The Potter Generation

2

PLEASE NOTE: CHAPTER ONE IS THE LAST CHAPTER FOR SOME REASON SO IF YOU WANT TO ACTUALLY START FROM THE BEGINNING THEN YOU SHOULD PROBABLY LOOK AT THE LAST CHAPTER ENTITLED "1". SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE!!!

"Wesley, if you step on my heel one more time I'm going to crush that camera under my foot."

"I hope you know I'm not editing that out."

The vaguely pissed off face of my best friend Maggie filled up the screen of my camera and I couldn't help but take my eye away from the lens. That didn't exactly help her bad mood.

"I don't even know why you're doing this. No one cares about what happens at Hogwarts, it's like every other magic school in the world. And it's not like you can show muggles either, so what's the point?" Maggie complained, moving away from the camera and continuing down the narrow train corridor.

"How many times do I have to explain this to you? It's not about Hogwarts, it's about us. The Potter Generation! There's been no other year like ours." I explained for the hundredth time that day. Maggie knew me like no one else but sometimes she really didn't understand me at all.

"I don't want you to think that I don't support you because I do, Wes. It's just that you have ideas like this all the time and you know what happens once things get hard. You give up." Maggie stopped suddenly and turned to face me, looking concerned. She sighed and gently pushed the camera away.

"I just don't want to see you get all disappointed again." She said, quietly. I wanted to argue and tell her that I wouldn't give up this time, but I knew that I couldn't. There was no way of telling what would happen in the next few months and I knew from experience that I didn't usually stick with my ideas for too long. A tinge of doubt poked at me but I ignored it, raising my camera back to my eye and setting my lips into a thin line.

"I know what you're saying, but I really think this is going to work. I have faith and you need to have faith too."

Maggie pursed her lips but after a moment nodded her head. "Fine." She sighed, once again making her way down the train. "But don't come crying to me if it doesn't work out."

"Whatever."  I mumbled, peering through the camera at the compartments around us. A lot of people were already in their robes, sporting their house ties and looking carefree. Well, about as carefree as you get after what we went through last year. It was hard not to notice the tiredness and the fear in the students eyes. We all remembered the Battle and no matter how much we reassured ourselves that He was gone, it was still hard to board this train and know that we were going back to the place where it all happened.

I kept my eye out for potential interviewees as Maggie and I kept walking along. I couldn't quite remember where we were going but I had to admit I was getting great footage. So far, I had no idea who I was going to interview for my project. I couldn't just ask Harry Potter or someone like that. I needed normal Hogwarts students that knew all the stories and would no doubt tell the truth. And it would be an understatement to say that I wasn't the most popular kid at school.

"You guys just missed it, Potter and Malfoy just had a huge duel right here!" I heard a voice say to Maggie who was somehow much farther ahead of me than I remembered.

"A duel? I seriously doubt that." Maggie said, crossing her arms over her chest like she did when she was hearing some serious bullshit.

"Fine maybe not a duel. But they did throw around a couple spells. Malfoy almost lost an ear." The voice replies. When I finally catch up to Maggie I can see that the voice is a cocky looking first year. I tried not to laugh at the superior look on his face.

"Oh piss off, you snotty brat!" another voice joined in. This time it was an edgy looking Hufflepuff girl that was in my year. I didn't know her name but I knew that she was definitely not someone to piss off. Maggie turned to her, unafraid as usual and asked what really happened.

"Potter tried to start a fight but Malfoy wouldn't have any of it." The Hufflepuff said, looking annoyed by this fact. "Usually it's the other way around, but Malfoy must've lost all ability to function after last year. It looked like he didn't even know how to speak."

"Damn." Maggie said, glancing back at me. "I'm surprised Malfoy even came back after last year."

"I heard his mother made him. She doesn't have a job and dear old Lucius is in Azkaban again, so Draco is the only one to support the family. Not that he'll be able to get a good job anyway. Who would ever hire a Death Eater?"

Behind the Hufflepuff in her compartment, I noticed a Slytherin girl who didn't look well. She had dark circles under her eyes and after her friend's words it looked like she was about to throw up. I was about to ask if she was feeling OK when Maggie started walking again. I glanced back at the Slytherin girl one more time before striding after Maggie.

"We aren't even at school yet and rumors are already being started." I mumbled to Maggie, who looked unconcerned about what we just heard.

"Well without... Voldemort, what else are we going to talk about?" Maggie stuttered, giving me a weak smile. I tried to laugh at her attempt but I couldn't find it in me. It was true that this year would be unlike any other. We would be safer and hopefully happier. But somehow it still felt like we would go through the same amount of crap we usually did. Just maybe in a different way.