The train horn bellowed, marking its departure from King’s Cross Station. The parents and guardians waved, and their children waved back from the trains. Some felt the loss of separation, and others the excitement of returning back to Hogwarts.

Inside one of the compartments, Sol was sitting with Cormac and Katie, like always.

“So, how did your guys’ Christmas go?” Katie asked as she leaned forwards on her seat.

Cormac scratched his head and said awkwardly, “It was fine. Just had lots of food with my folks. Nothing special.”

“Hey man,” Sol shook his head, “I’d say it’s good enough that you spent time with your family. Is there anything else you could want?”

“I mean, sure. Spending Christmas with your family is one of the things that I won’t go without on that day, but I’d like to do something more than just sit around at my home and with my folks. Something more fun like hanging out with you guys! I see my folks every day, so I think I can get away with wanting something else, right?”

Sol smiled slightly and said nothing. Katie continued her questions, “Sol, what did you do?”

“Ah, not much,” he leaned his head on the window, “Ate with my family and had dinner at the Weasleys.”

“Hey, you got to spend time with the Weasleys!” Cormac chimed in.

“That I did,” Sol nodded his head and looked at Katie, “And what did you do?”

“Same as you. Ate with my parents and went to my mom’s friend’s Christmas party.”

“Man, am I the only one who just stayed at home?”

“Guess no one likes you enough to invite you,” Sol smiled mockingly.

“Hey, I take offense to that!”

“Well, you should. Because that’s why I said it.”

“Why don’t you guys come visit me, or let’s spend the next holiday together!” Katie suddenly proposed.

“Yeah? Didn’t we have plans to go to a waterpark last summer?” Sol recalled.

“Did we?”

“We did,” Cormac affirmed.

“What happened to that?”

“I think we went?” Cormac narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember. “Though I feel last summer’s a bit blurry for me. What did I even do then? I think… I was with my folks the entire summer? I’m not sure.”

Katie agreed with him, “Same here. Can’t remember anything about last summer. Must’ve been one uneventful holiday.”

Sol glanced at their confusion and sighed, deciding not to say anything.

“Oh, looks like it’s going to rain,” Katie looked surprised as she looked ahead through the window.

“Rain?” Sol frowned, “The forecast said it’ll be sunny all day, though.” He craned his neck to look where Katie was looking, and sure enough, there was a congregation of ominous grey clouds up ahead. Lightning crackled in its folds. They seemed to spiral, nevertheless, casting a deep shadow on all underneath the sky.

“That doesn’t look right,” Cormac leaned in to look as well. Sol lifted the window and poked his head out the window. Other students from the compartments in front were also poking their heads out the window, and so were the students behind them.

The train advanced ahead at a steady pace, and they were coming closer and closer to the clouds.

“Oi, Sol!” Sol barely heard someone calling from behind from the train’s rumblings. He looked at the source of the call and saw George and Fred trying to get his attention.

“What’s up!?” he screamed back.

“You got a clue what the bloody hell-” Fred pointed at the clouds, “-that is!?”

“Not one bit, mate!”

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Before the twins could say anything else, they could hear the prefects screaming as they walked from compartment to compartment ordering everyone to sit back inside the train. Some of the more timid students backed down immediately, while the bolder ones kept watching the swirling clouds.

Sol looked at the clouds one last time before tucking his head back inside. He wore a grim expression. “Unnatural clouds, nothing good.”

The train showed no signs of stopping, and soon, it was covered by deep shadows as it entered the cloudy domain. Katie and Cormac also had their fill of the clouds and went back to sit down. As they went to sit down, the train’s brakes kicked in, and they all jerked forward.

Sol caught Katie, who fell on him while Cormac smashed face-first into the opposite seat. But the seats were all cushioned, so he was fine except for a slight dull pain in his nose. He rubbed his face to ease the pain while Sol sat Katie down, opened the compartment door, and looked outside. Looking left and right, many of the students were just as curious as him.

The surroundings were eerily silent except for the quiet rumbling of thunder up in the sky. The lightning wasn’t even striking anywhere. This sudden change unnerved him greatly.

But this silence was washed away by a distant boom from the engine's direction. This was followed by another explosion from the back of the train where the larger luggage was kept.

