Chapter 74 - Another Year, Another Train Journey

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[The chapter was edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo/AlanL]

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In northwestern London lay King's Cross Station, a Muggle railway station that was one of the busiest in the city. It was a perfectly ordinary station, with big plastic numbers over each track and guards who had never heard of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

However, every September 1st, as the clock overhead approached eleven o'clock, the InterCity-125 was pulled into platform nine. A strange crowd turned the occasional people's heads. The pack was wizarding children, bearing enormous trunks and caged owls and other unusual pets, making their way toward —and then through— the solid metal barrier between platforms nine and ten.

Through this barrier, of course, lay Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, home of the famous Hogwarts Express. A look back at the barrier revealed it was a wrought-iron archway with the words "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters [Platform 9?]" on it. Over the scarlet steam train's billowing smoke was a signboard that said the Hogwarts Express would depart at eleven o'clock.

Though the platform was only used six days a year, a round trip for the beginning and end of term. One on Christmas and Easter holidays each; the platform on those days, was awash with activity. Steam from the scarlet engine flooded the platform as cats wound their way around the wizards' legs and owls hooted to each other, as hordes of students and parents moved around through the steam "like dark ghosts", their voices carrying through the mist.

Near one of the pillars inside Platform 9?, stood Quinn with Lia talking with each other until the time for Hogwarts Express to leave.

"So what do you think about the Azkaban breakout? Peter Pettigrew was the one who betrayed the Potters," asked Quinn, having idle talk with his sister.

"Hmm... I would say that he choose the right time to break out. A lot of Aurors are busy right now," replied Lia, thinking about the recent events that had been going on the front page of every magical newspaper and magazine.

Quinn nodded in agreement. "What do they call themselves, ah, yes, Novellus Accionites. They have been targeting no-majs and first-generation magicals in Voldemort's name. Not sure if Novellus Accionites is a good name, though."

"Why not?" questioned Lia. She knew about the origins of the group's name. "Weren't the Accionites, a group of anti-no-maj, magicals? That seems a good name for their group; it goes well with their current agenda."

"Maybe you are right. People don't know the complete history of the group," conceded Quinn. Then he proceeded to tell Lia the history of the original group.

"The thing about original Accionites is that their leader was dumb, really dumb. First, he tried to steal from the goblins by summoning gold from the Gringotts. He got away with a mere lifetime ban. In that time, goblins executed anyone who tried to steal from them. After all that, he died when he summoned a large barn over his head."

Quinn laughed as he snorted, "So dumb~. I can't take those guys seriously knowing what I know."

"Quinn," called out a voice.

Lia turned her head to see who was calling her brother to see two girls walking towards them. One of them was waving her hand with a beaming smile on her face while the other girl followed her with a bland expression on her face.

'Now, who are these two girls,' she thought as a mischievous light flashed in her eyes.

"Hey, you two. How have you been?" said Quinn, greeting his two favorite Slytherins.

He had avoided everyone he knew as much as he could. He completely avoided Tracy and Daphne because, first, they were in a different house, and second, they were not in the same year as him. So it was fairly easy to avoid them.

Tracy was about to continue speaking when she met the person Quinn was standing with. The bubbly brunette peered at the woman and observed her.

She was beautiful. Tracy would describe her as one of those girls who often caused double-takes as she passed by and looked good no matter the occasion. Her first impression was that she was someone confident and outgoing.

Daphne also looked at the women with some curiosity. Given that the unknown person was talking to Quinn, it was clear that Quinn knew her. And after a second look, Daphne noticed the black hair and stone-grey eyes.

'Same as Quinn,' the blonde thought, noticing the similarities between Quinn and the woman.

"Why don't you introduce her to us, Quinn?" asked Tracy, curious about the woman.

"Oh, right," Quinn turned and introduced the two parties.

"This is Lia West, my sister," said Quinn, gesturing at Lia. Then the younger West child turned his face to his two friends and spoke, "And these two are Tracy Davis-," pointing at the brunette. "- and Daphne Greengrass," pointing at the blonde. "They are my friends."

Lia pushed herself off the wall, put a hand on Quinn's shoulder, and asked, "So which one do you like?"

Tracy and even Daphne blushed at the sudden question.

Tracy looked at Quinn and found that her male friend had changed in the break. For one, Quinn had grown a few inches. Overall, his jaw and face was now sharper as he had lost the baby fat. Tracy felt his shoulders had widened a little. Even his arms looked a little bigger overall, and Quinn was more filled out than before.

He was much more handsome than last year.

Daphne, on the other hand, recalled the memory of Quinn holding her close. She remembered him saying that he would have invited her to Hogsmeade if she wasn't a second year. She was a third-year now and was allowed to go to Hogsmeade this year onwards.

Would he invite her this year... were Daphne Greengrass' thoughts as she stared at the boy in front of her.

Quinn closed his eyes as he held the bridge of his nose. He was really feeling embarrassed and was trying to hide it. "You know, I wondered whether you would do anything to embarrass me if we met my friends. I really thought you wouldn't do it, but it turned out I was wrong."

