14: Interesting train trip.

After reading about the fiasco of an alleged attempted robbery at Gringotts, Astreo tossed the paper aside and looked at the situation unfolding in the train compartment he was in. 

Ron and Harry were each obsessively playing with the creations Astreo had finished. Yes, when he got his not-so-special wand, our young protagonist went to work and finished the projects he had. 

For Harry, Astreo built a slender serpent made of segmented metal with a metal coating in the form of scales that the creature could control, as he managed to perfect the behavior of his mechanical creations. 

He took pride in making them able to "learn" and "understand," prototyping improvements to their second lives, and while he'd probably never be able to create another Persephone, at least for now, he'd been able to create realistic mechanical animals cool enough that 11-year-olds wouldn't get bored.

"Dude, I didn't think you could do this, how did you get the metal parts?" asked Ron, holding his silver metal mouse by the tail. 

Ron was thrilled with the piece of art he had, yes, for the young red-haired boy, what he had in his hands was a worthy piece of metal art. The softness to the touch, the curves, how delicate the mouse was, even its eyes were two small sapphires. It even made a few squeaks, as if to complain about the way he was holding it. 

"Santa has given me tools and materials every Christmas, really cool guy," Astreo replied with narrowed eyes, thinking about something. 

Santa Claus had been a mystery to him ever since he had learned of his existence, the man had given him a Christmas present long before he usually did. 

Normally, Santa did not give Christmas presents to children until they were two years old, old enough for a magical child to have some awareness of his or her actions, especially considering unwarranted tantrums, wasted food, and the like. 

All of his Christmas presents had to do with clockwork and automaton mechanics as if the Christmas Entity knew of his penchant for creating such works. 

Yes, he had used these gifts to make many interesting things, and in his sixth year, he even put together a clock that he offered to Santa Claus, because he always gave gifts, but no one gave him gifts, or so Astreo thought at the time. 

Little did the boy know that his actions would endear him to Santa Claus. But Astreo had made it a point to always leave a small gift for the old man. 

Like special treasure-finding compasses, one of which he kept for his personal use, an astrolabe so sophisticated that his mother asked for an exact copy, and one of gigantic size because it helped her not only in her teaching, but in her research, and even in the performance of some permitted rituals. 

The boy also gave Rose Potter a small mechanical doll, camouflaged in a teddy bear exterior, to help her with her special condition. The doll was simple, moving on its own when wound, and sturdy enough to withstand the girl's roughness. 

But with the improvements he made to the teddy bear, which Rose strangely named Hardy the Bear, the doll became something even he didn't quite understand. 

It seemed that the doll had responded to the girl's magical outbursts by becoming something much more, and his intervention only exacerbated that change.

'I don't know if I created anything extraordinary, but Rose is pretty special, maybe her influence affected the doll that way,' Astreo thought just before boarding the train when he noticed that the teddy bear had turned its head to stare at him. 

"Santa's cool, last Christmas he brought me a hammer," Ron said excitedly, causing Harry to roll his eyes. 

"Yeah, we all know, a hammer that fits your hand and feels comfortable, you've had that since last year," Harry said with a bit of exasperation as he stroked one of the metal scales on the head of his mechanical snake. 

For Astreo, Harry's snake was damn complicated to make, but once he got the mechanism that picked up the sounds to recognize Harry's Parseltongue, it was super easy. 

Astreo didn't know if the magic in this world was different because it was so alive and powerful, but it seemed like every complicated mechanical doll he made suddenly became weird. Maybe it was Harry's Parseltongue influence that made his mechanical snake feel so much more... organic. 

There was Astreo, watching the snake do something he hadn't designed, squinting his eyes and sticking out his forked tongue as if enjoying his owner's gentle touch.

"Sorry, but you know how I get when I'm blacksmithing," Ron said as he scratched the back of his neck, but Astreo put his hand on his head, causing the redhead to react quickly as he removed his hand from his head. 

"Stop that!" the boy shouted, but Astreo ignored him as he continued to put his hand on his head.

"You're not funny anymore, but don't let anyone stop you from talking about what you want. If you want to tell the same story about your hammer, tell it, don't let anyone stop you, even if it's your friend," Astreo advised, glaring at Harry.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I'm a little upset, you know... fans are crazy. I shouldn't have taken it out on you," Harry apologized to Ron, recognizing the seriousness in Astreo's eyes. 

"Man, don't worry, I know you get mean. Ginny says I can get that way too..." Ron readily accepted his friend's apology, he had grown up with Harry and Astreo enough to understand both of their personalities. 

"Let's talk about something else. Harry, even if your mum ruined those fanfic writers, you're still famous," Astreo spoke, subtly changing the subject to what had happened recently.

As Lily Potter entered Platform 9 ¾, many people tried to approach Harry, almost similar to what had happened at the Leaky Cauldron, only this time they wisely or foolishly decided to ignore Lily Potter, a real mother lion. 

