A Friend.

"Duh. How else? Magic?"

"How did you practice beforehand!? I thought we couldn't do magic outside of school!"

"I-"

"Are you from a family of wizards!?"

"I-"

"Will I need to be this proficient in the spell on the first day of class!?"

"You-"

"Oh no!!! I should've prepared more and studied the books more!"

'Damn, this girl won't let me speak!'

Seeing that the girl wasn't shutting up and had begun spinning conspiracy theories about blood purity and the sort, Loki went back to reading his book.

'Hmm…this occlumency thing, I should get it down as soon as possible so that I don't have to worry about people reading my mind.'

'It's good that Walburga has written down her own notes on the matter, it will help me to shorten the time since I don't have to take the time like her to figure it all out.'

'But this is rather confusing…why is all of it written in such a confusing manner? There's so much lingo that I feel like I'm reading a research paper on some high-level topic.'

As Loki continued getting absorbed into his book, he formed his own conclusions and opinions on the matter.

'Huh. So Occlumency forms mental shields by using your spirituality to form specific runes inside your body of heart and mind?'

'But since that would only help actively, one has to train the mind to form such runes subconsciously so that the mind can always stay protected.'

'It's a simple concept, but I'm guessing it will be hard to train such a thing.'

'But still, runes, these damn things are everywhere, even wand movements mimic them.'

'What exactly are these things?'

'Such patterns just happen to produce magic?'

Seeing Loki hadn't spoken to her for the last little while, the girl stopped her ranting and looked at Loki with dissatisfaction.

"It's rude to not listen to another person when they're speaking!" The little girl said.

"The pot calls the kettle black."

"Hey!"

"Don't hey me! You asked me so many questions and never let me answer, so I went back to doing what I thought was best. Why are you annoying me!?"

The little girl looked a little hurt and had teary eyes, causing Loki to feel a little bad.

"*sigh* I think we started off on the wrong foot. My name is Loki." Loki said and held out his hand.

The little girl was a little upset but she quickly wiped her eyes and said with a small smile, "I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger." and shook Loki's hand.

"Are you also a first-year?" Loki asked casually.

"Yes! And I'm the first one in my family to learn magic!"

"That's cool. I'm the first one in my family to learn magic too." 'I think' Loki nodded. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Loki asked with a smile.

"No, I'm the only one, what about you?" Hermione asked.

"I have a little sister.", Loki said but then paused and quickly added, "She's a cousin.", as he pulled out his pocket watch and flipped it open. "Here she is.", Loki said showing Hermione the picture he had tapped to the inside of his pocket watch. "Cute isn't she?"

"Aww…she looks adorable."

*Knock* *Knock*

A sudden knock broke the harmonious atmosphere causing Loki and Hermione to turn towards the compartment door.

"What anything from the trolly dears?" The cart lady asked and a smirk formed on Loki's face.

"Could I order something for everyone on the train?" Loki asked showing her the five golden galleons from his pocket.

Hermione's eyes widened but she did not interrupt.

"That will be possible dear. And what would you like?" The cart lady said pocketing the five galleons with a polite smile.

"A chocolate frog, for me and my friend."

"I see. Have a nice day." The lady said closing the compartment door after handing Loki two chocolate frogs.

"Here, this one's for you.", Loki said giving Hermione one of the chocolate frogs.

"My Mum and Dad said that eating too many chocolates is not good for you."

"Eh..I'm sure there are magical solutions to rotting teeth Hermione."

"...thanks." Hermione said as she began opening the box with reluctance but a little excitement. "OH! The frog jumped!" Hermione shouted as she saw the frog sitting on her shoulder.

"Haha, they're magically animated I think, good right?" Loki asked with a slight smile since he enjoyed watching Hermione look startled.

"You knew about this?" Hermione asked picking up her frog while Loki violently bit off the head of his own chocolate frog.

"I did, I saw them before in Diagon Alley."

"Did you go with a professor too?"

"I did, it was Professor Snape for me, what about you?"

"Professor McGonagall.", Hermione replied with stars shining in her eyes.

"I can see you admire her."

"Un! She transformed the table in our house into a pig!"

"That's funny." Loki nodded.

Meanwhile, as the two first years talked, in another part of the train, a white-haired boy proudly stood up in his compartment and announced, "Dad gave me enough money to buy sweets for everyone."

He turned towards the cart lady and then said, "I would like to buy all the sweets in the cart!"

Seeing that she could fool a child into paying her for sweets that had already been purchased, the cart lady did not hesitate to name a price, "It will be five galleons dear."

"Yes. Here- Huh?" The boy stuffed his hands into his pockets but found them empty.

He quickly searched for the coins in the other pockets but there seemed to be nothing inside them.

"Where did my money go!?" The white-haired boy exclaimed out loud.

"It's alright, Draco, I can get it." A blond girl spoke without emotion on her face. "I'd like a chocolate frog for everyone here please."

"Here you go." The cart lady said handing the girl five chocolate frogs and the girl gave the cart lady one galleon.

As the day turned from afternoon to evening, Loki in his compartment finally stood.

"I think it's time. We'll be reaching soon, I'll go out so that you can change into your robes, is that alright Mione?"

"Yes, that's fine. I'll be quick so you can change after."

"No problem, don't worry about it and take your time." Loki stepped out of the compartment and waited at the door until he heard the lock inside *click* open.

"You're done?" Loki asked with a polite smile.

"Yes! I love how the robe feels on me! It's so smooth! Did you get your robes from Madam Malkin too?"

"Yeah, I did. Now come out and let me change."

Loki entered the compartment and changed into his black robes that did not have any colour on them yet.

Once Hermione joined him inside they began to talk once again, both excited that they would soon be arriving at a magical school.

"Which house do you want to join Loki?"

"Hmm…Hufflepuff or Griffindor. What about you Mione?"

"I want to join Ravenclaw or Griffindor! I read that the current headmaster, Albus Dumbledore was in Gryffindor when he was younger!"

"I hope you do!"

"Un."

The train slowed down and an announcement made its way throughout the train, "We will arrive at Hogwarts in Fifteen Minutes, if you have not already, you should change into your robes. Leave your Trunks inside the train, they will automatically be delivered to your rooms by House Elves."

The train soon slowed to a stop and Loki along with Hermione exited and looked around aimlessly for the first few seconds until they heard a booming voice call out for them.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Follow me!"

'It's him!' Loki instantly recognised him as the giant man he had met in the police station, the one that had started the fire to let him escape.

'Although it did not go as intended, I should still thank him sometime later for trying to help me out.'