opia - a harry potter fanfiction

chapter 2- locomotion

my face grew hot and i could feel my eyes widen in shock.

i had heard stories of harry potter and the amazing things he could do. i just had no idea he was a regular teenager.

"oh- oh, wow. it's great to meet you. i'm y/n." i managed to hold my shaking hand out to the dark-haired boy, and his hand took mine. for being someone with so much power, he had an extremely soft touch.

this was all so crazy.

"nice to meet you too, y/n." he chuckled. i had tried to keep my composure as i pulled away from the boy, focusing on the busyness of the station outside of the train window.

every wizarding child that had grown up with the stories of harry james potter could only dream of meeting him one day— of course, there were rumors about him living a semi-normal life at hogwarts.

but now, i know it to be true.

the first hour of the ride consisted of the three teens talking amongst themselves. i occasionally chimed in when they asked me questions, but i sat quiet for a while. i didn't mind, in fact i quite enjoyed listening to their conversation. they were the type of people that had no worries, just pure friendship. my peace of mind was interrupted by harry:

"so, how was ilvermorny?"

"hm? oh, it was great. i met my friends there, and i figured out my focus in magic. it's just hard, like, saying goodbye to that, you know? but i'll be fine." i forced a small smile.

"i'm sure you'll be fine," reassured harry, "everyone here is pretty nice if you know who to stay away from." he looked at ron and hermione with a knowing smirk.

i was curious, and beginning to get more comfortable with the three of them, so i asked playfully "who do i need to stay away from?"

"draco malfoy." said ron. his expression went from serious to disgust. "he's been a dick ever since we started coming to hogwarts. and he's a death eater."

my eyes widened. you don't hear about death eaters very often, especially ones as young as sixteen. hermione must've sensed my feelings.

"don't even worry about draco. he's a scared kid who's just trying to please his parents." she rolled her eyes at ron.

"the most he will do is make rude comments about someone. he's just an asshole" said harry.

"well, he sounds great" i said in a sarcastic voice accompanied with an overly pleasant expression. harry, ron, and hermione all laughed. i was proud of myself for opening up, and i laughed along with them. i felt like things might be looking up for me.

the next two hours were filled with conversation and laughter. they told me what to expect once i got to hogwarts: which teachers to suck up to, which ones don't really matter, who to make friends with, and where all the good parties were. hermione even promised she'd take me under her wing this year. i was so glad for my excellent choice of train car, otherwise i would be miserable right now.

as we got closer to our destination, i saw the ethereal outline of hogwarts and couldn't help but gasp. it was stunning, like nothing i'd ever seen. it's architecture was nothing short of sophisticated and it's surroundings made it even more beautiful. ilvermorny is beautiful, absolutely, but it has nothing on hogwarts.

i continued to admire my new school from my window as my three new friends admired their home. we finally arrived and i was more than enthusiastic to step off the train and explore, but as we were getting up to exit the car, we heard footsteps approaching toward us.

"hello, potter."