Some adults even went so far as to pull Harry's cheeks, luckily no one took anything from his hair, which his mother checked with a spell after the fiasco ended with a magical pulse from her, proving just how powerful Mrs. Potter was. 

"Let's not talk about that, let's talk about how Luna looked at you like a lost puppy when you got on the train," Harry said with a grin, stroking his sore cheek at the memory of what had happened. 

"I have a girlfriend, you don't, I win," with that great argument, one that was invincible, Astreo watched the surroundings pass by through the window, and then Astreo realized something important.

"Where the hell is Neville?" asked Astreo, somewhat alarmed, making his companions realize something essential, Neville was not with them. 

"He said he was going to the bathroom, but he took too long, didn't he?" said Ron, and just as Harry was about to say something, someone knocked on the door. 

When they opened it, the woman with the food cart spoke to them to see if they wanted to buy anything, and well, you couldn't worry about your friend when you were hungry, could you? Even though all three had food made by their mothers, children never missed the opportunity to eat candy. 

A few minutes later, while the three were enjoying the chocolate frogs and the strange card Ron found in one of them, the door burst open. 

"Guys, I lost the mechanical toad that Astreo gave me," Neville said, a little upset, as a girl with bushy brown hair walked in. 

'Oh, it would drive a lot of people crazy to see this,' Astreo thought as he saw the girl walk in behind Neville, all because he knew her from before, he had seen her coming out of Ollivander's shop, but now he noticed something else.

If this was Hermione, then the one from this world was a brunette. Hermione was brown-skinned, and many fans probably wouldn't like that if they knew. 

But to Astreo, as well as to magical society in general, your skin color didn't matter, only your lineage, your magic, your knowledge, and lately, your political relevance. 

"Are you Neville's friends? He said he had a mechanical toad, I didn't believe him because I thought it was too unreal, but magic is real and I thought it wasn't, so I wanted to help him. Oh my goodness, are those metal animals? They look real! Can I learn to do that? I'd like to make a metal rabbit because I found out I can't pull rabbits out of my hat, and besides, why do witches still wear beak hats? I'd prefer a beret, it looks much better on me..."

Astreo, Harry, Ron, and Neville were silent, and even shared a chocolate frog with Neville, as they watched the hyperactive girl blurt out an enormous amount of questions, anecdotes, and even loose information at top speed. 

Soon Hermione had to take a break and Ron, in a nice gesture, offered her a metal bottle of orange juice. The girl accepted the gesture and drank thoroughly, quenching her thirst. 

"Thanks, sorry for talking so much, I'm so excited," Hermione apologized sheepishly as she handed the bottle back to Ron.

"No, I'm used to it, aren't I guys?" replied Ron with a not-so-subtle smile on his face as he looked at Astreo.

"Yeah, we're used to it, the worst thing is that we understood everything you said even though you spoke so fast," Harry joked, looking at Astreo together with Ron. 

"Yeah, your speech is a lot slower than Astreo's," Neville chimed in, but the angry look on the boy's face made him feel uncomfortable.

"Brother, I'm sorry, I've lost the gift you gave me," Neville ran his hand over his head, not feeling the mechanical toad lying quietly on it, looking at everyone condescendingly. 

Astreo saw this and when he wanted to say something, he noticed with his magical sensitivity that there seemed to be nothing in Neville's head, as if the mechanical toad had the ability of a certain spear user who was left alone because Big G didn't notice him. 

"Don't worry, it's attached to you, you'll never lose it," Astreo comforted, touching Neville's head, who didn't try to avoid his touch. 

"By the way, what's your name?" our young protagonist asked the chattering girl. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Hermione Jane Granger, a pleasure. What are the names of the two of you?" the girl asked back.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, you're nice, so call me Ron," seeing a polite Ron always felt strange to Astreo, but this just showed something.

This was a different world, a world where he acted as Part Water and things had been very messed up for him since he was a baby, something he loved. 

Even as an astrologer, he didn't like everything to be the same, predetermined. He preferred the random, the unknown, and though he sometimes used his abilities to know the future, he preferred to keep some things unknown. 

"You already know my name, but I'll introduce myself again. I'm Neville Frank Longbottom, call me Neville," he greeted Neville with a small wave. 

"I'm Astreo Sinistra, and yes, like the Astronomy teacher, she's my mother," Astreo added quickly, seeing the light in the girl's eyes when he said his last name, causing the girl to nod. 

"I guess it's my turn... Hadrian James Potter at your service, don't call me Harry, just Hadrian," Harry was a little cold at this point as he said his name, disgusted by his nickname that had been made famous by an annoying reporter.

Though he never knew what happened to this woman, he stopped publishing articles under the nickname "Harry" right after his mother accidentally caught a strange bug in a bottle. 

Seeing the excitement manifest in magic around the girl, Astreo knew their train ride was going to be very interesting. 

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AN: Yeah, Hermione is canon accurate, that said JKR. If you have a problem, lol, calm dowm.