Minnie [#Wattys2017]

The Boy's Compartment

The Boy's Compartment

If Minerva McGonagall was impressed by Diagon Alley, she was positively astounded by Platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station. Once she got over the shock of walking through walls (after all, it wasn't everyday that her mother commanded her to run full-speed-ahead at a brick wall with the trolley carrying her trunk and a cage with Puddy safely wrapped up in a myriad of blankets and old jumpers), she stared about in awe at everything there was to see.

Everywhere she looked, people were milling about wearing cloaks and pointed hats of all colours - many black, but some were jewel tones or tartan and even some that shimmered like silver and gold. She spotted Florean Fortescue across the platform, his face being wiped by his mother's handkerchief as she doted over him, clucking her tongue and shaking her head. "How do you manage -- haven't even been out of the house but ten minutes --" she was muttering as Minnie and Isobel walked by, pushing her trolley. Minnie waved tentatively at Florean and walked trotted along as he waved back over his mum's shoulder.

Further down, Minnie saw the girl she'd seen at the robes shop in Diagon Alley, and Fleamont - sorry, Charlus - Potter with his broomstick talking loudly with a couple other boys she didn't know - a young blonde-haired boy with the most brilliantly blue eyes she'd ever seen, and a very short, chubby boy with brown hair and thin wire glasses. Charlus Potter was laughing and the blue-eyed boy seemed to be telling a joke.

Isobel smiled and greeted some of her old friends, people who seemed surprised to see her back in the wizarding world, who doted over Minerva and tried to keep her attention, although she was very much distracted with all of the owls hooting and shouting children and the hissing steam of the scarlet engine that hummed and groaned beside the platform on the tracks. There were wizards loading trunks into the storage compartment and Minnie took up Puddy's cage so they could take her trunk and she stared after it as they loaded it in beneath the engine's body.

It was a whirlwind - and soon she was hugging her mother goodbye, telling her to be sure to take care of da and Robbie and, if she must, Malcolm as well, and Isobel promising to write and Minnie reminding her to send along all of Dougal's letters, if he stopped by the manse with any that is, and Isobel kissing Minnie's forehead and wishing her a happy term and promising to be there at King's Cross to pick her up at holiday and Minnie nervously carrying Puddy on board the Express as a wizard in blue trousers yelled for everyone to climb aboard.

Inside was no less chaotic. Minnie walked carefully down the aisle of the train, her heart in her throat, carrying Puddy's cage, her palms sweaty with nerves, unsure what to expect. There were older kids shouting greetings and ducking in and out of compartments, shoving past her at a run and throwing balls of paper about. She looked into the compartments as she went, trying to decide where to sit, and she spotted Charlus Potter, yelling loudly about Quidditch and hovering just off the floor on his broomstick, his toes dangling as he clutched the handle and the blue-eyed boy nodded to Minnie looking in and Charlus waved.

"You know her?" asked the blue eyed boy - his accent nearly as thick as Dougal's.

"Sure, that's Minerva McGonagall," Charlus answered. "She's one of Florean's friends."

She stepped into the compartment nervously. "Is - is Florean sitting here with you?"

"Not yet he ain't -" Charlus said, smirking, "Still tryin' to peel himself away from his mum out on the platform." He thumbed at the window. Minnie glanced over and saw poor Florean desperately trying to break away from a hug while the kind man that hadn't charged her for the ice cream during the summer touched his wife's shoulder and tried to draw her back. Charlus smirked, "Bit of a momma's boy, he is."