Screams followed the sudden entry of chaos. “Fuck!” Sol cursed out loud. He turned around, looked at his worried friends, and said, “You guys stay here. I’m going to check it out!”

“Check it out! Are you bloody crazy?” Cormac chided him.

“Yeah, just stay here,” Katie persuaded him as well. Sol said nothing and just got his satchel from the overhead luggage racks. He took out a vial of viscous off-white liquid.

“It’s no use. They’re going to come here anyway. So, I better go over there and at least delay them or stop them, whoever it is.”

“If we can’t make your mind up, then we’re coming with you,” Katie stepped forward.

Sol opened the vial and poured the contents on the bolt of the compartment’s sliding door.

“…what are you doing?” Cormac asked with a confused look.

“Shit, stop him,” Katie moved forward to grab him, but Sol quickly moved outside of the compartment and slid the door shut.

Katie grabbed the handle and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. The thick liquid seeped out from the gaps in the door.

Cormac dabbed his finger in the liquid and pressed it together with another finger. They stuck together, and he was unable to separate them. “Katie, stop. He used some kind of glue to shut the door. We aren’t opening the door.”

She pretended not to hear and banged on the small glazing, “Sol, I know you have a potion to open this. Don’t go by yourself! Don’t leave us here.”

Sol smiled slightly and said, “Just stay put; I’ll get you guys out once this is all over.”

“Sol, Sol, stop!” Katie slammed the glazing repeatedly as she helplessly watched Sol leave.

On the other hand, Sol felt pretty good about his choice. He was satisfied with how he didn’t need to hurt his feeling by telling them they’d be a liability if there really were a fight.

Right now, he had the choice between heading towards the engine or the luggage hold. And he chose the luggage hold. Since the sixth and seventh years usually sat in the front of the train, he hoped they would be able to handle it.

The compartment right behind his was the one with George and Fred, as well as Lee Jordan. As Sol walked past, George opened the door, grabbed Sol’s shoulders, and asked, “Mate, what’s happening?”

Sol shrugged, “No clue. But I’m going to check it out.”

“Alone?” Lee Jordan asked, “You want us to come with you?”

“Nah, I need you guys to stay here. I'll send Ginny, Ron, and some of them to you guys. Keep them in your compartments.”

“Yeah, stay safe and keep Ginny and Ron safe as well.” Fred and George patted him on the back, and he continued forward.

Several students ran past him in a panic as he walked closer and closer to the luggage hold. He grabbed one of the second-year kids who was trying to run.

“Oi, where’s Ginny?” he asked the surprised student.

“I don’t know! Maybe she’s in her compartment,” the student hastily spat out an answer.

“Fucking useless,” he pushed him away, and the student ran away again.

He kept walking as more students kept running away. He pushed past them and looked inside every one of the cabins. Most were empty, but some had students cowering in fear behind locked doors. He would knock on the latter ones and tell the students inside to seek refuge inside the cabins of the older students.

He was finally two compartments away from the luggage hold. The compartments were all but empty.

“Stupefy!” with a shout, a figure crashed out of one of the open compartments and hit the corridor. The black-robed mage tried to get up and attack with his wand, but Sol rushed forward and delivered a swift kick to his chin, knocking him out.

He looked inside the compartment to see who it was. He saw Ginny and three of her second-year girlfriends shivering in fear.

When Ginny saw who it was, she found some hope and rushed forward. Sol felt her wrap her hands around his waist and hug him.

He awkwardly placed his palm on her hands and rubbed it, “You cool, Ginny?”

Before she could respond, the other girls hugged Ginny and, by default, him. Sol felt the most confused he had ever been since reincarnating.

“Girls, there are other much bigger matters at hand here. Why am I in this hug?” Sol sighed and decided against patting their heads too. He separated from them and told the girls, “Listen, I want you to go towards the front of the cabin and stay with some of the older students you know. Can you do that for me?”

The girls nodded their heads meekly. Sol flashed them a satisfied smile and said, “Go ahead. And don’t worry, no one’s going to chase you.” The girls quickly scurried off whilst looking behind them again and again. Sol just waved at them.

As soon as they walked into another carriage and out of sight, his smile vanished, and he looked at the unconscious black-robed mage with a neutral expression.