Dandelions

I RAN INTO A BRICK WALL AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS TRAIN RIDE

There's a few bombshells that tend to be dropped on a kid before the school year starts. You know, parents deciding to move, or perhaps best friends suddenly transferring to different schools. Those are sad, but manageable.

Being told you are a wizard, on the way to wizard school, is not very manageable.

Rory couldn't get over the fact he was apparently capable of magic, though he could remember a few odd things happening throughout his childhood. Though, they could easily be explained away by the fact he'd always been a little weird. But weird enough to believe in magic? Not only that, but to cast it himself? This seemed like some elaborate scam his parents had fallen for.

Yet, everything seemed to check out. The acceptance letter seemed odd, but official. And even when he was sure he'd run straight into a very solid wall--an actual train platform had waited for him on the other side.

People--wizards--flitting about with their children, saying goodbye and helping them load up their luggage. It was so close to normal, if it wasn't for all the robes and wands and owls laying about. Rory could nearly see himself attending a very normal boarding school that was just very dedicated to its roleplay, or something like that.

The train itself seemed normal enough itself, even though there was a lady carting around a sweets trolley filled with things he'd never heard of. Unfortunately, he hadn't been lucky enough to get a compartment to himself, and a little gaggle of other kids filled up the remaining seats quickly. Not like Rory was really listening, nothing they talked about made much sense anyways.

"Do you think you'll get into Ravenclaw?" A girl with bouncing blonde curls asked, her leg sometimes bumping into mine obnoxiously.

"I don't know, I hope so," the boy replied quietly. "If I don't I think my parents'll be too happy."

"You'll get in, just like your brother," another kid confidently said, "My family's been in Hufflepuff for generations. It's just how it works!"

"You say that like it's impressive," the girl sneered, "Hufflepuffs are losers!"

"Are not!" The boy immediately protested, huffing and puffing in his seat.

Rory really hoped he wasn't a Hufflepuff, whatever that meant. He was just in luck, though, because the train made haste and reached its destination shortly. It pulled into a station that looked much farther from normal than the one back at Kings Station. Everything looked frozen in time, the time being ancient as all get out.

It was easy to get swept up in the excitement, though, and even following the crowd of first year students down to the lake seemed a bit intriguing. It got a whole lot less interesting when he realized they would be climbing into rickety boats that looked ready to capsize as the weight of a toothpick, though.

"Oh, who are you?" A girl asked me as I sat down across from her, face screwing up in barely hidden disgust.

"Roland," Rory replied quietly, "And you?"

"My name's Mary Church," she replied sourly, like she didn't enjoy talking to him very much at all.

Lucky for her, he had no interest in continuing the conversation at all, and she quickly got on her business ignoring him.

"Do you think you'll get Slytherin?" One of her friends asked her, looking just as peeved at the boy's existence.

"I hope so," Mary sighed irritably, "Anything except Hufflepuff, I already know my sister will be in there."

"Oh, she's not that bad, surely."

"Mm," Mary replied, unconvinced.

Rory decided then and there that witch girls were just as bad as normal girls, and he'd steer clear of them as much as possible. The last thing he wanted to do was be treated like he was filthy for getting in a boat with them, or, God forbid, sitting at a table next to them.