Chapter 25: Hogwarts Express Once More (1/2)
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On September 1, 1991, Quinn decided to get to the train station early.
He told his grandfather the day before and gave him the reason. ”The Potters are going to be there tomorrow, and I am sure that parents of the children are going to stay and crowd the platform. Plus, reporters are going to be there to click photos for their articles. I don't want to get in the middle of all that chaos and would prefer to get a compartment before it gets too crowded. So, can we go early, please?”
So, on the day, Quinn reached the platform early and got himself a compartment. When Quinn saw outside from his window and saw reporters standing around the platform waiting for the Potters to arrive. And as time passed, Quinn also saw parents of students not leaving and staying at the platform.
Quinn sighed and thought, 'Poor people, most of these people won't even get a look at the Potters. Then there would be the nervous non-magical parents. What would they think when they see the crowd of people and reporters.'
Quinn also thought about how some of the parents would ask about the Potters. He could imagine the horrified look on the parent's faces while listening about the war and Voldemort. Quinn was sure that Hogwarts faculty didn't share that information with the parents as it would be terrible publicity. One thing was for sure, some parents were going to have one hell of an experience, and that too just before sending their children off to a strange and unknown world.
After a while, Quinn got bored and took out a book on Healing magic from Egypt. And Quinn began reading a chapter on bones. It had all kinds of information on bones, the composition of different bones, herbs, and magical beast organs that facilitated bone healing, potions recipes for various bone anomalies, and healing charms that repaired bones.
The information in the book impressed Quinn, ”Huh, so you don't need to use Skele-Gro for every bone injury. Now, where do I get people with broken bones...”
It was then that Quinn heard the crowd outside become noisy and made him look outside, ”The Potters are here, huh.” He shook his head and dove back into his book.
Ten minutes later, Quinn heard a knock on his door that made him give a distracted glance to the door. There he saw two girls, one blond and one brunette. Quinn sighed before gesturing them to enter.
The brunette opened the door and asked, ”Are you saving the seats for someone? Or, can we join you in here?”
Quinn shook his head and gestured to the seats, ”Please, enter. The seats are free. You are welcome to join me.” Saying that, Quinn stood up from his place to help them with their luggage. He pulled his fake wand and clearly showed it to them; following proper protocol, he asked, ”I will be using my wand to get your luggage to the racks above if that is acceptable to you.”
It was the polite social norm to ask before using magic on other people or their belongings. The brunette smiled and nodded while the straight-faced blonde stared at him for a while before giving a single slight nod to show that she permitted Quinn's help.
Quinn pretended to follow the luggage with his fake wand even though he wasn't using pointing to direct the luggage. After he placed their luggage on the luggage racks, Quinn asked, ”I haven't seen you two at Hogwarts. Are you two by any chance first years?”
The brunette excitedly answered, ”Yes! It is all so exciting. You must be a senior, can you tell me about Hogwarts? Is it true that there is a giant squid at Hogwarts?”
Quinn chuckled in reply, ”Yes, there is a giant squid in Hogwarts, but it is quite difficult to see the squid. It doesn't emerge from the Great Lake for long periods.” He paused before continuing, ”By the way, My name is Quinn West. May I get your name?”
”Oh! My name is Tracey Davis. It is nice to meet you,” answered the brunette with an ever-present smile on her face.
Quinn smile and held out his hand that Tracey took. Quinn turned her hand to kiss her knuckles, causing her to giggle. ”It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Davis.” Quinn usually shook hands as a greeting but changed greeting according to the person in front of him, but he switched it to this style seeing their attire. He could clearly see that they were from traditional, old-school British magical families. A traditional greeting was much appropriate for these two.
Then the two turned to the straight-faced blonde, and Quinn thought, 'No way is she who I think she is. But... blonde, straight-faced, no expressions, and she clearly is from a pureblood family. Friends with Tracey Davis... yup, she is the child of fanon.'
The expressionless blonde critically stared at Quinn's outstretched hand and finally spoke her first words since entering the compartment while gracefully allowing Quinn to hold her hand, ”Daphne Greengrass.”
Quinn repeated the same action of kissing her knuckles. ”Nice to meet you, Ms. Greengrass.” He was once again met with silence, but Tracey chatted with him.
”Which house are you from, and what year are you in, Quinn? And, can I call you Quinn?” babbled Tracey, full of energy.
”I am from Ravenclaw, second year, and yes, you can call me Quinn,” answered Quinn before asking, ”You must be excited to get to Hogwarts. Have you thought about which house do you want to join?”
Tracey shrugged in response, ”I don't know. I am fine with any house.” Quinn turned to Daphne Greengrass, expecting an answer, but she didn't say anything, and Tracey spoke, ”Sorry about her, Daph is really shy. And to answer your question, she wants to be in Slytherin.”
