a Phoenix Lament

[Everett Klaus]

[CLOSED]

“Oh, Everett!” his mother exclaimed for what felt like the hundredth time. Hidden within the seemingly sold walls of King’s Cross station, Everett Klaus was standing next to the enormous steam engine, the Hogwarts Express.

Large enough to carry the whole school, the train stood gleaming red and gold by the light of the torches fastened to the platform’s walls. Worried mothers and fathers clustered around the train, giving their final good-byes to their children, some embracing, a few shaking hands, the occasional “I’ll miss you!” being shouted from out a compartment window: it was chaos. But oddly enough, Everett and his mother weren’t doing any of those things.

They simply stood there, Everett feeling awkward in the station of people saying there good-byes and students meandering through the doors of the great train. His mother simply stood in front of him, not even touching. Her great amber eyes filled with tears as the occasional, “Oh Everett!” burst from her lips. He was not sure what she was crying about though. Was it the fact that he was leaving to go become a wizard for almost a year? Or was it that his father was not here to share the awkward feeling? Everett hated to see his mother cry, but his heart was beating too loudly in his ears for him to do much about it. He couldn’t decide if he was excited or nervous about leaving home, going away for what could feel like years which explained why, when the conductor of the Hogwarts Express blew the whistle, both he and his mother jumped.

[Aedan Reid]

His mother was beyond excited. She was shrilly and all smiles and teary-eyed all at once. She was fussing over him and checking and re-checking his Hogwarts trunk ("Are you sure you packed your cauldron, – your wand? Are you sure? Let me just check!"). Merlin, he was not going off to war.

“Mum, Mum – I’m good, I’m okay. Will you please stop worrying?” assured Aedan Reid, though he wasn't truly quite sure he was. Unlike many other eleven-year-olds, Aedan was scared. He was scared what others would think of him. He was scared about how he would do once at Hogwarts. He was downright bloody scared. But no one else need know.

“B – but, remember to take the Draught everyday, okay? And don’t forget to write and be nice…” she continued, close to tears. Aedan’s younger sister, Aries, rolled her eyes. Their father laughed and reached over to squeeze his wife’s hand.

“Mum. Okay. I’ll be okay,” he whispered, stressing the okays but he felt his voice strain and a lump formed in his throat. His mother embraced him tightly and Aedan felt his lungs tighten. He shut his hazel eyes firmly and willed himself not to panic, to stay calm. You’ll be okay, fine, great, good…. You’ll be spectacular, Aedan, honest!

“Good luck, son,” said his father as Aedan was once more enveloped in a hug.

“Well, bye,” mumbled Aries softly, smiling, her hazel eyes shining. Aedan smiled and simply nodded.

“Okay – can I go now?” stressed Aedan with a bit a whine in his voice. His mother nodded tearfully. “Bye Mum, Dad! Bye Aries!”

He strode off towards the train’s entrance, glancing over his shoulder as he went. They waved, smiling tearfully. His father held his usual warm, broad grin. His mother’s blue eyes threatened with tears while his sister was smiling in her usual soft, unnoticeable way.

He would miss them.

[Everett Klaus]

All around him people began milling towards the Hogwarts Express, a mob-like crowd started forming near the train’s nearest door. Everett looked up into the watery eyes of his mother. He soon felt his own green irises well up with moisture as he willed himself not to cry.

His mother must have noticed because before Everett could try to wipe away the tears he had almost formed, his mother was strangling him with a bear-like hug.

“Oh, Everett!” she sobbed, making the effort of breathing even harder for him to manage. “Everything will be great! You’ll just love it at Hogwarts!”

A deep sensation of dread filled him, but his throat was too tight to speak. As his mother released him, she stared deep into his eyes, her pale hands on his shoulders, holding him down like a child holds the strings of a balloon just before it escapes.

“I love you, Everett,” she said her voice almost stern, eyes red and watery. “No matter what Everett, I will always love you.” His mother’s words weren’t helping with his ability to breathe. He was beginning to think that if he stayed with his mother any longer, he would crack, tears would fall from his eyes and he would refuse to leave.

So he simply nodded, avoiding his mother’s eyes. She let go of his shoulders and helped him get a good grip on his trunk. He had effectively stopped the liquid in his eyes by now and breathing was suddenly coming more naturally to him now.

And before Everett realized, he found himself in an empty compartment on the train, his trunk high above him in the luggage compartment, and his grandfather’s big ugly gray owl sitting across from him. Out the window of the compartment, his mother’s face had taken its place in the sea of people.

The train was setting into motion, its large iron wheels grinding away against the tracks, picking up speed as it traveled. Everett’s eyes flashed from face to face. His mother. He couldn’t find her.

Like a child letting go of a balloon, Everett left his mother behind as the train sped away.

[Aedan Reid]

With a final wave to his family, Aedan Reid trudged on behind the other students into the red steam engine, his trunk being pulled along behind him. The hazel-eyed boy glanced around nervously. If he were lucky, he would find himself an empty compartment. Me, lucky? Yeah, right! he thought to himself. He would have to sure a compartment with someone else. Despite the fact that it sounded childish, Aedan couldn’t help but wonder whether or not these other students would like him.

Rolling his eyes at the stupidity that was him, the eleven-year-old set in search for a compartment. He avoided any large groups (Oh, Merlin, are they looking at him?) and anyone that seemed to give off an aura of… well, okay… intimidation and ‘scary-ness’, which – to be honest – seemed to be everybody.

