28 Chp 28: Choo Choo MF
The summer was over and Sirius and Adam had just walked into King's Cross Station. On his shoulder sat Calcifer in all her metallic finery.
'You sure I'm allowed to bring it'.
'Eeerr, well they didn't say you couldn't bring an "Enchanted Statue" and it's not a pet so I call that a loop hole' said Sirius making air quotations at the appropriate moment.
'Take us to the platform then maestro'.
Adam took out his tickets, 'Platform 9 and 3/4, are these wizards on ... what did the lady in Brixton try and sell us'.
'Uhhh ... you should try and forget that ever happened, your young mind has been through enough, Lily would throttle me if she knew about that' replied Sirius sweating eleven years after said lady's death.
'Yes, three quarters, I've been to like what maybe four stations since I arrived here and even I know there's no three-quarters of a platform'.
Coming up on platform nine they saw a bunch of redheads making an obnoxious amount of noise.
'It's the same every year packed with muggles. Platform nine and three-quarters this way' said a slightly plump ginger lady with bright ginger hair like the gaggle of equally ginger children around her.
'Alright, Percy you first', the boy ran at the wall with his trolley passing through it like it wasn't even there.
'Ah, it's Molly Wesley I haven't seen her in years' said Sirius who was edging away so as not to be associated with the absolute disregard for the statute of secret occurring in front of them.
Adam meanwhile seeing there was an illusion had focused the warp into his eyes like Kaldor had taught, touching on the faintest eddies of the warp to draw the concept of truth into his eyes.
'Aaaahhh what the thrones is that' shouted Adam to Sirus.
'What's up bud you okay'.
'To use a phrase you taught me last Thursday, what in the actual fuck is that creature that's in that wall, it looks like a worm ew, oh gross I've seen daemonettes that were into cuter things'.
Adam watched shocked as he saw another ginger slide down the digestive system and out the back of the worm-like creature's asshole, without ever realizing, its gummy lips moving creepily embedded as it was in the wall.
'What are you seeing' asked Sirius straining his eyes at the wall.
'The wall ... it's some kind of worm's mouth and by the looks of it sliding down its digestive system brings you somewhere below'.
Sirius swivelled his head to look at Adam a horrified expression on his face.
'All this time ... people swore it was enchanted, there are books written on it. Undetectable extension charm my arse Mrs Orpington. No, no, that makes sense spacial magic was in its infancy till its development in the construction of MUCASA headquarters in 1920, the Hogwarts Express predates that by seventy years'.
'Well I'm not going through it' said Adam resolutely positively gagging.
'Fair enough, we can just apparate in to be honest, I'm surprised the Weasleys didn't this entrance is only really used for first years and muggleborns'.
Crack
Appearing in an alcove on platform 9 and 3/4, Sirius unshrunk Adams trunk with his wand.
In front of them was the already smoking scarlet steam strain the Hogwarts Express, gaggles of expectant students having teary goodbyes with their parents.
'Well this is you, remember your talking points'.
'Yeah, portkeyed away due to a magical accident, grew up traveling around northern Canada, and recently came back to attend Hogwarts'.
'Solid, well I'm off then, gotta get to the ministry early for my appointment, it's time I got my act together'.
'See ya Sirius'
'See ya kid' replied Sirius giving Adam a wink before apparating away.
Sirius grabbed Adam by the shoulder with one arm pulling him in for a firm hug before stepping back.
Crack
----
Adam picked up his trunk before hefting it in his shoulder, looking around.
'You know there are trolleys' heckled an older student from somewhere behind him.
Adam simply made a glum smile, and walked his way towards the nearest carriage grabbing the handle of the door and pulling himself and the trunk up.
'Cabin, cabin, cabin ahhh cabin' said Adam outloud to himself like a crazy person.
Walking down the length of the train, he finally reached an empty cabin, shoving his trunk into an empty overhead locker, before lying down across two seats looking up at the ceiling.
"Hey Adam you know what being on this train reminds me of".
"I'm not interested Calcifer".
"A certain train crash".
"You just had to, and there's not even any seatbelts, whyyyyy" said Adam looking around for a seatbelt to help with the siderodromophobia he had developed after a certain incident where he had watched a passenger fly out of a train. The train had began to move off from the platform with a rhythmic thud.
"I'm a daemon dofus, kind of in the race description".
'Hiya, could we join you in this compartment the rest of the coaches are full' said a bubbly brown haired girl.
'Um yeah I gue-'.
'Arghh thanks, I'm Tracy Davis and this is Daphne' said Tracy interrupting Adam with her boundless positivity, sitting down with Daphne directly across from Adam.
'Daphne Greengrass, don't mind Tracy she's always been this way' said a Daphne a blue eyed girl with straight blond hair with a polite smile.
'Pleased to meet you, I'm Adam' he replied.
'Adam what'.
'...'.
'Stop being so boring Daph, or this is going to be a really long trip'.
'So you all prepped for the start of Hogwarts read all the books, practiced some spells' asked Tracy happily.
'No, I didn't realize we were supposed to' replied Adam a little worried.
'I mean it should be fine, but the potion master is notorious for giving punishments' said Daphne.
Images of dark eldar torture methods flashed through Adams mind making him go white.
'Well I ... better study up' he said grabbing his trunk pulling it down, opening it to get out his potions book before closing it, latching it and resecuring it above him.
Opening it up Adam began to cram like his life depended on it.
'You've scared him' whispered Tracy to Daphne, 'This is why we can't make any friends'.
----
Three hours later they were closing on Hogwarts. Adam through liberal warp application on his brain had memorised the book from cover to cover finally ignoring the tempting words of daemons in his ear he looked up to see Daphne and Tracy chatting away.
"Phew, no electrocorrosive whipping for me, I thought Sirius said Hogwarts was the safest place on this planet".
"Kinky" .
'Calcifer what the hell' said Adam aloud.
'Who's Calcifer' said Tracy stopping her conversation with Daphne.
'Uh it's the name of my automaton ... I thought I just heard it' said Adam quickly covering for himself.
"Kaldor would be proud of you ability to lie through your teeth" mocked Calcifer.
'Can we see it' asked Tracy.
'Ah yeah, Calcifer come out'.
Up in his trunk the latch swing open by an unseen force, before the lid slowly crept open revealing the top of Calcifers metal feathers jutting out.
'Hey, has anyone seen a Toad, Neville's lost his' said a bushy haired out of breath girl who had just burst through the compartment door.
'You know knockings a thing and, no we haven't seen a Toad' said Daphne miffed that the big reveal was interrupted.
The girl breathing deeply closed the door and awkwardly moving on to the next carriage.
'Ten minutes to Hogsmead' called a prefect walking past the cabin door.
'We better get changed' said Daphne.
'Oh of course' said Adam going to get out his clothes.
'...'.
'Um a lil privacy' said Tracy winking.
'Oh yeah right' said Adam walking outside the cabin only to catch his first view of Hogwarts as the train rounded the bend at the end of the valley.
----
Great jumbled towers and battlements reached out into the air, crisscrossed by walkways, which flitted in and out of his vision as the train continued making its turn.
