White Scars

Departing

"Hurry along now children, we can't go missing the train now!" Mrs. Weasley was leading the pack to Hogwarts express platform.

The remaining stopgap that existed until the inevitable school year had quickly diminished until the day of departure had finally arrived for us students. As such, myself and the Weasley family had made our way to the Kings Cross station in London to board the Hogwarts express housed on Platform 9 and 3/4. To the average person that might seem like a joke, but knowing the briefest extensions of the application of magic make it all the more feasible. After all, isn't magic about seeing the unseen and attaining the untenable?

The hustle and bustle of the train station was incredibly stifling, incessant chatter and noise permeated throughout the entire structure. The close proximity causing vast shuffling, collisions and all-about mayhem. The increased crowds could allow for the magical population to slip through their gazes more easily, that hidden within plain sight is often harder to pinpoint. That being said the opposite is also true; if the worst were to happen then wouldn't magic be completely exposed to the masses of muggles present? I imagine an innumerable swath of factors and protective legislation has been implemented to prevent this, however, it's hard to imagine exactly what these methods are without knowing the confines of what is and isn't possible with magic. Unfortunately even with the opportune time given to me before our departure there was very little information which could be perused with this in mind. My own textbooks had some information on the topics practiced at Hogwarts, however, even I can tell they barely scratch the surface. Paired with the inability to practice magic outside of the Hogwarts premises only exacerbates the lack of practical knowledge of the subject. 

That being said I still worry about the length at which this pragmatic wand will prevent the usage of magic. If it simply allows for the usage of small charms with weak power that would be one thing, however, I doubt that's the case. After all, I had already attempted to execute a few simple charms at opportune times when one of the Weasley family were nearby, giving plausible deniability if an issue ever arose from it. I found that even copying the forms and word usage for successful incantation still hadn't borne any fruit. In which case I can only follow the instructions left to me in Ollivander's shop.

Still... shadows cast upon us? That could refer to many things so its hard to pinpoint the exact meaning of the statement. Without a doubt it means during the school year, my opportunity to wrestle with these so-called shadows would be diminished heavily outside of school. All I need to do is shine light on them? In most cases that would mean revealing a person or aspect of them that was previously concealed.

This begs the question of how these conditions are even established? Does the wand make decisions based on a desirable outcome for itself? Or perhaps its magnanimous in providing simple challenges for the user? In which case does this mean conflict against this shadow should be avoided due to their inherent strength? If thwarting a threat were the goal it would simply have stated to destroy or defeat these figures as opposed to exposing them. Whatever the case I should assume that defeating them is either impractical or impossible for me at this stage. The option that the wand simply doesn't care which outcome occurs is also possible. After all I could simply defeat the shadow and then expose its identity. 

Sigh. Without anymore information I'll only end up running circles within my own mind. Better to just focus on the immediate problems. For example, what happens if I can't use magic when in class? If this problem persists for too long would I be expelled? Apparently, Hogwarts the institution itself can decipher magical ability which means they can already parse the magical and non-magical communities. However, if no magical qualities or abilities are exhibited over a long period of time by a wizard isn't that the same as being a muggle to them? The school may not throw them aside, but the teachers themselves could definitely make a decision instead.