Brook paused as he wrote to reach up and scratch Hedwig. “No girls here, huh Hedwig? Unless I count you.” Since their night flight, Hedwig had accompanied Brook in his dorm room most of the time when he was not in class. She perched herself on his headboard and would nibble at his ear or pull his hair playfully while he was reading in the evenings. She had flown with him a few more times as well. Funny, I never thought that I would become so close to a pet, especially an owl, thought Brook.
Well, I did meet a saleswoman who just graduated from Hogwarts in the spring when I was shopping one day. She was very pretty and she actually asked me out, but I decided that it didn’t make much sense, since I wouldn’t be able to leave school much during the school year. I know, you think that is just an excuse, but it is the truth. Maybe I’ll meet someone on the train.
This brings up an interesting tradition Hogwarts has to start the school year. All the students actually meet in London and then the whole student body rides a train together for several hours to arrive at the school. The headmaster wants me to “experience all that Hogwarts has to offer” so the flight instructor is going to fly me down to London in the morning so I can ride the train with the rest of the students. It’s going to be a long day to essentially end up right back where I started, but Professor Dumbledore assures me it will be the easiest way for me to get to know my classmates before classes start.
Hope the football season starts well. Hope to hear from you soon.
Brook
On September 1st, in actuality, Brook first Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and then took a cab to King’s Cross station. It felt weird to be back among the Muggles; after just two months he was very much at home with his new world. After he arrived at King’s Cross, he pulled out the directions again and read the next step, “Proceed to Platform 9 ¾ and get on the Hogwarts Express.”
Platform 9 ¾? Is that some strange British custom? he thought. He worked his way through the crowds and found Platform 9 and Platform 10, but no Platform 9 ¾. He asked a train porter about it, but the porter replied, “Are you daft? There is no Platform 9 ¾! Kids these days,” he muttered as he turned away. As Brook was looking around confused, he saw a woman hugging her much taller son, and recognized them as the family from Diagon Alley. Knowing that they must be magical, he snaked through the swarm of travellers toward them. Before he got there, the son pecked his mom on the cheek and then pushed his cart right at a brick wall. Brook braced himself for the expected crash, but instead the redhead just vanished into the wall! When he finally neared the woman, he said, “Excuse me, ma’am, but I am attending Hogwarts for the first time, and was wondering if you could help me figure out how to get on the train.”
“Of course, dear. It’s not often that there are new students your age at Hogwarts. What school did you go to before this? I have a daughter-in-law that went to Beauxbatons. Maybe you knew her?”
“No, actually I just learned I am a wizard and haven’t attended magical school before. My name is Brook Pelton,” holding out his hand.
“Oh, where are my manners, questioning you without introducing myself? I am Molly Weasley and am pleased to meet you. I have two children attending Hogwarts this year; Ron is in the seventh year and Ginny is in the sixth. What year are you going to be in?”
“I have been getting special tutoring over the summer and I am going to try to take mostly seventh year classes, but I will still need a lot of help.”
“Speaking of Ginny, here she is. Ginny, this is Brook Pelton. He is starting at Hogwarts this year and will be in Ron’s year. He needs a little help getting onto the train.”
At that moment a petite redhead appeared from behind her mother. Brook stood there stunned. It was her, the girl from his dreams! She was a like a vision before him, from the long red hair with copper highlights that sparkled in the light to brown eyes the color of dark chocolate to her many freckles to her welcoming smile. He had never met a more beautiful girl, and she was even more attractive in person than in his dreams.
“Uh, hello?” she said as she waved her hand in front of his face. “Are you in there?”
Brook shook his head to bring himself back to alertness. “Sorry, I’m not sure what came over me. It is nice to meet you, Ginny,” he attempted a recovery, but he couldn’t help blushing a little.
“Nice to meet you, too, Brook,” she responded with a smirk on her face.
“Ginny, why don’t you show Brook how to get through to the platform,” said Mrs. Weasley. “Brook, where are your trunks?” looking around him for a cart.
“As I’ve been at Hogwarts most of the summer, my stuff is already there. Professor Dumbledore didn’t want me to miss the experience of the Hogwarts Express and wanted me to meet my fellow students, so he had me come here even though I was already at the school.”
“Well, I’ll just say goodbye here, Ginny dear. Have a great term and we’ll see you at Christmas,” Mrs. Weasley said as she hugged her daughter. She then whispered to Ginny, “You be nice to this one, he’s cute.”