Merlin, Reid, you are so unconfident. You are an idiot. Who cares? They’re just a bunch of kids. Just like you! his mind screamed to no success. Aedan frowned. He was definitely insane, he was sure of it. Now… where was that straitjacket? The boy shook his head furiously and suddenly, as if that would somehow redirect his insanity somewhere else. Or, maybe, he was hoping to shake away his clumsy-slash-spaz-like tendencies. Whichever.

“At least I’m not panicking or freaking out in any way,” the boy murmured to himself firmly, still moving down the rows of the train, hearing random words or phrases being tossed out of the compartments. It was really interesting to say the least.

“And it was very –”

“Oh, jelly?”

“Preferrably –”

“Frogs because –”

“Harry Potter!”

Aedan froze. Harry Potter? Here? Now? He blinked and willed himself to move, forget it Reid. Who care’s about Harry Potter? Okay, so he survived the killing curse… Big deal! Aedan rolled his eyes. He was totally kidding himself.

Reaching the end, Aedan sighed and took a deep breath. Gonna be fine Reid, just go in!

Walking in had been the plan. But since he was Aedan Reid, it didn’t quite work that way. Falling in had been farthest from his plan.

“Ouch!”

His mind was spinning and it kind of hurt, actually. Oh Merlin. Oh Merlin. Ohmerlinohmerlinohmerlin…. Oh Merlin – what?

Oh.

Oops.

“Eh… er… I’m Aedan?”

[Everett Klaus]

Outside the train storm clouds dotted across the vivid blue sky, small towns and cities bathed in half shadows passed by like a roll of film.

Everett Klaus leaned away from his serene-like window, his brown-haired head resting on the black seat of his compartment. Everything felt so strange now, since he had left the station. He looked straight in front of him where his owl sat, head tucked under one large, stone gray wing.

The bird had been his grandfather’s when he had gone to Hogwarts and its age was showing. The creature looked less like an owl, and more like a squat bobcat with feathers and a beak. His wings were long and its claws, sharp. The bird was decorated with stone gray feathers and black spots, earning the name Gargoyle.

And as if to add to the displeasing features, the bird had only one eye. No one knew where the other had gone; the socket had been permanently sewn shut. At first, Everett had felt sympathy for the poor bird, wondering if there something they could to bring it back.

His grandfather had merely chuckled, saying that the owl flew fine, hunted well, and was good at finding places. But he had failed to point out the fact that the bird not only looked evil, but really was evil.

It snapped at Everett, the moment he was alone, taking a small chunk of his finger and assumed the sleeping position he held now. He lightly ran his left hand over the sore, a slight stinging sensation rippled through his arm.

His mother had given him a potion of some sort to try and heal it after he made up a story about how he had sliced his hand on a protruding nail instead of the owl’s beak, but she had never been good at potion-making so instead of the instant healing that was supposed to happen, the cut had merely become infected. She had told him there was a healer who worked at Hogwarts who would fix it easily but sever since Everett had been a small child, he had hated healers: the cold, empty, plain walls; large-numbered clocks that ticked loudly; and uncomfortable chairs. Just as Everett thought this, suddenly the door of his compartment flew open, and out from the corridor, a boy fell.

His hair was jet-black and when he looked up, Everett say that his eyes were hazel.

“Eh… er… I’m Aedan?” The boy said, his voice almost had a hint of uncertainty to it. Everett had no idea what to say, his mind had suddenly gone blank. His father would have stooped down and helped the black-haired boy, or Aedan, up off the floor of the compartment floor, and introduced himself.

But Everett wasn’t his father; he was Everett. And he wasn’t sure what to do, he could honestly say he had never been in a situation like this before… so he just sat there, left hand frozen over his right, eyes starting at Aedan sprawled on the floor….

Wondering what to say…

[Zoe Cutter]

Zoe looked back one more time. It was real. She'd just walked through a solid brick wall. In England. Her dark blue eyes widened slightly as the bigness of what was happening engulfed her.
She felt unreal. Her father appeared behind her. He smiled reassuringly at her. It was alright for him. He was the wizard of the family. This was all normal. The only magic she'd ever seen was the healing magic he performed on the animals in the game park back home. In Africa... So far away.
She gulped nervously and followed her father, who was pushing her trunk for her. She avoided any eye contact with the hundreds of milling people on the train platform and instead focused on her new eagle owl, Tyro. He looked at her with huge benign eyes, and she looked away. She examined the side of the huge scarlet steam engine as her dad loaded her trunk onto the train.
She hugged her dad again. She'd been doing that repeatedly since they'd left the hotel.
"You'll be great," he whispered. He smiled down at her and his hazel eyes were sparkling.
"I can only try," she grinned.
He ushered her onto the train. She dragged her trunk after her. She felt so out of place, in her green combat pants, bare feet and black form-fitting tank top. Back in Zimbabwe she would have been fine, because she would have been surrounded by friends all different, yet alike enough to be barefoot too.
As she walked down the aisle, she blocked out the sounds of conversations between other students.
As she progressed along the aisle, she saw a particularly odd-looking pair. A boy with onyx-black hair and a startled look on his face was on the floor, with a tallish, teak-brown haired boy standing over him, looking undecided. They were holding up the aisle.
She put down her trunk and stepped towards them. She offered a hand to the boy on the floor.
"I think a compartment is in order," she said, smiling. "Don't mean to be rude, but you're kind of in the way." She laughed.