according to dad they couldn't get Durmstrang or any of the other schools to join in. They're making it all about our school."
"Why wouldn't they join?" Elisabeth wondered out loud.
"Well they are all too worried about You-Know-Who of course," Celia said, her voice not louder than a whisper. "Though I doubt Durmstrang is worried about an attack. They're probably figuring out a faster way to teach their students-"
Celia quickly stopped talking as she noticed Regulus Black walk by. The door was closed, so he would not have heard them, but still, it was best not to share one's opinion on Lord Voldemort. You never know who is listening in.
Celia and Elisabeth had quickly become friends in an unfriendly place. Both girls came from proud pure-blooded families. But neither of them wore that like a badge of honour. Elisabeth, who really preferred to be called Beth, was the only born child of Carrick Batley. Her mother had died long ago, and though she had plenty of cousins that would keep up the family name, there had always been a bright spotlight on Beth.
Celia bonded with Beth over this. The house of Devlin was a steady name with the other pure-blooded families. That name had been tarnished by the birth of Celia's siblings. Each and every one of them were squibs, with the exception of Celia.
"They don't know yet," Celia said, as the train had started to drive out of the station and she got one last look at her family. "Christopher is still too young to see if he has an aptitude for magic." If her nephew did turn out to be a wizard, Celia's life would become a whole lot easier. However, with two squib parents, the boy did not have much going for him.
"Are you putting your name in then?" Beth asked her best friend, hoping to distract her.
"Of course." She answered. "Honour of the family and all that. You too?"
"Don't have a choice, do I?"