“Oh, Mum,” Ginny replied, rolling her eyes with a groan. “Love you, see you in December.” After separating from her mom, she went back to Brook and said, “You just have to walk right into that wall; it is best to avoid flinching. And then you will be on the platform. You can follow me,” as she grabbed the handle of her cart.
“Wait, may I push your luggage for you?” asked Brook, offering her a smile.
“Sure, that would be very nice of you,” replied Ginny. She looked back at her mom who gave a smile and a nod of approval toward Brook. “Nice manners,” she mouthed to Ginny.
Brook pushed Ginny’s cart through the wall onto Platform 9 ¾ and saw the Hogwarts Express for the first time. It was bright, shiny red, with a puff of white smoke coming out of the back of the engine, trailed by a number of passenger cars. Wizarding families were all milling about, with lots of hugs and kisses being given. As Brook and Ginny walked toward the train, she asked, “So, what have you been doing at Hogwarts all summer? I was under the impression students weren’t allowed there over the summer.”
Before he could answer, Brook heard pops all around him, and about a dozen people dressed in black robes and masks just appeared out of thin air all around the platform. They had wands out and started firing at students and parents immediately. He heard someone yell, “Death Eaters!” Next to him, Ginny reacted instantly, pulling her wand out and crouching behind her trunks, and started returning fire, using her trunk as cover. Two of the masked opponents went down immediately from her spells.
Brook, meanwhile, just froze, mesmerized by the multi-colored lights flashing through the air. While he had learned a lot of spells over the summer and had some basic instruction on dueling, he had never really fought magically. All around him, it looked like chaos; spells were flying everywhere, people were lying on the ground, and smoke was rising from areas on the wall that had been hit. He was brought out of his astonishment when he heard someone yell, “Get down!” and felt himself being pulled down behind a trunk by Ginny as a spell went just over his head. As she moved to the other end of her trunk to shoot more spells, he noticed that one of the Death Eaters had slipped around behind the two of them and was aiming a curse at her. With reflexes honed from sports, Brook dove at Ginny, tackling her and narrowly avoiding the curse that ended up hitting her trunk. With his arm around her waist, he pulled her body to his and rolled with her into a small alcove that gave them some protection. The impact knocked the wind out of Ginny and she was clearly dazed, so, as she cleared her head, he reacted out of instinct and pulled out his wand, quickly went through his mental list of spells that he could utilize. He saw two different spells coming directly at them, so he yelled, “Protego!” The shield appeared instantly, but it was much stronger than the shield he normally made. In fact, it was barely translucent, only allowing a hazy view of their surroundings. He kept his wand up and it held, even though it was being battered by spell after spell. Normally it had only held up to one or two spells before it broke. He wasn’t going to worry about it at that moment; it was working and that was the important thing. He heard a gasp next to him, as Ginny had regained her faculties.
After a few more moments they heard more pops and more men and women appeared out of thin air wearing red robes and started firing off spells at the masked attackers. The battle turned quickly, and the Death Eaters that were still fighting decided to retreat and disappeared with more pops.
Brook released his shield and helped Ginny up to her feet. “Thanks for saving me. I didn’t see that Death Eater that slipped behind us. And that was some shield. Just curious, what spell did you use?
“You’re welcome. I used Protego. It did look a lot different than it usually does. Maybe it’s stronger because I’ve been practicing it a lot.”
“I’ve never seen a shield spell look like that or withstand that many spells.”
“I can’t explain it either; this stuff is all pretty new to me.”
They started walking toward her trunk. It was charred on the outside and it had blown open, spilling its contents, but it seemed to be functional. They began picking up her stuff and putting it back in the trunk. As they were cleaning up, the couple he had seen in Diagon Alley emerged out of the smoke. “Ginny, are you okay? I saw this bloke get you out of the way just in time!” said the redheaded boy, who Brook guessed was Ginny’s brother.
“I am fine. This is Brook . . . um . . . I’m sorry, I forget your last name in all of the excitement,” Ginny said, blushing a little at her memory lapse.
“No problem, Brook Pelton,” he said, holding his hand out to the boy
.
“Oh, right. Brook Pelton. I’ll remember next time. Anyway, Brook is going to be a seventh year with you two,” explained Ginny.
“I’m Ron Weasley, Ginny’s brother, and this is Hermione Granger, my girlfriend. Thanks for helping Ginny.” Hermione blushed a little at the emphasis that Ron had placed on the word ‘girlfriend’. Brook guessed their relationship was still new.
