Chapter 5: Chapter 4: Hogwarts Castle
Wands were truly incredible pieces of magic. Whoever made the first wand deserves a fucking medal. How I was ever content with wandless magic is a mystery to me now. I still practiced wandless magic daily, but it just couldn't compare. By the end of August I had already practiced every spell in all of my new books.
I tried to get some of my spells down silently or without proper wand movements, but it was ridiculously hard. I shudder to even think of how much practice people had to go through to get to the point of silent casting all of their spells. Sure, I was only really training for two months, and I wasn't focussing on any spells in particular either, but come on.
On the bright side, I'd used the Levitation, Summoning and Banishing charms so much that I could do those silently without any wand movements. I decided to forego attempting to summon a fireball or lightning bolt with my wand yet, as it was still a little hard to control the power output. The wand didn't just make my spells flawless, not letting any magic power escape the spell, but also amplified the power by a fair margin with its own innate abilities. This was also the reason there was now a small, book sized hole in my ceiling.
It was the first object I had decided to test my wand on, using the Levitation spell with the same power output as if I was casting wandlessly. In all of my excitement however, I forgot how much more powerful wands would make the spells, causing the book to shoot up faster than my eyes could track it, blasting through the ceiling before I could stop the spell. My caretakers weren't exactly happy about it. Apparently, 'accidently jumping too high and hitting my head on the roof' wasn't a good excuse, who would have thought.
I had now read the entire book 'The standard book of spells' and had most of the spells memorized. I say most because there's really no reason to memorize a dishwashing charm when I'll only be able to practice magic at Hogwarts where I don't need to do the dishes. This wasn't the same as having every spell in my arsenal and at the ready at all times though, as it still took time to concentrate on each spell. Only practice would increase my casting speed, no matter how much I read. I had also tried to memorize all of the other books I had gotten, which was sure to give me an advantage in my studies. Less time studying mundane things such as how to pot a Sizzling Snapdragon meant more time for studying truly interesting magic.
Even though I had the book theory down, there was still much I didn't understand or have the preliminary knowledge to comprehend it properly. These books were meant to be read alongside being taught a certain curriculum, so I still needed my teachers. The lessons were where I would really begin to understand how magic works.
Not being able to cast silently bugged me quite a bit. It makes sense that I couldn't do it quite yet, it was a sixth year level concept after all, but I still wanted to. I was sure that by Christmas break I would be able to cast every useful first year spell silently. The real problem with silent casting didn't lie in power, which was one reason I couldn't do it quite yet. Sure, all of my practice and magical growth had helped immensely, I mean, I doubt even Dumbledore or Tom Riddle were able to cast three spells silently before the first year. The real problem came with mental discipline.
As loath as I am to admit it, I'm not very disciplined at all. The strict training regime did little to enforce a good work ethic, as it was more fun than work for me. I didn't do it because of the upcoming war, or because I wanted to better myself or anything. I simply loved magic. The feeling I got when I successfully performed a spell for the first time, or when I figured out some trick to make me faster, was amazing. It let me feel pride in something that was truly mine, something I had worked hard to achieve.
The mental discipline required for silent casting was immense, requiring an insane level of focus and willpower. It was no wonder they only introduced it in sixth year, when the students were stronger and more sure of themselves mentally. The years of mental and magical training before that helped loads too, I was sure. My true mental age helped almost as much as my magical talent, but still not enough to allow me to mentally cast yet. I wasn't exactly a grand wizard or anything in my past life, just an average guy with average determination and willpower, which is to say, not a lot.
Over these two months, I had learned more than all my previous years here combined, truly making leaps and bounds. It was now finally time to go to the best magical academy in the world, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The date was September 1st and I was ready to go. My books were all packed back into my trunk, my wand up my sleeve for easy access.
*knock knock knock*
"Orion! It's time to go, or else you'll be late for your train. How you ever got accepted into a private school, I'll never know." The matron screeched in her shrill, bird-like voice. Over the years, our relationship had gotten worse and worse the more I blew off chores and socializing to practice magic in secret, getting to the point she downright disrespected me, seeing me as nothing more than a burden. Not that I cared much, as I felt the same way.
"Coming, coming, just wait a second, will you? We still have plenty of time!" I yelled back through the door. It was only eight in the morning, while the train left at eleven. It took about two hours to get there, leaving me an entire hour to get situated. Even so, we ended up hopping in the car only ten minutes later.
The car ride was uneventful and boring, the most interesting thing on the way being a cow stuck on a fence. We rode in silence, mutually agreeing that peace and quiet was better than loud and obnoxious. Finally after a little under two hours we had made it to Kings Cross station, home of the Hogwarts Express.