"Why did you have to do that?" Quinn deadpanned towards his sister.

A smile bloomed on Lia's face as she gave her explanation, "Because it's so much fun!"

Quinn was about to say something, but his eyes caught sight of something. He spoke to the three girls: "I will be back in a minute. You guys talk to each other..." He turned to Lia and warned her, "... and you... behave."

'',

Quinn ran off somewhere, leaving Tracy, Daphne and Lia behind.

"So how did you two meet my baby brother?" asked Lia with a friendly smile on her face.

"We met Quinn in our first year. In fact, we met today, two years ago in the Hogwarts Express," answered Tracy. She giggled and recalled, "Oh, that day was fun."

"What is Quinn like at home?" It was Tracy's turn to ask a question. And she really wanted to know if Quinn was the same as he was outside. "He is annoyingly put together all the time." She pointed at Daphne behind her. "Along with this girl; the two dress so perfectly that it makes me feel quite annoyed. I mean, not a single hair out of place."

Lia turned her eyes to the one called Daphne Greengrass and observed the blonde. And she could see what Tracy Davis was talking about.

"Well, Quinn was raised by Ms. Rosey, and she is very particular about caring for one's appearance at every time, so being well put together is ingrained into Quinn's bones." Lia chuckled as she remembered the times Ms. Rosey yelled at Quinn for having an untucked shirt or messy hair. "Given that it is Quinn, I am sure that he uses magic to fix his appearance every hour or so."

Tracy's eyes widened, and a smile appeared on her face. She grabbed Daphne's arm and laughed. "She does it too. Every hour, she waves her wand and fixes her appearance. Like clockwork!"

Lia began to like Tracy. The brunette seemed to be a fun girl. Additionally, Lia was interested in Daphne even though she hadn't said a single word since their meeting.

What interested Lia was that when she asked Quinn the question, she saw Daphne's eyes blur as if she remembered something, and then the girl had looked at Quinn with a blush on her face.

She wanted to know if Daphne liked her brother. "Daphne Greengrass, was it? Do you li-"

But before she could complete her sentence, a joyous shout cut her off.

"Lia!"

The three girls turned to see Quinn walking towards them, a grin on his face. They saw Quinn pulling a girl with him.

Quinn stopped near them, brought the girl in front of him, and then slipped his hands under the girl's shoulder and lifted her up as if showing her off.

The girl that Quinn brought and lifted had waist-length, straggly, dirty blond hair. Interestingly or weirdly, the girl was wearing dirigible plum-shaped earrings on her ears.

Lia found herself looking at the girl as the girl stared back at her with her silvery eyes.

"Meet Luna Lovegood," Quinn introduced the young girl with a bright smile on his face. "She's my junior in Ravenclaw. Absolutely adorable, isn't she?"

Quinn put the now named Luna Lovegood down and spoke to the young Ravenclaw, "Luna, this is my sister, Lia."

Luna's eyes shined as she moved towards Lia and observed her by orbiting around her. Then she sized Lia up, sweeping her eyes up and down before saying, "You look like Quinn."

"... That I do," replied Lia. Sure, Lia found Luna Lovegood cute to look at, but she wasn't sure who she was looking at. "I'm his sister, after all."

Luna nodded before turning her back to Lia. She walked back to Quinn's side, who gave her chocolate, patted her head, and told her: "Good work."

"So what did you three talk about?" Quinn asked after giving Luna chocolate.

"Oh, Tracy was telling me about the first time you guys met," replied Lia.

"Ah, it was today, wasn't it? You two weren't able to find a compartment, so you guys came into my compartment." Quinn chuckled as he recalled that day and said, "That was a fun day. Did you know I guessed the houses of almost all first-years being sorted that year? Yeah~ that was fun."

Quinn looked at the clock that was hanging on a pillar and said, "Okay, we should get moving if we want to get a compartment." He turned to Tracy and Daphne and asked, "Do you want to join Luna and I? We're sharing a compartment."

Tracy looked at Daphne, who nodded. "Sure, we will join you," replied Tracy.

"Can we bring another person?" asked Daphne, staring at Quinn.

Quinn looked at Luna to see if she was alright with another person, but his eccentric junior seemed really interested in the wrapper of the chocolate he gave her.

"I don't see why not. The more, the merrier," replied Quinn.

"Alright, we'll say goodbye to our parents and then meet you on the train," said Tracy. Daphne also needed to find the person she wanted to bring along, so she nodded.

"Excellent, I'm going to choose a compartment somewhere along the middle of the train, so start somewhere there," said Quinn before he turned his face to Luna and shook her to get her attention. "Luna, go ahead and say goodbye to your father. We will get going then."

The three girls went back to their respective families, leaving Lia and Quinn alone.

"Do you have any male friends, or are all your friends girls," smirked Lia. She put a hand on her cheek, "My baby brother sure is popular. Are you planning to become a ladies' man?"