Brook shook both Ron and Hermione’s hands and said, “Pleased to meet you. The Headmaster suggested that I try to meet up with the two of you on the train. He thought that you might help me get acclimated.”
“Nice meeting you, too,” said Hermione. "We'll help in any way that we can."
The four of them proceeded to repack Ginny’s trunk and Ron carried it over to the train.
“Thanks for your help,” Ginny said to Brook, Ron, and Hermione. They walked down the aisle of the train until Ron opened a compartment and pulled Ginny’s trunk into it. Brook felt a little awkward, desperately wanting to spend the ride with Ginny, but not wanting to intrude.
“This is where Hermione, Ginny, and I are sitting. Would you like to join us, Brook? It’s the least we can do for saving Ginny.”
Brook leapt at the chance, wanting to get to know the girl from his dreams better. “Sure, I’d like that,” trying to not sound too eager.
“Great! Ron and I need to go to the Prefects car and run the meeting as Head Boy and Girl, but we’ll be back later.”
“More like she’s running the meeting. I’m just along for the ride,” Ron whispered to Brook, but not quietly enough as Hermione glared at him.
“Let’s go Ron!” she said, tersely as she grabbed his hand. “Nice meeting you again, Brook,” with a kinder tone.
After they had left, Brook asked Ginny how long Ron and Hermione had been going out. “They have been crazy for each other for years, but in denial. Just this last summer, my thick brother finally told her he fancied her. Today is sort of their coming out party as it’s the first time most of their friends will see them together as a couple.”
Brook sat down opposite Ginny, not disappointed at all that they were left alone in the compartment for the ride to Hogwarts. I'm not sure how the girl I've been dreaming about my whole life could be real, but I'm not going to complain. Maybe this was just part of the magical world.
**********
Ginny eyed the mysterious boy sitting across from her. He was new to Hogwarts, but had spent the summer there. He didn’t know how to get through to the platform, but performed the best shield spell she had ever seen.
“Before we were so rudely interrupted,” she said with a smirk and twinkle in her eye, “I asked you about your summer at Hogwarts.”
"Oh, yeah. It’s a little bit of a story. See, I’ve lived my whole life in America, but just found out this summer that I am a wizard. Dumbledore invited me to come to Hogwarts to help me catch up so that I wouldn’t have to attend classes with a bunch of eleven year olds.”
“You mean, you’ve only been doing magic for a few months, and you can already make a shield like that one? I’m impressed.”
“Thanks. The professors say that I have caught on pretty quickly, but they don’t have much experience with teaching a seventeen year old all of the basics of magic. I think that maybe anyone my age would probably learn quickly.”
“If you are American, why aren’t you going to Salem or Tsoodzil?”
“Well, my parents were killed in a car accident this summer, and my closest relatives are actually British, which is how Dumbledore found me and told me I was a wizard. He was the one suggested I come to Hogwarts.”
Before Ginny could offer her condolences, the compartment door opened and two more students came in. The boy was of medium build and height with sandy blonde hair, while the girl, well she was just different. She had straggly waist length blonde hair that seemed to have a mind of its own. Perched atop her head was a strange pair of sunglasses that had two different colored lenses and were covered by glitter. She had large silver grey eyes that seemed to wander around the room, never stopping to look at anything in particular. She had what looked like radishes dangling from her ears and bottle caps strung together for a necklace.
Ginny jumped up, saying, “Neville! Luna!” giving both of them a hug.
“Hi, Ginny! Have a good summer?” asked Neville.
“It was fine. Nothing special other than Bill and Fleur's wedding, which kept us all pretty busy. But after that, lots of rest and relaxation around the pond. You?”
“My Gran let me build a greenhouse on the back of our house. It seems she has finally accepted that I don’t want to work for the Ministry or be an Auror and is letting me explore herbology. She even said she would be okay if I continued to study it after Hogwarts.”
“That’s great, Neville! How about you Luna?”
“My father and I went to Norway to investigate a Crumpled-Horn Snorkack sighting, but only found evidence of a mating ritual, but we never saw any actual creatures. It was a lot of fun though.” Crumpled-Horn Snorkack? What the heck is that? thought Brook. Maybe I have a lot more to learn about the Magical world. “Who is this boy sitting with you Ginny?” asked Luna.
