The Manner of the Muggle

Chapter 3: The Peculiar Castle

Amelia stared between platforms nine and ten with a harsh glare, crossing her arms as she debated her latest predicament. While the packet provided to her had been extremely helpful up until this point, it didn't provide many details as to how to board platform nine-and-three-quarters.

Her foster father had left her at Kings Cross- he supposedly had an important meeting today and only had the time to drop her off. That meant she had no help figuring out this mess.

She stepped up close to the solid brick wall, looking for any sort of out of place bricks or some sort of puzzle, but nothing seemed to stick out at all.

"What do you think, Ragana?" She asked, looking back to the owl in the cage.

She had proven to be smarter than Amelia had expected. Not only could she understand Amelia when she talked to her, she had also learned how to open and shut her cage by herself. She was a mischievous owl, often getting into Amelia's belongings, but she didn't mind too much. At least she listened when told to stop.

As of now, Ragana had opened her cage and spread her wings, taking off right at the wall. Amelia exclaimed in surprised, trying to grab her before she slammed into the brick, but to her shock she flew straight through.

"What the..." Amelia whispered, reaching out to touch the brick. Her hand went straight through, the wall warping around it.

Pulling her hand out once more, she took a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching. Then she took a bold step forward, squeezing her eyes shut as she walked through the brick.

It was a weird sensation, like walking through water in a way. It only took a second to get through to the other side. What greeted her on the other side was a large train, and an even larger crowd.

Ragana flew back into her cage, hooting proudly to herself. Amelia laughed a bit, scratching her head and closing the cage before moving through the crowd. The families of students were hanging about, saying their last goodbyes before they headed off for the school year. It was sweet, but it made it difficult to get on the train.

Once she squeezed her way through, the next challenge was finding an empty cart. It seemed as though she had arrived a bit later than most, as most carts were filled to the brim. The back of the train was mostly empty, however, and Amelia set her luggage down in the first empty cart she found.

She turned to the luggage compartment above the seats, frowning at the height of it. Curse her mother for giving her short genes! It would be hard to get her luggage up there- not impossible, but taxing nonetheless.

"Need a bit of help?" A voice called from the door.

Looking up, Amelia saw one of the twins from Madame Malkin's leaning against the wall, arms crossed and a brow raised. She wasn't sure which one he was, but she got the feeling he was mocking her.

"I'm alright, thanks," She waved him off, letting Ragana out of her cage before turning to her luggage.

"You sure?" He asked, stepping forward with a more kind look. He seemed as though he actually wanted to help, but Amelia was determined now.

She took out her wand, copying the swish and flick motion her books had described. "Wingardium leviosa!"

The trunk she had been pointing at flew into the air and, at her direction, into the compartment. The twin watched next to her, letting out a low whistle. "Thought you said you haven't seen magic before."

"I read a bit ahead in our books," Amelia remarked proudly, moving the rest of the luggage to the compartment. "I thought that it would be helpful to have a basic knowledge, since I haven't encountered magic before now. This is my first time casting it though."