Tickling the Giant Squid and other Grand Adventures

39. Karou

I bounced in my seat as we pulled into the station. Avila had slept for most of the ride, waking up for a short time when the trolley witch came by before going back to sleep. I already had my coat on, looking out across the platform for the sight of my mother's familiar French braids and my dad's stupid hat.

I jumped up and plopped on Avila's seat, shaking her shoulder vigorously. "Avila, we're here! C'mon, wake up already!"

She blinked blearily, looking around the compartment in a daze. "What's up?" she asked, voice slurred as she sat up.

"Train's just pulled into the station," I replied. I stood on Avila's seat and pulled my trunk from the overhead compartment. It fell faster than I expected and I almost went down with it.

Avila snorted and took my trunk from me. I reached overhead and grabbed her backpacks as well, handing them down her. I jumped from the seat, taking my trunk and walking into the hall as soon as the train pulled to a complete stop.

"I'm so excited," I rambled to Avila as we walked down into the station. "The house is huge, kind of a mansion, actually, it belongs to Mom since she's the oldest child in her family, and my grandparents moved closer to the city central. Ollean is a wizarding community, which means we're hidden from Muggles so the kids are allowed to use magic, which means we can practice and perfect anything that seems useful. There's a whole library of spellbooks and there's a clutch of abandoned houses to explore on the far west side of town and there's a Muggle city not too far away by bike, maybe an hour's ride, hour and a half depending on how fast you ride." We were standing by the train, looking around for my mother's tall blonde frame. I pulled a picture out of my coat and handed it to Avila, who observed it in silence before scanning the crowd. "We can practice parkour in the city if you want me to teach you. Oh, and there's a kind of dojo space at my house too, one of my ancestors was really into Japanese culture, I guess, and when my uncle's here, from my mother's side, I attend martial arts classes three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, in the afternoons for three hours. He should be there by the time we get there- Uncle Graham!"

I cut myself off to drop my trunk and throw myself at my Uncle's hips, which was about where I came to. He laughed and knelt down, tickling my face with his bushy blond beard.

"How's my little coffee bean?" he asked, hugging me tightly.

"I missed you," I said softly, surprised at the tears that threatened to prick my eyes.

"I missed you too, shorty," he replied gruffly.

I unwrapped myself from my uncle's embrace and grabbed Avila's arm, dragging her forward. "Uncle Graham, this is my friend Avila. She's a muggleborn Gryffindor and a first year like me. Avila, this is the uncle I was telling you about, the one with the martial arts training."

My uncle smiled at my friend and held out his hand. "Always a pleasure to meet another muggleborn."

Avila smiled tentatively back at him as she shook his hand. "A pleasure to meet you too, sir. You're a muggleborn too?"

"Half-blood myself, like Karou's mother, but we all have to stick together, don't we?" He winked and stood, picking my trunk off the ground. "Your folks are this way, kid. Let's go."

As we walked across the station, following my veritable giant of an uncle, I took Avila's hand and smiled at her encouragingly. She smiled weakly back at me.

"I know it's a lot at once," I whispered to her, "but you'll do fine, ok? Just let me know if you need to get away."

"Ok," Avila mumbled with a nod. After a moment she said, "It'd be cool to do some martial arts over break. I haven't gotten to practice in a while."