“Sorry about that. Luna, Neville, this is Brook Pelton.” She whispered to Brook, “See, I remembered this time,” with a wink. “Brook, this is Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, two of my best friends. Brook is a new student at Hogwarts from America. He’s going to be in your year, Neville.”
“Nice to meet you, mate,” said Neville, offering his hand.
Brook shook Neville’s hand and then reached over to shake Luna’s hand, but she just tilted her head and stared at him, without saying anything, leaving Brook with his hand awkwardly outstretched before her. Brook and Neville looked at each other and shrugged. Neville whispered, “Don’t take it personally; Luna’s always been a little different, but she’s a great friend and will have your back in a pinch.”
Neville sat down next to Brook while Luna sat next to Ginny across from them. She lowered her glasses from the top of her head to her eyes and stared more at Brook, making him a little uncomfortable. She then muttered, “Ah, now I see what’s wrong,” removed her glasses, turned to Ginny and said, “Were you involved in that fight on the platform. Neville and I were already on the train, and they wouldn’t let anyone off until it was over and we couldn’t see much through the windows.”
“Yes, Brook and I were both in it. As a matter of fact, Brook may have saved me by getting me out of the way of a spell and then casting a wicked shield.”
Brook blushed a little, saying, “Oh, anyone would have done that.”
“Were you able to see who any of the Death Eaters were?” asked Neville.
“No, the cowards were all wearing masks, as usual. I think the Aurors caught five or six before the rest Apparated away.”
The compartment door opened again, revealing a tall dark skinned boy. Ginny jumped up again, yelled, “Dean!” and threw her arms around his neck. He pecked her on the lips and Ginny said, “I’ve missed you so much over the summer!”
Neville leaned over to Brook and whispered, “That’s Dean Thomas. He’s another seventh year with us. Ginny and Dean have been going out since before last summer.” Brook tried to hide his disappointment; he was already taken with Ginny, even if she hadn’t been the “girl of his dreams.” Oh, well, he thought. I don’t have time for a relationship now anyway with all I am going to have to do to catch up with these guys.
Ginny finally let go of Dean and turned to the rest of the compartment and said, “Dean, this is Brook Pelton. He’s a new seventh year. This is Dean Thomas, another Gryffindor seventh year, like Ron and Neville. Hey, Brook, do you know what house you are in, or do you have to be sorted with all of the first years?”
“No, and boy am I glad. I am sure I’ll get enough notice being new and all; I don’t need to call any more attention to myself. As soon as I arrived to Hogwarts this summer, Dumbledore had me sorted and I am in Gryffindor too.”
Dean said, “Welcome to the dorm then, mate! Hope you can sleep through snoring or know how to do a good silencing charm.” He and Ginny sat down together and were holding their own private conversation, leaving Neville and Luna to talk with Brook. Neville asked, “You said you were at Hogwarts this summer. How did that happen?”
Brook explained his story again to Neville and Luna, who sat on either side of him. As he was talking, he thought that it was good that Dumbledore, McGonagall, and he had sat down to come up with a logical cover story that was close enough to the truth that it wouldn’t be hard to remember. The professors warned him that his fellow students, while most of them would be friendly, they would also be very curious.
When he was done, Luna leaned in and whispered to Brook, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell your secret.” Brook was stunned and gave her a questioning look. “I can see the real you with my Spectraspecs,” she added. “I am sure you have a good reason for your ruse and will tell us all the truth when you are ready.” Before he could ask her any further questions, she got up and announced she was going to the loo. Dean gave Ginny another peck on the cheek and also got up and said that he was going back to his compartment with Seamus. Brook thought he saw a moment of frustration on Ginny’s face as Dean left, but he decided that it was just wishful thinking on his part, as she seemed fine the rest of the trip.
Before the door could slide closed, a hand caught it and Ron and Hermione came in hand in hand, greeted Neville and sat down next to Ginny, requiring her to slide over a little. Neville had a smirk on his face as he asked, “Oi, Ron and Hermione, anything you want to tell us?” looking back and forth between them.
Hermione blushed again while Ron announced that they were a couple. “About time!” said Neville. “Everyone has known you fancied each other since fourth year. When did you finally wise up?”
Hermione answered, “Just after school ended. I stayed at the Burrow for the first few weeks of the summer so my parents could have a second honeymoon and Ron admitted to his feelings while we were watching a sunset over the pond. It was very romantic!”
“It wasn’t that romantic finding you two snogging everywhere I went!” grumbled Ginny. “I love you like a sister, Hermione, but was I glad you when you went home! It was safe to walk into a room again without finding the two of you groping each other.”
