1 | Sunlight ➙ Cedric Diggory

Chapter Two

Eleven year old Matthew Granger boarded the scarlett coloured Hogwarts Express after saying goodbye to his parents, and getting excessive cheek kisses from his mother who wasn't prepared to let her one and only son leave the nest.

Diane had to eventually let Matthew go, otherwise he'd miss the train. As the young boy walked down the corridor of the train, he tried to find a compartment to sit in. Almost all of them were completely full, or the people in them looked too intimidating to sit with.

Matthew began to feel nervous as he struggled to find a compartment, until he approached one that held a single boy, who was looking down at his hands. He had black curly hair that fell forwards as he looked down.

With a deep inhale of courage, Matthew slid the compartment door open, smiling softly as the boy looked over at him. His bright green eyes connected with Matthew's blue ones, his face holding an expression of anxiousness and exhaustion. Faded half circles were under the forest coloured eyes, signifying this boy probably didn't sleep well last night.

"H-hi. Do you mind if I...can I sit with you?" Matthew managed to ask, his eyes awkwardly shifting away from the boy for a split second.

The boy gestured to the empty seat in front of him. "If you want." He replied. Matthew squeezed past the half open compartment door, sliding it shut behind him.

"Thanks. I-my name's Matthew." The boy introduced himself, feeling a bit less nervous to talk now that he knew this other boy with messy black hair was friendly enough.

"Toby." He stuck his hand out, and Matthew shook it.

"Nice to meet you. Are you a first year?" Matthew asked. He didn't know where this confidence was coming from, but he was thankful for it.

Toby nodded. "Mum dropped me off this morning. You?"

"Yeah, my parents are somewhere on the platform." Matthew replied, looking out the window to try and find Diane and Malcolm. Toby nodded again.

A somewhat comfortable silence settled amongst the boys as the train started moving. All the parents that were still on the platform waved to their children, not even knowing what compartment they were in. Matthew breathed a sigh of relief as the Hogwarts Express left the station, and all the noise stopped.

"Did you see your parents?" Toby asked, referring to the train just driving passed all the parents so if the students saw them, they could wave one last time.

"No, they might've left. My mum was pretty upset to see me
leave, and she hates crying in public." Matthew explained, looking over at the boy as he chuckled.

"Typical mama's boy." He stated, causing Matthew to furrow his eyebrows in confusion.

"Were your parents not upset to see you go to school? I mean, they won't see you for a few months." Matthew was growing confused as to why Toby was acting so different from how he was five minutes. He was starting to think this boy wasn't that friendly, as he made fun of Matthew being a "mama's boy."

"First of all, I've only got one. And sure, my mum was upset. But I guess we're not close enough for her to cry about my absence." Toby replied, which made Matthew even more confused.

"One what? Parent?" He asked, immediately realizing what he said and hoped he hadn't crossed
a line.

Toby nodded, again. "My dad died before I was born."

Matthew felt a wave of guilt wash over him for questioning Toby about his parents. "I'm sorry." He stated, thinking about how hard that must be for Toby. Matthew was wrong about the boy being unfriendly, he had just been through a lot at such a young age.

To Matthew's surprise, the boy shrugged. "I never knew him, so I guess it doesn't make me that sad." He replied. Toby was much more mature than any average eleven year olds, due to the distant relationship he had with his only parent. The boy grew up having to teach himself everything, while his half blood mother was out trying to make ends meet. As a toddler, Toby learned he could perform magic. So last summer when he got an invitation to attend Hogwarts this year, everything made sense.

Toby always thought that maybe his life would be a little happier if he was able to attend Hogwarts last year. But due to his eleventh birthday being in November, he had to wait an extra year.

The two boys sat in silence as the Hogwarts Express traveled past mountains and forests, Excitement bubbled up inside Matthew as the train got closer to the castle. The boy only hoped that his new acquaintance would be in the same house as him, so there'd be at least one familiar face in a sea of hundreds of students.