The Norse God at Hogwarts

Ch 4: The Train and the Castle

It was not hard to find a seat on the train. Most of the students were still on the platform, saying goodbye to their families.

Professor McGonagall had brought Eivor and her luggage to the train station and dropped her off before the wall where Eivor had to go through. Eivor had looked at Professor McGonagall with disbelief when she had told her to run at the wall.

But to her surprise, she hadn't gotten a concussion. Instead, she now sat in a large, gorgeous red train that was puffing out thick, white steam. Eivor had felt awkward to say goodbye to her teacher. First of all, she'd be seeing her again in a few hours anyway.

Secondly, Professor McGonagall was her teacher. Eivor had always felt a bit insecure around her teachers, simply because they were people of authority. And anyways, Eivor was a very introverted person, so that didn't help.

Eivors thoughts were interrupted, when a skinny black-haired boy entered her compartment. He had green eyes and his hair stood wildly in all directions.

"Hi", he asked timidly. "Mind if I sit here?"

Eivor shrugged her shoulders. The boy sat across from her and stared out the window at the platform crowded with kids and their families. Eivor thought that he looked sad. His childhood must have been lonely, she told herself.

After a few minutes, the other students entered the train, walking noisily down the aisle into the other compartments and soon the Hogwarts Express started rolling out of the train station. The silence started to disturb Eivor and she wondered what she could say to break the ice.

Synin solved that problem for her. The bird hopped off Eivors shoulders and landed on the girl's knees, where she stared at the boy and cawed questioningly.

"Is that your bird?", the boy asked, his eyes brightening a bit. Eivor nodded shyly.

"I'm Eivor Varinsdottir" she said quietly

"Harry Potter" the boy introduced himself.

After an awkward moment, Eivor stuck out her hand and he took it. She felt like an old-fashioned person when they shook hands and she grinned.

"What's her name?", he asked and pointed at the raven staring at him.

"That's Synin", Eivor replied. She looked down at Synin. "Synin, his name's Harry." Synin cawed.

"Can I pet her?", Harry wondered unsurely. Eivor looked up.

"Maybe, you'll have to ask her." Harry seemed embarrassed.

"Uhm, Synin? Is it alright if I pet you?", he stammered. Synin cawed her approval and fluttered onto Harry's knees. Harry grinned. "She's so light", he noted and carefully brushed over the ravens feathers with his fingertips.

The compartment door opened again and a redhead appeared. She recognized him as the boy from Diagon Alley.

"Can I sit with you guys?", he asked. "It's full everywhere else." Harry and Eivor nodded. The boy sat next to Harry. "I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley."

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter", Harry responded, still petting Synin.

"And I'm Eivor Varinsdottir", Eivor added. Ron's eyes went wide as saucers as he stared at Harry.

"You're Harry Potter?", he stammered. "Do you really have the- the-"

"The what?", Harry asked, Ron bit his lip.

"The scar." he whispered.

Harry pulled some hair covering his forehead to the side and showed Ron a thin scar, shaped like a lightning bolt.