“Well, I’ll have to wait until we get back to our dorm to see who won the pool; it’s packed deep in my trunk,” said Neville.
“What pool?” asked Ron.
“Well, we have a pool betting on when you two would finally get together. I forget who had summer between sixth and seventh year.”
“Who all was in this pool?” asked the mortified Hermione.
“Almost all of the upper years in Gryffindor and a couple of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Malfoy even tried to get in on the action, but we turned him down on principle,” chuckled Neville. “I think we have around thirty people in the pool. At 2 galleons a piece, the winner is going to get a lot of money.”
“Did you know about this, Ginny?” asked Hermione.
“Of course, I did. I had Christmas holidays sixth year. I did my best to push things along to win but it didn't work,” Ginny said with a smirk.
You could see the wheels turning in Ron and Hermione’s brains before Hermione said, “Wait, did you have anything to do with the doorknob on the bathroom breaking that trapped us in the loo for several hours on Boxing Day?”
“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,” Ginny replied, with a mischievous grin.
“Ginny, you didn’t!” said Hermione, punching her lightly in the shoulder.
Everyone then broke out in laughter at Ginny’s prank, but Ron then said, “So, Brook. Other than being able to sweep my sister off her feet,” he said with a wink at Ginny who responded with sticking her tongue at him, “we don’t know anything else about you. What’s your story?”
Brook was starting to wish he could just stand up in front of the school, tell everyone his cover story, and get it over with once and for all. He took a deep breath, knowing that he needed to make sure there were no inconsistencies with his story, as Ginny and Neville had both heard it already. But he was mostly concerned with Hermione. Dumbledore and McGonagall had especially cautioned him about Hermione; if he slipped up in front of her, she would definitely take hold of any discrepancies and badger him until she was satisfied. “Well, I grew up a Muggle in America. After my parents died this spring, Dumbledore visited me, telling me I was a wizard. Understandably, I was stunned, but when he explained several weird occurrences in my life as accidental magic, I began to believe him. He said that my name had shown up on the rolls here at Hogwarts since I was eleven, but the owls never found me because I was across the Atlantic. Apparently, my closest wizarding relatives are British, which is why I was supposed to attend here and did not show up on Salem’s or Tsoodzil’s lists of students. Anyway, Dumbledore had been looking for me and eventually tracked me down this summer.”
“How did your parents die?” asked Hermione.
“A car accident. A truck crossed the center line and was going to run right into us. My dad swerved but the car went off the road, rolled over many times and then caught fire. However, somehow I was thrown free without more than a few scratches. That was what helped Dumbledore find me. The newspaper article about my parents’ death but my ‘miraculous’ survival was all over the country, and Dumbledore correctly guessed that I must be a wizard. With a little more research, he found about my British relatives, and then offered to have me come to Hogwarts.”
“If you just found out you are a wizard, how are you going to be in our year?” asked Ron.
“Dumbledore brought me back to Hogwarts as soon as he found me and I’ve been getting remedial training over the summer to bring me up to speed. They decided to focus on Transfiguration, Defence, and Charms, because those were the most important for me to know. They told me I will be taking Charms and Defence with the seventh years, but I am not as far along in Transfiguration, so I will be with the sixth years in that class.”
“Oh, good, you’ll be with me then for Transfiguration.” said Ginny.
Hadn't thought of that benefit to being held back, thought Brook.
“You aren’t taking Potions? Aren’t you lucky; you won’t have to deal with Snape,” added Ron.
“Who is Snape? I thought I had met all of the faculty,” replied Brook.
“Professor Snape,” began Hermione with the emphasis on the word ‘Professor’, “is our Potions Master. He knows a lot about potions, but some students feel he shows a little favoritism to his own house.”
Funny; I was taught Potions by Professor Slughorn, thought Brook.
“A little favoritism? That slimy git takes points away from us any chance he gets, even if we brew the potion correctly,” grumbled Ron. “Speaking of houses, have you been sorted yet?”
“Yes, he’s in Gryffindor, so we warned him to work on his Silencio spell so that he can sleep through your snoring Ron,” teased Neville.
“Hey, I’m not the only one!” protested Ron.
The conversation then moved on to the coming school year, the classes everyone would be taking, and, of course, speculation on whom the Defence teacher would be.
Hermione explained, “See, for years, the teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts has only lasted one year and they have to find a new one every year. I don’t know how far back this supposed curse has been going on, but it has held true while we’ve been there.”
