Equilibrium

The journey

The boy stared for a moment, though whether it was in fear or awe I couldn't tell, his mouth agape.
"Um, Ch-chase," I muttered, my cheeks heating. The silence that followed was broken suddenly by the sound of the cart door being thrown violently open, shattering the glass windows. The boy and I both yelped, the newcomer muttering a curse, and whipping out his wand. The new boy was the same age as the one in my cart, and was glaring at the boy without hardly a glance at me.
"Repairo,"  he hisses, vaguely waving his wand at the floor, and it's as if the world slows suddenly. I can feel something change in the air, as if the pressure rose by several pascals, and suddenly the glass shards spring into the air. They hover for a second, turning slowly, and nothing else moves, except the light reflecting off the shards casting constellations on the walls. And then, they suddenly snap into place in their frame, fusing together, and everything is back to normal. The boy is so focused on my companion that he doesn't hear my soft gasp at the beauty of the magic, instead walking towards the boy.
"Where have you been? You said you'd ride up to hogwarts with us, Cathy has been looking everywhere for you!"
The boy looks sheepishly between me and the newcomer.
"I... I didn't sleep last night, my parents... I just figured I'd nap for the first half and come join you later, I'm sorry, I just lost track of time."
"Whatever mate, I'm not the one who you should be apologizing to - your girlfriend is livid. She sent me because she was afraid she'd hit you with the Cruciatus curse when she finally saw that fat head of yours. She thought you missed the train or something."
"Alright, I'm coming." He pulled his bag from the rack on the ceiling, glanced at me, and slipped out the door. After a moment of flipping through pages without actually seeing anything written on them, something clicked in my head and I rushed after him.
"Hey, wait!" I called, drawing the attention of a group of kids a few carts down.
"What?" He asked, looking back at me.
In response I hold up my hand, still clutching his copy of Standard book of spells, year four.
"Oh, right." He mutters, snatching it from my hands. "Thanks."
He starts walking away, then, as if an afterthought, turns back to me.
"You know, if you wanted to, not that you have to or anything, but if you wanted, you could ride the rest of the way up with me. You can keep reading my spellbook if you want, or just chill like a normal person, I don't know, your call. Or don't, that'd be cool too, it's not a big deal."
I deliberate for a moment, more than happy to ride with him but entirely unsure about his friends, who seem altogether too volatile for me.
"Um... ok, sure," I say at last, hopping to reach my bag.
He sighs, rolling his eyes, and walks back into the cart, pulling it down and slinging it over his back.
"I can Carr-" I start to protest, but he cuts me off.
"Kid, this thing weighs twice as much as you do. Unless you wanna try and levitate it over, I've got it."
I smile, sheepishly, and follow behind him
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I regret my decision quickly. The boy (whose name I still don't know, and am now too nervous to ask,) led me to a cart with three other kids already in it. One was a short, blond haired girl who immediately began shouting at my friend, before forgiving him and never letting go of his arm. The others were boys, both around the same age, who seemed to be brothers. They were friendly, and kept cracking jokes, most of which were fairly funny. With all five of us in the cart, it was tight, hot, and loud. I sat on the floor against the wall, reading my own introduction to magic book, reading up on the basics of spellcraft. I found it very interesting, but wasn't able to focus on it for any stretch at a time, as one of the other people would try to involve me in some pedantic conversation they were having. Most of their conversation was boring and irrelevant to me, especially the half hour they spent talking about some word I couldn't pronounce that seemed to be a sport. They kept talking about flying and seeking or something, and I tried not to let them realize I had absolutely no idea what any of them were talking about. I was able to maintain the facade, until one of them asked what sort of broom I had. They all thought I was joking when I awkwardly said "um... a Swiffer, I guess?" But things got awkward when they found out I was serious.
"No, but really, what kind of broom do you fly?"
"Wait, fly? You mean you guys actually fly around on brooms?"
"Yea, of course ya dip. Wait, did you seriously not... Chase, you're not muggleborn, are you?"
"What's 'muggleborn'" I ask, embarrassed at my ignorance.
" muggles are people who don't have magic. Were your parents witches and wizards?"
"Oh, no, I guess I'm the first. Why?"
All except my friend (whose name I've now learned is Phil) share a sour look, as if they just smelled something vaguely foul.
"No reason," said Cathy curtly, turning towards her bag and fishing around for something.
"You'll love flying," Phil interjected, making eye contact and smiling. "It's a huge rush. I'm awful at it, so I won't be trying out for the team or anything, but I still love it. Seeing the castle, from 500 feet in the air... it's stunning."
One of the other boys threw a jumper at him, and Phil threw it back.
"You fuckin sap, only queers and girls like that shit mate. Flying sis fun because it's scary. It's the adrenaline, mate.
"Hey, what's wrong with liking a little bit of a view? And fuck off mate, you know I have gay friends here."
"Yea, you always were the weird one like that, making friends with mudbloods and misfits alike."
"You only think it's weird cause you're in Slytherin, none of that shit actually matters in the real world."
"Yeah, whatever you say Philly. There hasn't been a muggleborn valedictorian for any year in over a decade."
"And Slytherin hasn't had one on over two decades, you twit." While the banter before had been mostly friendly, I could tell Phil was getting mad. Apparently he didn't share his friends views. Of course, neither did I.
"Whatever," he grunted, stretching his arms and turning towards his bag, pulling out a small package carefully and peeling off the wrappings.
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After a time, the door slid open, and a matronly woman pushing a full cart poked her head in, interrupting a lively game of cards, which seemed to have a penchant for exploding unexpectedly.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?" The boys bought a few miscellaneous items I had never heard of, only Cathy and I refusing. Cathy had said something about carbs, but she was eating everyone else's snacks within minutes.

     I had turned away from the group, the enthusiastic chatter of those around me falling away. I sit, watching the countryside calmly scroll past me, taking in rivers and fields and mountains, passing villages and vineyards, some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen passing by within a blink of an eye. I slid open the window, feeling the rush of cool air blow back my hair, and trace the clouds with watering eyes. I take a deep breath, stretching out my feet and leaning my head back on the seat.