Hogwarts Express! Part-1

{Potter Manor, Unplottable}

{7:59 A.M, 1st September 1991}

...

[Marauders Map (Epic) {Detection Charm}: The Marauder's Map is a magical parchment, known for its extraordinary abilities to reveal the layout and movement of people within Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Created by 4 wizards, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs during their time at Hogwarts, the map is a testament to their exceptional magical skills.

Detection Charm {Activated}

Ward Scheme Anchor {Activated}

Anti-Reveal Rune Scheme {Activated}

Alert Rune Scheme {Activated}

...]

...

Alex stared at the map in front of him that James handed over to Harry, the younger potter immediately whipped out his wand and pointed it at the wap.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry smiled as the words started emerging from the map. Alex marveled at the whole interaction and then stared at the 2-D map of Hogwarts that was revealed on the map. 

Not many names could be seen on the map, but from the first viewing, Alex could only conclude that the map was confusing. All of Hogwarts was cramped into a single map, that didn't even have much space to showcase it all. 

While it was confusing, he could easily make out some of the more prominent names from the teaching staff. One of them caught his attention.

'''Quirinus Quirrell'''

The name was singular with no hint of any possession that the map could detect in itself. Either the map was not able to detect such things, likely why the Weasley twins in the original timeline didn't say a thing.

Or something in the timeline had changed, Alex looked at Lily and James, who were smiling at Harry who happily tracked down Dumbledore walking around in his office.

'I'm guessing that Voldemort won't be there?' Alex thought but he still put that thought out of his mind. He can't rely on the canon timeline for now, he had to wait and see.

James indicated for Lily to take Rose away and that he needed to talk to the boys. Alex didn't catch the first part of their interaction but he noticed when Lily quietly took Rose away with the promise of getting her something sweet to eat.

Alex focused his attention on James who stood in front of Alex and Harry, Alex looked at Harry who was still engrossed in the map, and elbowed him to pay attention.

"The Potters are one of the families who could date themselves back to the time when our magical society was established. There are several customs that you normally have to follow as an old pureblood family but we have taken a more progressive stance in the last couple of decades." James spoke, his voice was calm.

"It started when your grandfather joined Prof. Dumbledore in order to stop Gellert Grindelwald's crusade across Europe. You would learn more about that in your History class, what I mean to tell you is Gellert Grindelwald divided our world into 3 factions. Even though Britain wasn't affected as much as the other countries, the ramifications still exist." James continued his explanation.

"The families in Britain were divided into 3 factions like the rest of the world. The Progressive, that is us, the Longbottoms, and the Bones. The Neutrals, headed by the Greengrass, the McKinnon. And the Conservatives headed by Malfoy, Nott, and Rosier." James bombarded them with names and Alex wondered what he was getting at.

"There are many other families that have seats in our Wizengamot, what I'm getting to at and why I have never involved you Harry in politics before is simply because I don't want you to get involved in these games when you go to Hogwarts." James smiled.

"Be friends with whoever you want but don't be gullible. You represent the House of Potter in Hogwarts, but it is also the place where you will grow and learn. True friendship would survive all odds-" James was interrupted as there was a sound of someone walking through the hallway.

Sirius peeked his head through the door and gave James a questioning eyebrow lift. James shook his head and turned to Alex and James, "What I'm saying is to make sure you have fun. Hogwarts is after all the place where you would have the most fun in your life..."

'Yeah sure, a wraith possessing a teacher, an ancient snake, dementors, dragons, abusive teachers and ministry sanctions, Voldemort and Voldemort...' Alex thought sarcastically, although the timeline wouldn't be the same, he was sure that he would know what direction when he got a good look at the level hovering above Quirrell's head.

"Alright, come on we are going to be late." James spoke and Harry pointed to the map and whispered, "Mischief managed."

...

The next hour and a half was spent making sure everyone was packed and ready along with a few goodbye pranks from Sirius. The 5 of them slowly walked over to the fireplace and used the floo to arrive at the magical side of the King's cross station. 