"There is nothing wrong with being a little bit of a ladies' man," snorted Quinn at her comment, which was another attempt to make him feel embarrassed. "And, I do have male friends." He looked around the platform. "But I just can't seem to find Eddie and Marcus at the platform or on the train. It will be the fourth straight year if I don't see them today."

When Quinn returned his eyes to Lia, he found her looking at him with slight worry in her eyes.

"What is it?" sighed Quinn. He knew that look. It was the same George had given him as they were leaving home before in the morning.

"Promise me you won't do something reckless and dangerous." She held Quinn's face and forced him to look at her.

"... I'll try," said Quinn. He couldn't claim he wouldn't get into trouble. He would surely try not to get into trouble as he didn't want to seek trouble. "I will try my best to stay safe. Despite my track record, I don't enjoy getting into trouble."

Lia scrutinized Quinn for a while before she sighed. "Why couldn't you just say that you won't get into trouble." She squished Quinn's face and blamed him. "You like to cause me worry, don't you?"

"Oh, nothing like that," replied Quinn, smiling as he looked at his sister. She was always the one who got worried about him the most. "I just do it so you won't forget me."

Lia's hands left Quinn's face and wrapped around him to pull him into a hug. "Why do you have to say such silly things? I will never forget you. You are my precious baby brother."

"Will I ever be elevated from baby brother to little brother?" smiled Quinn, hugging Lia back. "I have been working hard. I deserve a promotion. Maybe a pay-raise to accompany it, and if you are feeling generous, some benefits."

"I'm sorry to inform you you have reached the peak of your career in this field." Lia giggled and joked back, "You would still be my baby brother even if we were oldies full of white hair."

'',

"Heh, you might get old and wrinkly, but I'll never grow old," declared Quinn, scoffing.

The West siblings separated, and Lia sighed. "Send me plenty of MagiFax. You remember my WMF-id, right?"

"I decided on all our families' WMF-ids. Of course I remember them," answered Quinn, and with a final sigh, he added, "Take care of yourself and don't overwork. Remember to have fun and keep sending me souvenirs."

"You bet," promised Lia and stroked Quinn's cheek one last time. "Now, leave. I don't want to see you cry."

"Of course," smiled Quinn. He picked up his suitcase, turned back towards the Hogwarts Express, and walked away. He waved to Lia as he walked away.

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Quinn threaded his way through the narrow corridors of the train. Weaving through the students standing in the corridors. He made his way to the middle of the train, looking for an empty compartment.

After a minute or two, Quinn found an empty compartment and immediately laid his claim on it.

"Conquest... completed," declared victory Quinn as he sent his suitcase to the top rack and shot multiple cleaning and scouring charms to make everything spotless.

After half a minute, Luna entered the compartment, and Quinn helped transfer all her stuff to the racks above.

"Looking forward to this year, Luna?" asked Quinn as he took a seat next to the window.

Luna sat down beside Quinn and nodded, "I'm hoping to see a lot of magical creatures this year. Maybe even find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, but daddy said it can only be found in the Netherlands. So maybe I won't find it at Hogwarts?"

"Who knows, maybe you will, or maybe you won't. The only way to find out is to look for it," answered Quinn.

He didn't know if the Crumple-Horned Snorkack was a real creature or a figment of Xenophilius Lovegood's imagination. But he wasn't outright going to deny the existence of the said creature. He lived in a magical world. Maybe the mysterious creature was real.

"I heard that Rubeus Hagrid is going to teach Care of Magical Creatures subject this year," informed Quinn. "He spends a lot of time in the Forbidden Forest, and I have heard he knows a lot about magical creatures. So we may learn about a lot of new creatures. That'll be fun, don't you think?"

Luna's eyes shined, and she looked up at Quinn. "Really? Hagrid is nice. Hmm, I'm looking forward to learning from him. He's very tall, though. My neck hurts when I look up at him."

Quinn grinned at the last part. Luna was a small girl, and the half-giant was very tall.

"Ah, found them."

Quinn and Luna turned their heads towards the door of the compartment and saw Tracy. She was looking to her right and called out: "They are here, come on."

Quinn stood up and helped Tracy with her luggage but stayed away from her cat because he thought the feline was glaring at him. That was the cat whose hair went into Hermione's polyjuice potion.

After Quinn set up Tracy's luggage, he turned to the door and blinked when he saw two girls standing there. One taller than the other. One had blonde hair, and the other one had black hair. Both girls had blue eyes.

Quinn could immediately see the similarities between the two girls.

Daphne Greengrass, the taller of the two girls, spoke up and introduced the black-haired girl to Quinn.

"This is Astoria. My sister."

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Quinn West - MC - Fourth-year Ravenclaw. Back to school.

Lia West - Elder Sister - Fulfilling the duty of older siblings by embarrassing younger siblings.

Luna Lovegood - Second-year Ravenclaw - Quite easy to lift her up the ground.

Tracy Davis - Third-year Slytherin- Admiring the changes in Quinn.

Daphne Greengrass - Third-year Slytherin - Memories.

Astoria Greengrass - First-year - Daphne's sister.

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