Chapter 11

Harry successfully forgot about the boy with the white hair.

For approximately twelve minutes.

Then the train started slowing down.

And everything became chaos.

Again.

“Put your robes on.”

“I already did.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I put one sleeve on.”

“Ron.”

“I was getting there.”

Hermione looked moments away from confiscating his robes and dressing him herself.

Across from them, Ivy was attempting to flatten her hair.

It was not working.

Harry watched for a moment.

Then looked away.

Some battles weren’t meant to be won.

“We’re almost there,” Hermione said.

As if nobody had noticed the train dramatically slowing down.

“Really?” Ivy said. “I thought we were heading for France.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes.

Ron laughed.

Harry smiled.

⸻

The train finally stopped.

The doors opened.

Cold air rushed inside.

And suddenly hundreds of students were pouring onto the platform.

Harry stepped down after Ivy.

His shoes immediately landed in mud.

Fantastic.

“First years!”

A familiar booming voice echoed through the crowd.

“First years over here!”

Hagrid.

Ivy immediately brightened.

Harry suspected she’d adopt Hagrid if given the chance.

“This way!”

The crowd began moving.

Harry followed.

Students shuffled through the darkness carrying trunks and owls and entirely too much nervous energy.

Then the path opened.

And Harry stopped walking.

So did Ivy.

So did everyone else.

Because there was a lake.

A huge black lake.

And beyond it—

A castle.

Harry had never seen anything like it.

Towers stretched into the night sky.

Thousands of windows glowed golden.

Bridges.

Turrets.

Stone walls.

It looked less like a school and more like something from one of Dudley’s fantasy books.

Beside him, Ivy went completely silent.

Which was honestly alarming.

Harry glanced over.

Her eyes were wide.

Fixed on the castle.

The dreaming smile was back.

The one she’d had since she was little.

The one she got whenever she imagined a future somewhere beyond Privet Drive.

For once, she looked speechless.

“Wow,” Ron breathed.

“Wow,” Harry agreed.

Ivy nodded.

Still speechless.

Harry considered checking if she was ill.

⸻

The boats were small.

Far too small.

Harry ended up squeezed between Ivy and Ron.

Hermione sat opposite them.

The boat rocked gently as they pushed away from shore.

The castle grew larger with every second.

Harry couldn’t stop staring.

Neither could anyone else.

For a while nobody spoke.

Then—

“Potter.”

Harry blinked.

That voice sounded familiar.

He turned.

A nearby boat floated alongside theirs.

And there he was.

White hair.

Grey eyes.

Mildly judgmental expression.

The boy from the bathroom line.

The boy raised an eyebrow.

“Potter, right?”

Harry frowned.

“How do you know my name?”

The boy looked at him.

Then at the entire lake full of children who’d spent the journey whispering about Harry Potter.

“Educated guess.”

Fair enough.

Harry couldn’t argue with that.

The boy’s gaze shifted briefly toward Ivy.

Then back to Harry.

“Bathroom line.”

Harry stared.

The boy remembered him.

For some reason that surprised him.

“Right.”

A small smirk appeared.

Just for a second.

Then Hagrid shouted something from the front.

The boats shifted.

And the distance between them widened.

The boy leaned back slightly.

“See you around.”

There was that phrase again.

Before Harry could answer, the boats drifted apart.

A minute later he was gone among the crowd.

Ron looked between Harry and the disappearing boat.

“Who was that?”

Harry shrugged.

“No idea.”

Ivy looked suspicious.

Very suspicious.

Harry immediately knew that look.

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes.”

“Ivy.”

“You know him.”

“I do not.”

“You do.”

“I literally don’t know his name.”

She paused.

“…Fine.”

Harry relaxed.

Then she smiled.

“But he knows yours.”

Harry groaned.

Hermione laughed.

Ron looked confused.

And somewhere ahead of them, the castle doors opened.

Waiting.