Pepper Imp Steam | Open

The Hogwarts Express stood gleaming red against Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, steam hissing from beneath its belly. Elias clutched his trunk handle, staring up at the enormous locomotor-engine. It was actually happening.

"Elias, stand still," Mum said crisply, straightening his collar with practiced precision. Her emerald robes were perfectly pressed, not a hair out of place despite the platform chaos. "Remember what I taught you about proper deportment. First impressions matter at Hogwarts."

"Oh, Renae, he'll be fine," Dad said, patting down his pockets with a distracted frown. "Just like when I started at Hogwarts. Course, that was years ago, and I spent most of first year lost in the dungeons..."

"Edmund, you're not helping," Mum sighed.

"I don't want to be here," Edith announced, scowling at everyone around them. "It smells like coal and people are being loud and I want to go home."

"We'll be gone soon, darling," Mum said, though her tone suggested she was losing patience with all of them.

Elias glanced around hopefully, but Eamon was nowhere near them. He spotted his brother further down the platform, ignoring their entire family while talking to older students. His chest felt tight. Every holiday, Eamon came home with pockets full of incredible sweets. Now Elias would finally see where they came from.

The train whistle shrieked. Families began their final goodbyes.

"Write every week," Mum commanded, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "And remember - a Rosemont never slouches."

Dad grabbed him in a bear hug that smelled of metal polish and magic. "Have adventures, son. Just... try not to get into too much trouble."

After wrestling his trunk aboard, Elias started down the narrow corridor. The compartments were filling up fast. He peeked into a few, but they all seemed to have established groups already.

Finally, he found one near the middle of the train with just two other boys who looked about his age. One had curly brown hair and was protectively clutching a small potted plant, while the other had a thick London accent and wore clothes that were clearly Muggle-made.

"Mind if I sit?" Elias asked.

Both boys nodded and shifted to make room. Elias wrestled his trunk into the overhead rack, then settled by the window. The train gave a great lurch and started moving with a hiss of steam.

Outside, the platform began sliding away. He could see his family through the glass - Mum standing perfectly straight with her hand pressed to her chest, Dad waving hard while Edith had finally perked up and was jumping to see over the crowd. They looked so small suddenly, getting smaller by the second.

His chest felt tight. He was really leaving. Really going to Hogwarts, like Eamon, like all the Everett's and Rosemont's before him. But also really leaving everything familiar behind.

The platform curved out of sight. His family was gone.

After what felt like ages but was probably only twenty minutes, he started getting fidgety. His mouth watered slightly thinking about food. He'd been too nervous to eat much breakfast, and all the excitement was catching up with him.

Every holiday, Eamon came home from school with his pockets full of sweets. Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees, Bertie Bott's beans in all the mad flavors. Most of them you could get at any sweet shop in Diagon Alley, but sometimes Eamon had Pepper Imps - the ones that made you breathe smoke for hours. Old Mr. Flume at the sweet shop refused to stock them, said the smoke made customers cough and drove away business. Where did Eamon get the money for all that?

He squirmed in his seat, imagining what it would be like to finally try a Pepper Imp. Would the smoke really pour out of his nose like Eamon claimed? Would it tickle, or burn, or taste like actual pepper? He couldn't stop his fingers from tapping against the glass.

He couldn't sit still any longer.

The other two boys were deep in conversation. Perfect. Elias quietly stood up and slipped toward the compartment door. No one seemed to notice.

The corridor outside was busier than expected. Elias started toward the front of the train, but had to squeeze past a group of older girls blocking half the passage. He nearly tripped over someone's trunk.

The heavy door between carriages was harder to open than it looked. When he finally got it, the noise and wind from the train coupling made him jump. The floor lurched under his feet and he grabbed for the handrail.

In the next carriage, he tried to duck around a tall student carrying a massive owl cage. The owl inside fixed him with one yellow eye, then struck out through the bars. Its beak caught his ear with a sharp pinch.

"Ow!" He stumbled backward, bumping into someone. "Sorry, didn't mean to—"

The older student just shook his head and moved on. Elias rubbed his stinging ear and hurried ahead before anyone else could tell him off. Typical.

But still no sign of any food. He was getting properly hungry now.

Maybe the other direction?

Lindsay had her arms wrapped tight around her mum, breathing in the familiar scent of lavender and flour from home. With a last squeeze, she turned to hug her younger brother and sister, both of them looking a bit sulky at being left behind.

“Don’t pout,” she told them firmly, ruffling her brother’s hair before he could duck away. “It’ll be your turn soon enough. Hogwarts isn’t going anywhere, and when you’re here, I’ll be the one waiting at home hearing all your stories. Fair’s fair, right?”

