When Fire Meets Gasoline | Wizarding World

chapter thirty-one | the scamander house

Since they left the ice cream shop, it was nothing but fear that kept them going.

The idea that more Snatchers were on their way to get the four of them made their pace pick up on the pavement. Blending in without looking suspicious was becoming more difficult, especially since anyone on You-Know-Who's side, such as a Death Eater or Snatcher in disguise, could be watching them.

Oliver did his best to remain calm, but it was hard for him to not turn around every so often just to make sure they weren't being followed. He was certain that he was just being paranoid, but given the close encounter he just had with Snatchers, he didn't want to let his guard down at any moment.

As the evening began to turn into night, the four arrived at the train station, where there was a decent crowd of people, waiting to get on the train. They looked at the scheduled times of arrival and departures for numerous counties.

"Okay, the ride is four hours," Jacob explained, then looked down at his watch. "It's almost eight o'clock now, and the train leaves in just five minutes, so we better get a move on."

So the four got their money straight, getting one-way tickets to Dorset, where the Scamander family resided. It was a risk to get one-way tickets, but maybe it was best to do just that, hoping the chance of Death Eaters or Snatchers raiding the county was more unlikely than they thought.

They boarded the train, moving past people and other compartments until they got to one with four bedrooms, away from other passengers. Oliver and Jacob took one set of bunk beds, while Mary and Eliza took the other one across from them.

Jacob huffed a sigh, climbing to the top bunk, plopping on his bed. "Four hours in a tiny compartment with you lot. This should be fun."

"Yes, we're all thrilled," Eliza replied sarcastically, getting adjusted in her bed. "At least we've got a lot of time to talk and figure out what we're going to do once we get to your house."

"It'll just depend on what we find," Jacob pointed out. "Hopefully, it's something good."

"And maybe we'll get there before anyone else does," Mary added.

Jacob eyed Mary down below. "If your friends have invaded my home and messed with my family by the time--"

"Jake," Oliver cut him off. "Like you said, we'll be here for four hours. The last thing we need is any arguing. Maybe some sleep will be best. We've had a long day."

Instead of responding, Jacob merely huffed a sigh.

When the train began to move, they got comfortable in their beds, where all of them were unable to keep their eyes shut for some sleep. The noise of the train leaving the station rang in their ears, followed by the wheels turning on the tracks at a slow pace before picking up after a couple of minutes. With the rattling and bumpy ride beginning to bother Oliver, he sat up from his bed and leaned against the wall.

"This is going to be a long ride," Mary commented.

Oliver nodded. "Yeah," he muttered, facing her. "But we'll make the most of it."

"By sleeping, like Ollie said," Eliza spoke up. "We all need it."

It didn't take long for her and Jacob to do just that, while Oliver and Mary took a little bit longer to get settled in. But when she finally got on her back and made an attempt to drift off to sleep, he did the same. Closing his eyes, he was able to escape the real world for a while, but he knew it would be short-lived.

Oliver dreamt about anything that was good, which was mostly memories of him and his best friends at Hogwarts. He didn't care that it was just the simple and little things that happened over the years, because they were all things that occurred before things got bad in the Wizarding world, back when no one had a target on their backs.