72 School Rejects

Taken aback by the girl's bombastic and run-along introduction, Harry stares blankly at her analytically, wondering why on earth she was looking for him... Kali's loud laughter in his mind only exacerbates his confusion. "What do you want?"

"I-..." she squeezes her hands, "Is this cabin free?" she asks after a moment.

"N-" Harry starts but gets slapped in the ear by Kali's wing, "What was that for?" he mentally demands.

"Let the girl stay, she's above average compared to the other magicals we've come across so far." Kali states.

"And I should care, why?"

"Consider this another social aptitude test. Do well and you'll earn a relatively strong ally to use in future."

"And if I fail?"

"Then I need to drag you through New York again. Did you enjoy the Honeypot so much?"

"No. I didn't enjoy the strip club. I didn't like you spending our money for lapdances either." he bluntly states before shaking his head "Fine. But don't blame me if I end up burning those strip clubs to the ground."

He turns his attention to the girl, Hermione, his mental conversation with Kali only taking place over a few seconds. "Stay."

A smile flashes on her face as she sits down, only to jump up when she accidentally sits on Nanthisk, the snake loudly hissing in annoyance.

"Ahhyiah! A s-snake...?"

"Mind Nanthisk." Harry idly notes while continuing his book.

...

It takes around ten minutes for Hermione to get comfortable, squeezing against the wall in order to not bother the large snake next to her. Harry could almost hear her heart thumping in her chest, but wasn't really able to tell if that was because of Nanthisk or nervousness in a social situation... It kind of reminded him of himself...

"T-that book, 'Halford's Guide to Furniture Transifguration', isn't that a fourth-year book?" she musters enough courage to question.

"Should be..." he flips the page.

"Don't be rude." Kali chides in his mind.

"Shouldn't you be going over our current yearbooks? They might need us to memorize them to actually join the school, I read that there's a 'Sorting Ceremony' that decides the fate of new students!" she worriedly says.

"You mean the sorting hat?" he asks.

"Sorting Hat?"

"The hat that places you in one of the four houses depending on your personality traits." he remembered this clearly from Grindelwald's explanation of his time in Hogwarts.

"You're lying... There's no mention of anything like that in 'Hogwarts, a History'!"

Harry shrugs uncaringly, allowing the conversation to lull into silence once more.

Hermione twitches as she scans the cabin to look for something to talk about, quickly spotting Kali laying on the chair next to Harry. "Is that a bat?"

"Probably."

"Probably?"

"If it looks like a bat, smells like a bat, and feels like a bat..." he trails off as he and Kali chuckle among themselves.

"Then it's a bat." Hermione finishes for him, "Bats weren't on the allowed list of pets though, nor were snakes?"

"I got permission."

"You're only allowed one pet?"

"Permission."

...

"My parents are dentists-"

"My parents are dead." Harry states, stopping that line of dialogue entirely.

"I'm so-"

"Don't you have some school material to go over? You're worried about not passing right?"

...

Rather reluctantly she retrieves a book from her trunk and starts silently reading it, finally allowing Harry some peace and quiet.

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Hours passed and Harry found that he was actually enjoying the train ride. It had a more homely feel than the other ones he'd ridden before. He'd even bought some 'magical chocolates' from the food trolly, Hermione tried to object but he ignored her while she bought a sandwich and some fruit.

The ginger boy called Ron did happen across their cabin, but quickly left when he realised 'Harry Potter' wasn't present. This was also the case for many other students who Harry suspected just wanted to gawk at him.

They'd all left and moved on, until the cabin was visited by three boys... One blonde boy with a pointed face that would suit a weasel, and two pudgy boys that seemed to be his bodyguards?

The three enter the cabin like they own the place and glance around, quickly focusing on Harry. "Hm, black hair, glasses, green eyes, lift your hair, I want to know if you complete the package." the blonde boy asks impatiently.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself before you go demanding things?" Hermione questions, troubled by their rudeness.

"Funny, a Mudblood asking me for things. Keep your mouth shut, your betters are speaking. And for your information, I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." he looks to Harry, "How about you? Put the book down, I'm talking to you." arrogantly orders.

Harry lifts his glasses and rubs his eyes, "We haven't even got to school yet and I want to kill someone." he mentally complains to Kali.

"No one said it would be easy. But if you want access to their library you'll have to bear with it."

"No, I won't." he sighs and looks to the still unnoticed Nanthisk, "Nanthisk, scare them off." he asks in Parseltongue.

The snake obeys, slithering off of the chair and raising itself off of the floor, reaching half the height of the now pale bow.

"P-Parsenlmouth...?" he stutters out, trying to hide his trembling.

"I still haven't figured out what kind of snake Nanthisk is... What are the odds he's venomous?"

"Less than a quarter of all snakes are actually venomous. Probably best not to chance it though..." Hermione helpfully adds with a forced smile.

"M-My father will hear about this!" Malfoy angrily exclaims as he quickly stomps away with his goons in tow.

With them now gone, Hermione places a hand on her chest and slumps over in a panic, "What did we just do... We threatened a schoolmate! And with a snake!? Oh god, we're going to get into so much trouble! What if we get expelled before even our first class!?"

...

This is going to be a long trip. "I blame you for this, Kali."