"What was Quidditch like at Huntshrow? Did you play at all? Do you still play?" Daphne asked, while her eyes were glowing.

I inhaled a deep breath and let out a sigh that ruined the enthusiasm of the question. I rubbed my chin and leaned my head against the window of the train cabin, gazing down the empty aisle. The three of them shared a rapid exchange of glances with pursed lips and apologetic eyes.

"Sorry I asked. I didn't mean to offend or anything," Daphne said in a low voice, just a step above a whisper. She was looking down at her shoes.

"You know," I croaked. "I'm really sorry, it's just hard for me to talk about how things were back where I'm from. Please, you did nothing wrong. Neither of you have. If I feel up to talking about it, you three will be the first to hear my story and all about Huntshrow, I promise."

All three of them nodded at the same time in silence. Both Edna and Daphne looked off to the side of the cabin, but Bran stole a glance at me and said, "Not to pressure you, or anything, or make it seem like I want to trade information, but if you want to ask us anything about Hogwarts we would be happy to answer. It must be hard moving to a new school, heck moving to a new country! I'm sure you're probably wondering about a few things."

I chortled, but it mostly sounded like an exhale. "You know, I do have some questions. The first one I have is, what can you tell me about Zita Wattle? Anything and everything."

The trio grinned, and they squeezed the edge of the seats with their hands.

"Oh my gosh! Zita Wattle is the best!" Edna shouted.

"C'mon, Edna, looking for better information than that," Daphne groaned. "Well, if you don't know, Zita is the headmaster at Hogwarts. She has been the past 15 years, she's currently 120 years old, former Gryffindor back when she was a kid, used to be good friends with Dumbledore, and came out of retirement to be an Auror when Neo Death Eaters started popping up. She single-handedly stopped the new movement, or at least, she was given a lot of credit for it, and now we're lucky to have her as headmaster! She gets to know all of the students. She memorizes all their names and everything. You can see her somewhere on the castle grounds or in a classroom or still even flying around her broom over the weekend practicing quidditch with the other houses. I've never heard her raise her voice, but she's one of those people where she's so nice and kind that you're almost afraid of what she would look like angry."

"She doesn't get angry," Bran dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"Are you serious? Do you not remember what happened last year with Leon?"

"Wait, Leon, I think that's the name of one of the boys that was picking on me earlier when I tried finding somewhere to sit on the train," I said.

Daphne eye-rolled and nodded. "Doesn't surprise me. He's this jerk from Slytherin. He really needs to be careful this year. If he has one more slip up, even if it's minor, he could get expelled."

"Did something happen?" I asked.

They all stared at each other wide-eyed and motionless.

"Yes, and that's when Zita got angry for the first time any of us students have ever seen," Daphne said.

"She didn't get angry. She didn't even yell."

"Bran, just because she didn't yell doesn't mean she wasn't mad," Edna tightened her brow.

"What happened?" I interjected. They all looked at me and then glanced at each other.

"Hold on a second," Daphne reached into her robes and drew out a black cube that shined in the light like a crystal.

"Daphne! Put that away!" Edna whispered.

"Why?"

"We can't just go inside your portable pensieve while we're sitting on the train," Bran said in a low voice.

"Quick, let me just show Rollie, the two of you can stand watch, you were there, so you don't need to see it again," Daphne said. Silence filled the cabin for a few moments.

"Fine," Bran and Edna both gruffed at the same time.

Daphne and Bran swapped seats, clambering over each other and trying not to entangle their robes. As soon as Daphne sat down next to me, I felt my heart skip a beat, while blood rushed to my chest, and my lips tightened. A scent of flowers greeted me that was so pleasant I got goosebumps. She was sitting so close our knees had grazed each other.

"Have you used a pensieve before?" Daphne whispered.

I shook my head, and she placed it in my hands.

"That's okay. They're usually much larger," she slid out her wand from her robes and caressed her head with the point until a white, wispy sphere emerged, and she stored it inside the portable pensieve. "Just lean your head forward, and I'll be right there."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I dipped my head down towards the pensieve to see what was happening. It emitted a liquid fog, but as I got closer, everything around me started to disappear, distort, and stretch out of reach. My senses felt overloaded until I was numb. The floor shifted in front of me from the train carpet to flagstone. Yanking my head up, I inhaled and exhaled to try and gather my mind together. Students dressed in robes bunched up by the windows, I was sitting on a bench in a castle hall.

"Hey," Daphne said to my left.

I spun towards her, breathing in and out as if I just ran a mile.

"It's okay. We are just in my memory, that's all. Bran and Edna are on watch for us back on the train. This will only take a second, and we'll be right back. I just wanted to show you what Zita is like when she's not happy."

"Come on, let's take a look," Daphne said, lifting herself off of the bench and reaching her hand out to me.

I grasped her hand, and I felt my heart pedaling with a rush of blood in my chest. She guided me over to the clump of two dozen students that were discreetly stealing glances through the window, but then I saw a clone of Daphne just looking a year younger with neon purple hair running off to the side and whipping around a corner. We tailed her until we approached a closer window where no students were watching.

We could see a vast rectangle of the castle grounds with a forest behind it. In the center of the grass stood Leon and an old, frail-looking woman in violet-colored robes. They stood in front of a nine-foot-high troll, which was frozen like a muggle picture, picking its ear while its tongue dangled.