Bidding the old woman adieu, I marched onto the muggle platforms, looking for signs pointing to platform nine and ten. After a couple minutes of searching, I came across a strange sight. A strangely dressed family ran through a solid looking wall, while the nearby muggles seemed to do anything in their power to look away from the event.
'Must be some sort of notice-me-not charm or something,' I mused to myself. I didn't recognise the family itself, the youngest of the two siblings at least in fourth year.
Deciding to follow their example, I ran head forward into the brick wall, only hesitating slightly. Screwing my eyes shut involuntarily, I ran through what felt like a cool breeze before the sound of a loud whistle broke me out of my stupor.
Hogwarts Express stood tall, shining red and black and billowing steam out of its chimney. Families stood around, mingling. With over half an hour before the train departed, it wasn't yet time to say the tearful goodbyes, creating a peaceful and happy atmosphere in the station. Realizing I was standing in front of an active portal people tended to run through, I quickly moved out of the way towards the train.
Climbing on board, I saw the interior was nearly as ornate as the exterior, filled with pristine carpets and shining walls. I began my walk, peeping into any compartments I came across, looking for an empty one to practice some more magic away from prying eyes. Eventually I came across one near the back of the train that was completely empty and secluded enough that I wouldn't be bothered.
With a little trouble, I shoved my trunk up above me. I sat down and grabbed my wand from my sleeve, preparing to practice some more. It only took me a couple minutes to go through every useful spell I knew. Right when I was about to go through them all again, the door swung open, revealing a boy about my age with blonde hair and a goofy grin on his face.
"Hey there, mind if I join you? I haven't been able to find any other compartments with first years that aren't filled to the brim." He said amicably.
A little shocked from his sudden intrusion, I simply nodded my head mutely. He sat down across from me and immediately began talking again.
"My name's Anthony, Anthony Goldstein, nice to meetcha. What's yours?"
"Uh… Orion, nice to meet you too." I mumbled. I still wasn't very good at the whole social thing yet. The mixture of my isolation and having such an older mental age made things quite awkward.
"So, are you excited? To learn some magic I mean. My dad's a wizard, so I already knew some stuff about it, but actual magic is so cool!" He exclaimed, undeterred by my standoffish behavior.
Glad to be on a topic I enjoyed, I spoke with a little more energy. "Yeah, magic's the best. I've been able to get some spells down already, but I want to learn them all. They're just all so wonderful! I'm a muggleborn so I didn't even know about magic until a few months ago."
"Haha, I guess you'll be a ravenclaw then. My dad said the same thing about me with how much I want to learn about magic. Since we'll probably be going to the same house, let's be friends." He said, outstretching his hand for a shake. I returned the gesture, a little confused by how fast this kid seemed to go. He seems like the type to be in the center of attention, always surrounded by people. I didn't know if we would actually be friends or not, but I decided it'd be rude not to reciprocate the handshake.
"You said you already learned some spells? That's awesome! You have got to show me! Maybe you can teach me a thing or two as well, I haven't been allowed to use my wand since I got it."
The train ride continued like that for hours, turning from afternoon to evening. I continued to show off a little bit to Anthony, only showing some basic cantrips that anyone could learn such as levitation or the wand lighting charm. Even so, he was enamored. The compartment door was only opened once more, and it was just the trolly lady. We were never joined by Hermione looking for Neville's toad, so I felt it was safe to assume she met Harry and Ron with no complications.
About half way through our trip, Anthony, or Tony as he insisted I called him, fell asleep. I took advantage of the fact to practice some more magic, quietly of course. I only woke him up a couple hours later, when the conductor's voice announced we only had a couple minutes before arrival.
After changing into our robes, we headed out towards an absolute beast of a man bellowing "Firs' years!" who I assumed was Hagrid. The movies truly didn't do his size justice. He was at least ten feet tall and wider than my height. He took us away from where the rest of the students were walking, down towards the lake. On the way, I managed to get a glimpse of Harry Potter, and let me tell you, he wasn't much. It seems like the Dursleys had managed to crush his spirit a bit, as he seemed very meek.
Eventually, we reached the boats, where I sat with Tony, a girl who introduced herself as Sue Li, and Susan Bones. The boats set off at once, turning a corner and showing me a view that would be burned into my mind till the day I died. Hogwarts castle stood tall and proud before me, shining as a beacon of knowledge and power. Lights glittered like stars in every window, and the tranquil lake reflected the scene. The moon hung overhead, giving the castle an almost ethereal look. I had finally made it
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Valen756
Valen756 As usual, I hope you liked this chapter! Who has any guesses on his house?
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