The blonde Greengrass snapped her head towards her friend and glared, ”I am not shy, don't speak nonsense.” Tracey giggled at getting a response out of her friend.
Suddenly, all three felt a jerk as the Hogwarts Express began moving. Quinn took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, ”Only ten minutes late. I was expecting more delay. I was clearly expecting a thirty-minute delay.”
”The Potters really attracted a crowd, huh. I wonder which house would the Boy-Who-Lived go to?” spoke Tracey as she watched the crowd outside.
To Quinn's massive surprise, it was Daphne Greengrass who answered the question. She scoffed, ”The golden boy would definitely go to Gryffindor. To him, any other house is a lesser option.” Quinn could hear the dripping condescending tone in her words and voice.
”Oh my, from your words, I assume that you know Harry Potter,” Quinn asked, wishing to learn more about this connection.
Daphne frowned at him, ”Why are you a fan of him? Do you want me to introduce you to him?” She looked like she was going to say more, but Tracey interjected and answered, ”She is friends with his sister, Ivy Potter.”
”Am not-!” she said heatedly but then closed her eyes to calm down. Quinn seriously wanted to read Daphne Greengrass's mind, but he could see the telltale signs of occlumency in use. Her expressionless face was a clear sign of emotional aspect occlumency, and it wasn't farfetched to assume that she had defense shields up. He didn't want to risk getting caught and decided to use legilimency at a later date when he was better prepared.
But all was not finished; Quinn had gathered enough information to deduce, 'Daphne Greengrass is at least acquaintance with Ivy Potter, so there might be a connection between the Potters and Greengrasses. From what grandfather has told me, the Greengrass family is firmly planted in the Grey faction, which means the connection is not political, which indicates a personal relationship. But of what kind? I doubt James Potter is friends with Jacob Greengrass; they are too different. What then? What prompted Daphne Greengrass and Ivy Potter to meet? Self-note: Find more about this connection.'
Quinn also thought about Daphne's words about Harry Potter, 'She clearly doesn't like Harry Potter. Any other house than Gryffindor is a lesser choice were her words... does that mean this Harry Potter thinks less of people in other houses? That is not good, is it? Oh Merlin, don't let him be like Gryffindor's Draco Malfoy.'
Quinn looked at Daphne, who had calmed down and spoke, ”A snappy one, aren't you? I have no need to go through you to get to Potter. If I wanted to meet them, I would have approached them myself. But, thank you for the offer.” After saying that, Quinn changed the topic and talked to Tracey about Hogwarts as Daphne listened.
The next part of the train ride was quite similar to last year's; When the Trolley lady came, he ordered the same bar of chocolate just as last year and asked for the buffet car timing. But then Draco Malfoy came into the compartment. He was walking to the back of the train when something caught his eye, and he barged into Quinn's with his two bodyguards, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
”Hey, Greengrass, you are friends with Potter. Do you know where he is sitting?” asked - no, demanded Draco. Quinn slightly tilted his head and looked at the scene with interest.
Daphne looked at Draco and spoke, ”No, I don't. Now, don't disturb me and get out.” She didn't give him a second look and returned to the book she was reading.
Draco seemed miffed and then looked at Tracey and sneered while speaking to Daphne, ”It looks like you are still hanging with your filthy half-blood pet.”
Tracey's face darkened as she looked down, and Daphne snapped her book close and confronted Draco, ”Dare to say that again, Malfoy, and I will hex you to tomorrow! Tracey is my best friend, and you would treat her properly. Speak to her like this again, and I will make your life miserable.” By the end of her rant, Daphne had her wand out and was pointing it at Draco.
Daphne's momentum overwhelmed Draco. His face turned red, and he spluttered, ”M-my father will hear of this Greengrass.”
That prompted a laugh from Quinn. The whole scene was just too damn funny. Seeing Draco splutter in a panic about his father was comedy gold.
Quinn's stifled laugh reached Draco's ears, and when he saw Quinn, Draco decided to save some dignity by targeting Quinn. He looked at Quinn and spoke, ”What are you laughing at? Do you know who I am?”
Quinn gently closed his book and stood up. He walked closer to Draco and held out his hand for a handshake, and Draco actually took Quinn's hand. Draco didn't know why he was holding Quinn's hand, but something compelled him to shake Quinn's hand, and it wasn't magic. It was pure body language and confidence that allowed Quinn to command the room.
Quinn squeezed Draco's hand firmly and answered, ”I know who you are, Mr. Malfoy. For who I am, my name is Quinn West. You asked me what I was laughing at? I was laughing at you. Now, why don't you apologize to Ms. Davis, and we can call this over. I would rather not look at you more than the bare minimum.”