"Zita froze the troll," Daphne said. "I was standing right here when it happened, just this past April on a beautiful Saturday. The sun was out, birds were flying around, and students were really excited to spend the day outside and enjoy the weather. Then… this," Daphne silenced herself by putting her finger up to her mouth and checked to make sure I was paying attention.

"Leon, is this your work?" Zita asked.

Leon's whole body jittered anxiously. "Yes."

"This is quite the impressive conjuring spell. But you know who does something like this?" Zita shifted her eyebrow up, showcasing her forehead wrinkles.

Leon twitched his head side to side. His eyes were anchored to the ground.

"Look at me," Zita said with a cold, hoarse voice.

Leon weaseled his head up to meet Zita's scowl.

"Answer me. Do you know who does something like this?"

"I-I-I'm n-not s-s-sure wh-wh-who?"

"Evil wizards."

His head sank back down, his whole body trembled.

"And I have no tolerance for evil wizards," in one single fluid motion that resembled a lynx, Zita whipped her wand from her robes, pivoted to face the troll, lurched her hand forward, and a stream of purple fire erupted from the tip of the wand. The flames devoured the troll. The land within the wand's circumference fell into dark shadows but only for the length of a lightning strike.

It was as if the troll was never there.

Zita returned to her normal stance, but it happened so fast I didn't even see her move after casting the spell.

Leon's tears coated his face, and he shivered. "I'm r-r-really sor-r-y."

"Other headmasters would have you expelled at the snap of the finger. But I believe that second chances are important for a child. That way, they learn," she paused in between his whimpers. "Leon, when you become a great wizard, I hope you remember this moment, and you cherish the fact that I gave you another opportunity. But should you slip up or misbehave even at the most minor level, you will be expelled. From now on, I suggest you practice your Patronus instead of conjuring. Look at me."

He craned his neck upwards to see the fire brewing in Zita's pupils. "Promise me you won't engage in such behavior again."

"I-I-I p-promise," he forced through anguished tears.

"Without a stutter."

"I promise."

"Louder."

"I promise!"

"Believe it. Louder."

"I PROMISE!"

"Repeat the following, in front of all of your classmates even though I specifically told them to go back to their common rooms," Zita shot her eye in Daphne's direction, then she glared to the side where all the other students huddled. "Repeat the following: from now on, I will be a wizard of good intention and will never touch conjuring again."

"From now on, I will be a wizard of good intention and will never touch conjuring again!"

"Thank you, Leon, for your promise. Now go back to your common room."

Leon moped away, wiping his eyes furiously.

"Well, that about wraps up the memory," Daphne said to me.

The walls of the castle faded, but at the same time, they were taking the form of a… train, a cozy train cabin riding in the night with two friendly faces greeting me with a smile.

"Wow, we're back, just like that?" I said.

"Well, was she mad? What's the verdict?" Bran asked.

"Are you kidding? Yeah, she was mad, she was pissed," I said, and the three of them cracked up, but I didn't. "Seriously, that woman is horrifying."

"Don't let that memory form your judgment on Zita. That's literally the only time we've ever seen her like that. She's a sweetheart," Edna said.

"One might argue that she's too much of a sweetheart. She let Leon continue at Hogwarts. He's dangerous!" Bran said.

"I would argue that she made the right move in letting him stay. If Leon was expelled from Hogwarts, it probably would have brought him down a worse path where all he did was study conjuring, and then we'd have another wave of Neo Death Eaters…probably," Daphne shrugged. "Hopefully, he's reformed," I said.

"Hopefully," Bran and Edna echoed at the same time.

The train shifted to a noticeable, gentler pace.

"We're almost there. They made the announcement while you guys were still in the pensieve." Edna said.

"I'm still not sure where I should go," I said. "Do I go with the first years? Or should I just walk in with you all? I'd much rather—"

"Hagrid is usually around after the train stops, and he takes the first years in by boat across the lake. You should ask him. He's a half-giant, super tall guy, a real heart of gold, can't miss him," Daphne said.

"We'll even wait up for you until you know where you're going," Edna smiled.

The rapid chugging from the train drifted into a snail's pace before braking to a stop.

"We're here!" Bran said, and the aisles of the train filled with people shoving their way to the door.

"Let's get out while we can!" Edna said, and I followed their lead as we cleared out from the cabin. We joined the crowd and spilled out onto a dark, tiny train platform.

"Rollllliiieeeeee," I heard a slithery whisper in the back of my head. It was loud and overwhelming, I spun around to try and see who said it, but it was coming from— "Come in the forest Rollieee, it's the way to Hogwarts."

I unconsciously turned towards a horizon of trees, entirely blackened from the night. A plume of purple smoke spiraled up from the forest, glowing as I heard the voice again. "This is the path for you. Here. In the forest, Rollllliiiieeeeeee."

Behind me, I heard Bran, Edna, and Daphne echoing for my name in the distance, but I kept marching forward. I had no control over my legs or my muscles, it was like my body was under someone else's command. Someone help me! I couldn't even scream for Bran, Edna, or Daphne.

A wicked voice responded in my head. "You'll like the forest, Rolllliiiieeeeee—"