Lily Potter and Neoma's Trance

Chapter Five

"Are you sure?" the boy asked as he pushed open the door and tugged his trunk inside.

"Of course I'm sure!" Lily laughed, sliding over to offer him a seat beside her. "Come on in!"

Across from her, Hugo was eyeing the whole situation with curiosity, "Who's this, Lil?"

"This is Rudolph," Lily answered as he took the seat next to her. "I met him at the pet shop in Diagon Alley when I bought Mouse. Speaking of that, did you ever end up buying a pet yourself?"

Rudolph nodded, "Yeah, I ended up buying her," he said, pointing to a pretty barn owl on the floor. "Her name's Athena."

"She's beautiful," Lily smiled, then looking over to Hugo. "By the way, this is my cousin, Hugo Weasley. He's a first year, too."

"Nice to meet you, Hugo," Rudolph nodded, sitting down next to Lily.

"Back at you, Rudolph," Hugo smiled. "So do you have any older brothers or sisters that go to Hogwarts too?"

"No, I'm the first wizard my family's ever had," he answered with an eager nod. "My mom was pretty interested about it, but my dad thinks this whole thing's nothing but a hoax. Your kind calls me a Mudblood, right?"

Lily gasped at his use of the term 'Mudblood', and throwing a quick glance at Hugo, she could tell he looked as taken aback as she was. "What?" Rudolph asked.

"The word Mudblood isn't what we call Muggle-borns," Lily answered, sharing a nervous look with her cousin. "It's just about the worst thing you could call a Muggle-born witch or wizard. Only really mean people call others that. It's a horrible word, really."

"Is it really?" Rudolph asked, his face falling. "You learn something new every day, I guess."

"Don't be upset," Lily said, attempting to comfort her new friend. "Whoever said that must be mighty rotten. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being Muggle-born. My grandmother on my dad's side was, and although I never met her, she was fantastic."

"My mom is one, too," Hugo nodded, jumping in to assist Lily. "And she's an amazing witch. She was one of the best that Hogwarts has ever seen. You should've seen her marks!"

"Yeah, being Muggle-born doesn't mean anything," Lily nodded, in what she hoped was an assuring manner. "You just need to a bit of time to get used to the Wizarding World is all."

"You just need to learn about some of our customs," Hugo added on. "We can tell you a bit about Hogwarts now, if you'd like. Both of us have siblings that have gone for years, not to mention all of our cousins."

"If it isn't any trouble," Rudolph began, "could you tell me a bit about it? I don't want to be in for a nasty shock when I get there and know nothing. I mean, sure, a professor came to my house over the summer, but I was in such a state of shock that I really can't remember what he told me."

"That's alright," Lily smiled. "Why don't we start with the magic the castle possesses itself?"

After hours of explaining Hogwarts and answering questions about the chaotic Wizarding World, someone entered their compartment unannounced.

"Hello, my name's Olivia Smith," she began as she looked around the compartment at Lily, Hugo, and Rudolph. "Oh hello, Lily!"

"Hi, Olivia," Lily said, now recognizing the bubbly girl who had helped her in the book shop.

"Anyway, we're going to be arriving at Hogwarts in about fifteen minutes. We fifth year prefects have been sent around to recommend that you all change into your robes now. Hop to it!"