“Yeah,” Ron added, “our first year we had a stutterer who ended up being possessed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and tried to steal the Philosopher’s Stone. Second year we had a fraud who only wanted to puff his own ego by telling about his exploits, none of which he had actually done. Third year we had a great teacher, but at the end of the year it was discovered he was a werewolf by some of the parents, and they demanded he be removed for the safety of the students.”
“A werewolf? They really exist?” asked Brook.
“Yes, but some of them are alright. When not under the influence of the full moon, Professor Lupin is perfectly normal and was probably the best Defence teacher we ever had. And Dumbledore made sure that it was safe for the students. It’s a shame that he had to lose his job over bigotry,” huffed Hermione.
This world gets curiouser and curiouser, thought Brook. Wonder if there are vampires and creatures from the Black Lagoon too?
“Anyway,” continued Ron, “fourth year we had an ex-Auror, who also was pretty good, but he was only going to be there for the year to lend extra security due to the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Fifth year we had a Ministry official who decided that we should only learn theory and do no actual practical spells. She was absolutely horrid. Sixth year we had another Auror whom we liked, but she was killed over the summer by Death Eaters, so we’ll have to break in another professor. Say, Pelton, who’s been teaching you Defence over the summer? Maybe that’s who we’ll have.”
“I doubt it; Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick have been sharing those duties.” And Tonks too, but I’m supposed to keep that quiet for some reason, he thought.
“No, neither of them will be teaching Defence. I hope whoever we have is good; we need to prepare for our NEWTs this year and we can’t afford another disaster like second or fifth year,” said Hermione.
“That’s my ‘Mione, always worried about NEWTs and studying,” said Ron as he put his arm around her and giving her a squeeze.
“Don’t call me ‘‘Mione,’ Ron; you know I don’t like it.”
“Why do you think I do it? I have to get you riled up about something,” Ron said with a smirk.
“Their version of foreplay,” whispered Ginny to Brook. They were soon interrupted by the door sliding open again. This certainly is a popular compartment, thought Brook. In stepped a thin boy with almost white hair slicked back and a condescending look on his face, flanked by two large boys who were obviously followers of the first boy.
“Well, if it isn’t the loser club,” said the first boy.
“Mates, the tradition continues. It just wouldn’t be a trip back to Hogwarts if Draco Malfoy and his goon squad didn’t come and insult us, trying to provoke us into a fight,” said Ron.
“Yeah, it’s good to know that the more things change, the more things stay the same,” added Neville.
Draco was about to respond when he noticed Brook. “Who is this? You lot recruited another plonker to join you?”
“Fine way for you to greet a new student, Malfoy,” said Ginny. “This is Brook Pelton, and before you try to convince him how wonderful Slytherin house is, he’s already been sorted into Gryffindor.”
“From the looks of him, we wouldn’t want him in Slytherin. Probably can’t even hold the right end of a wand. But he is sitting pretty close to Longbottom there. He looks like he might want to hold your wand, Longbottom,” Draco said, laughing at his own joke while Crabbe and Goyle slapped him on the back in agreement.
Brook, understanding Malfoy’s insult and his temper flaring, pulled out his wand. Ginny tried to stop him, placing a hand on his forearm, saying, “Don’t do anything Brook. Malfoy’s not worth it.”
As Brook stood up, there was a sudden force like a wind coming from his chest that blew all three of the Slytherins back out of the compartment and into the opposite wall, knocking them out. The others in the compartment all looked at Brook in astonishment. “What spell was that, mate?” asked Ron.
Brook was a little surprised himself. “I guess that was just a bit of accidental magic. Dumbledore has been working with me to control it, but maybe I need to work on it some more. Or maybe not,” he said with a smile at the others. He walked over and closed the compartment door. “Does the trash collection come by soon? They have a little more to pick up this afternoon.”
Ron and Neville slapped him on the back. “I think you’re going to fit in just fine, Brook,” said Ron.
The rest of the trip was spent relaxing. Ron and Neville played a game in which the cards would spontaneously explode while Ginny and Hermione talked quietly to each other, interspersed with occasional giggles. Brook rested, dozing some, but while he was awake he found that his eyes were drawn over to Ginny whenever she wasn’t looking. He had finally met the “girl in his dreams” whom he had fantasized of for years, but she was taken. Just another wrinkle to this wild ride called life, he thought before dozing off again.