Her sister sniffed but managed a tiny nod, while her brother broke into a grin at the thought. With that, Lindsay hefted her trunk toward the train. She gave one last wave to her family, heart twisting as the platform filled with steam and her mum’s handkerchief fluttered like a flag in the mist.

Onboard, she wasted no time staking out a compartment. She lifted her trunk into the rack (with more huffing than grace) and spread herself out in the seat, letting the excitement of the moment bubble through her. A trolley soon rolled by, and she treated herself to a couple of cauldron cakes and a pumpkin juice, setting them neatly on the little fold-out table. It felt almost official now! She was really on her way!

It was then she caught sight of a familiar figure in the corridor. Elias...the boy from the robe shop. He was looking a bit worse for wear, clutching his ear after nearly stumbling straight into a passing student. Recognition lit her face. She leaned forward and gave a quick wave, knocking on the glass to catch his attention.

“Elias! Over here!” she called, sliding the door open to the compartment. “You can sit with me if you like — plenty of space. And...” she held up one of the still-warm cauldron cakes with a grin, “..I might even be persuaded to share.”

She settled back, shifting her things to make room for him, curious to hear what sort of trouble he’d already managed to get into before they’d even reached school.

The rumors were swirling. Half the staff had been fired. The Head Master currently resides in Azkaban. Everleigh’s stomach was in knots headed back, not understanding what had happened. As a first year last term, it was all she knew. It almost felt like this was a new first year. New professors. New head of house. New Head mist… Mistress.

This was all such a mess.

Everleigh didn’t have many friends on the train. Or at the castle honestly. Other than her sister, there were a couple people that she “liked.” but unfortunately they weren’t coming back to school. After the debacle that was her first year and the insane head master, their parents decided to keep them home. So walking on the train, stowing her trunk, and finding a seat took no time at all. There was no one to talk to, no one to look for, no one to have fun with.

Getting up from her seat, Ever went to find the bathroom before the train got underway. Her plan was simple. Freshen up, find the trolly, get some snacks, read her book. Ignore all those around her and hope they did her the courtesy of the same.

Returning to her seat, she found her spot filled with a group of loud third years. That was a no. Bullocks, she needed to find another spot. Walking down the aisle, everything was loud and filled, just freaking great. She heard someone call for an Elias, a name she didn’t recognize. Was it too much to ask for just a small quiet corner to hide in?

Probably.

The snack trolly came to a stop in front of the compartment that had just opened up. Where apparently Elias now sat. Ever took out her money, purchased a some cauldron cakes, pepper Imps, and a couple licorice whips before looking into the compartment.

“Do you mind if I join you? Every place is full. I’m Everleigh.” She sat down, no smile, no grand excitable greeting. This is what you got with her. Best everyone realize that from the start.

Elias heard Lindsay's voice and practically ran over to the compartment. He rubbed his stinging ear one more time.

"Lindsay! Thank you, yes—" He stopped in the doorway. Oh. Just Lindsay. Girls were... different. They talked about strange things and seemed to know secrets he didn't. But she'd been kind at the robe shop, and she was offering food, so he stepped inside.

Another girl appeared in the doorway before he could sit down. Everleigh, she said. Elias stepped aside to let her in. As she settled across from Lindsay, his eyes caught on the collection of sweets in her hands. His mouth watered. Those were Pepper Imps, weren't they? The ones the sweet shop owner refused to stock because they made too much smoke.

"I'm Elias," he said quickly, forcing himself to look at her face instead. "Everett."

He took the remaining seat. Lindsay offered him the cauldron cake and he accepted it gratefully. But then he remembered - his trunk was still back there with those boys. He'd just... left. Without saying anything. Mum always said first impressions mattered. They probably thought he was rude.

The train swayed and Elias glanced toward the corridor. Where had Eamon disappeared to? His brother had looked so comfortable on the platform, talking with older students like he belonged everywhere he went.

Elias took a bite of cauldron cake. The chocolate was rich and sweet, but his mind kept wandering. What if that hat Lindsay mentioned couldn't decide about him? He still didn't really understand how it worked. Dad was Hufflepuff. Mum's family were all Slytherin. Eamon had shocked everyone by ending up in Gryffindor. Maybe he'd end up somewhere completely different from all of them.

He picked at a loose thread on his robes and looked out the window. Were those the motor-carriages Dad had mentioned? The little metal boxes moving along grey paths without horses? And what were those tall wooden posts with all the wires for?

"Are you excited about Hogwarts?" he asked, then felt stupid. Of course they were excited. "My brother says there's a real Kraken in the lake. An actual one! He saw a tentacle once, during a Quidditch match."

The compartment felt smaller with three of them in it. He found himself studying the brass fittings on the luggage rack, then glanced toward the door again. Maybe Eamon would walk past.