The gleaming red and black train was a classic work of art. Unlike modern trains that he was used to traveling in, the Hogwarts Express was one of the earlier models.

The train consists of several carriages, each with its own compartments. The exterior of the train is marked by the Hogwarts crest. Inside, the compartments are separated by sliding doors and feature comfortable seating, luggage racks, and windows that allow students to see the passing scenery during their journey.

Alex wanted to get on with the ride but he couldn't just abandon the Potters, he stood and waited quite awkwardly as James and Lily hugged Harry while at the same time, Lily's eyes kept flickering to him. The drama was tangible and Alex wanted to simply avoid that.

"What do you say pup? Ready for a fantastic year?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," Alex answered, Sirius was such a relief to be around. "I should get on the train and look for empty compartments." 

"I know," Sirius hesitated but then he ruffled Alex's hair and said, "Alright go on, I'll handle everything here."

Alex gave him a bright smile as he dragged his trunk toward the train. Lily looked at Alex's back for a moment before she sighed and looked at Harry, "Take care of your brother, okay, I know he's a little distant but-"

"I know Mum, he's not that bad, he has been responding more to me in the past few days. Maybe a few months outside the manor would open him up." Harry smiled as he hugged Rose one last time, the short girl was still hanging onto his waist.

"Rosie, I have to go now," Harry whispered. Rose shook her head violently against him as she sniffed. He suppressed a chuckle at her reluctance as Lily bent down and slowly rubbed Rose's back.

"Rose sweetheart, don't worry. You remember the mirror that we used to talk with when you started getting scared of the monsters under your bed." Lily teased Rose who glared at her, a familiar shade of green glared at her but this one showed a lot more emotions.

"You promised not to tell anyone that," Rose spoke as she pouted, she looked back at Harry to see if he had heard something but the older boy was already looking away, pretending to be aloof.

"Alright sweetheart, you can talk to Harry later okay," Lily comforted. She knew her daughter and her youngest son shared a close bond. Maybe this was another reason that Alex felt a little isolated, she could see he showed a lot more emotions around Rose but the little girl was quite possessive of Harry.

Rose was never told about Alex until the day when Dumbledore arrived with his letter. She had handled the situation well that day, and even Lily thought she would be curious because she and Alex had the same eyes but the girl shrunk behind Harry. 

Lily didn't know why the girl didn't like Alex but that situation would be left for a different day. She looked at Alex's disappearing back and was again disappointed when he left without even turning to say goodbye.

"Mum can we get ice cream later," Rose's sweet voice broke through her thoughts as she looked down and smiled at her daughter. 

"Of course dear," Lily spoke, she turned to give Harry a nod indicating him to go.

...

Rose was feeling quite sad, her favorite brother was going away for days and her parents were sad. All because of her not-so-favorite brother. Life for little Rose had changed the day when Harry's Hogwarts letter arrived, when she realized that her source of warmth would soon be going she got a little possessive and refused to let go.

Her elder brother was another emotion altogether, he was cold, the coldest she had ever felt someone. And although he still smiled all the while, his coldness never faded. She had observed him a lot and the coldness that was synonymous with him never went away so she kept her distance from him.

At first, she had tried to act cute, but the coldness made her remember the nightmares so she clung to Harry a lot more. She allowed her to sink herself in her mother's melody. She had a contradictory feeling of warmth and sadness, although the sadness had always been there, it had intensified ever since her bad brother came to live with them.

Suddenly the sadness vanished and the change was so swift that it startled Rose. She looked up to see her mother smiling as she waved at the train. She followed her gaze and found Alex slowly waving from a compartment at them.

'Why, why couldn't he be nice like this all the time.' Rose thought as she glared at Alex. She still basked in the feeling of happiness as she ignored her older brother. Maybe he won't ruin Christmas.

...

-------------------------------

AN - I tried to write Rose as an empath, that's why she was not involved with Alex till now. To her, he feels cold as opposed to the pure warmth that Harry projects. 

Do you have any suggestions about empaths? I was just going to focus on their sensing the emotions of everyone around her.