11 Off to Hogwarts

A/N; I feel this chap was a bit rushed in some parts... The next chap would hopefully come at next week and not in another two// The POV are gonna be mostly 3rd for this one, count how many times the word "luggage" is used-- it's a lot

=

Dear Mrs. Flickchered

How are you and uncle Ed? I do hope you're doing fine and that uncle Ed is still keeping his promise to lessen his drinking habit while I'm not there.

Everything is pretty well here. Mother and Father are well too. But a little something unexpected came along. The Harry, Ryan often wrote in his letters turns out to be the 'Harry Potter, I don't know if you're already aware of this fact or not, but it's best to still tell you either way.

I will still make sure of Iryan's safety. But in the worst-case scenario, he will be dragged into the prophecy with how close he is with Potter. By that time, his safety might not be guaranteed. I'm considering doing our family's ritual contract for some safety measures… but I'll have to ask for my father's permission for it.

All we'll be going to Hogwarts tomorrow- well, already be there by the time this letter reaches you. So sending parcels will be a bit difficult. Also, how is the research going? Have you found the artifact you were searching for? I do hope you'll find what you're searching for soon.

Sincerely Mateo,

=

Mateo let out a sigh as he put down the feathered quill he was using onto the wooden table. He slumped his shoulders while rereading the letter, making sure there were nothing he missed.

After he finished checking, he folded the paper into an envelope, stamps it with wax, and gives it to the crow that was perching by the windowsill in front of him.

"To Flickchered," he said to the Crow and let it bite the letter, it then flew off to the twilight-colored sky into the distance.

He watches as the winged being flown further and further until he couldn't see it anymore, he closed the window's casement.

...

They all woke up early in the morning and made sure to pack everything they needed to bring to Hogwarts. Everything was set near the door while Mr. and Mrs. Crowell were busy preparing breakfast and putting their luggage in the car.

Mateo himself was also helping his parents move things while Iryan was waiting in the living room, fiddling with his wand on the couch.

He felt iffy, for some reason.

Don't get him wrong, he was excited and all. But with all that excitement, came the unease from the unavoidable moment where he had to meet a lot of wizards and witches. Ones that could possibly recognize him. and what if there's someone who has close relations with the ones who killed his parents, what if they end up targeting him too, what if-- No, no, calm down.

Don't think too much, it'll just create too much unnecessary worries

It'll be fine, everything will be fine. Just face those problems when the time comes. Worst case scenario he'll die. If he died because of his blunders, then that's his own fault. So be it.

But he isn't really planning to die early,

He already tried what he could do to survive up till now. Though he was in a relatively safe place, and there were several close calls-- All he had to do now was to survive Hogwarts. After that... after that, he will be free from the underage wizard's restraints. He could go somewhere, away from the ministry's eyes and other unwanted attention.

"Hey,"

Iryan looked up and faced the direction of the voice, "Yes?" he answered the owner of the voice he grew slightly accustomed to over the past years.

"It's time to go," Mateo said curtly

'as brief as ever' Iryan chuckled, "Yea, lets"

'I wonder if he would feel anything if I were to die?' a thought passed through his mind like a wind that comes and goes, he couldn't help but helplessly laugh, 'of course not, why would he?'

'I'm probably just a hindrance to him anyways, taking his parents' love and attention…'

Iryan walked towards the door, his head was still slightly lowered and shoulders a bit hunched. His face was covered by his wavy hair. And all the way he strode, Mateo's eyes never left his figure as he stood in place, watching the other disappeared through the door. He frowned,

'Why in Merlin's beard did he make that face for,'

.

.

.

Before they went to the station, Mr. Crowell drove their car to Harry's uncle's house to pick him up.

The ride was the same as ever. Comfy seats and accompanied by the subtle scent of chocolate. Iryan felt that he would probably miss this scent when he was at Hogwarts. But, oh well.

Arriving at his house, there was Harry, standing on the front lawn with his luggage and an owl in a cage beside him. His uncle and aunt stood behind him. Eyeing their car hostilely.

Harry, on the other hand, greeted them with a wide smile plastered on his face as he waved towards the car that stopped by. Mr.Crowell got out and greeted the Dursleys with the usual business smile he always uses with his clients. And so did Vernon, though his' was obviously strained and forced.

"Thank you for taking Harry to the station in our place, we 'truly' regretted not being able to send him off ourselves" Vernon's smile stretched to his ears- though his eyes weren't even smiling the slightest bit.

"It is our pleasure to help, don't worry, I'm sure he understands your... unavailability" Mr. Crowell responded with his own grin

"We're good to go," Mrs. Crowell said as she closed the car's trunk after putting Harry's luggage in it. "We will be taking our leave then Mr. Dursley, we don't want to be late you see"

"Yes, yes, I don't want to hold you and make you all late. Off you go" Vernon gleefully send them off

Harry got into the car and sat next to Iryan, who was sandwiched between him and Mateo, at the back seat of the car. He greeted him and Mateo respectively, Iryan enthusiastically greeted him back while Mateo nodded back in acknowledgment with a small "hi,"

Not even bothering to look back, They drove away from the Dursleys house to the King's Cross station.

...

When they arrived at the station, Harry looked around and looked back at his ticket. "Nine three-quarters...?"

There was no platform with that number there,

"Was there a mistake?" Looking back, he saw Mr. and Mrs. Crowell pushed the trolley with some of his' and Iryan's luggage, Iryan who was holding Mateo's hand, and Mateo who was holding Iryan's hand in one hand and his luggage in the other.

"There isn't a mistake kiddo," Mr. Crowell smiled, he pointed towards a wall in front of him "see that barrier between platform nine and ten? you just have to walk through it"

Harry's eyes widened,

"Just watch," Mrs. Crowell said, "Mateo, why don't you and Iryan go first?"

Mateo nodded, he then pulled Iryan along to the barrier and walked past through it. Then they vanished into thin air.

"Don't worry too much, it's just a simple spell-- Illusion if you may. just walk through, it won't hurt you" Mrs. Crowell explained to him carefully,

Harry scrutinized the wall with squinted eyes before looking back towards the cage in his hand that was holding Hedwig. The owl hooted as if saying ' well? Are you going?'

Harry sighed before running towards the wall-- he passed through. And when he opened his eyes, it was greeted by a bright light, and an eerie voice whispered next to his ear;

"Welcome unfortunate soul... to the land of the dead-- "Shush, Did you watch too many movies?"

Iryan's speech was stopped by Mateo's blunt words,

"I was trying to be dramatic,"

"your existence itself is drama"

"I take that as a compliment"

"...how insufferable" Mateo muttered under his breath,

Harry watches as they both bicker around, his lips twitched to a straight line. wondering what it'll be like-- if he was in their position. If he had a sibling. Will he joke around carelessly and carefreely like that?

He looked around, there were many different kinds of individuals there. Some wore funny-looking hats, some were donned in robes, tall individuals and short ones too. Some of their complexions were pale while others were bright. It was truly a mixture of individuals there.

"enjoying the view kiddo?" Mr. Crowell asked from behind him

"Yea, its..." 'not as different,'

"Magical or not, we're still humans in the end. Don't be too nervous, just think of Hogwarts as your previous school-- just, with a twist" He pinched his fingers together, he walked forward and ruffled Mateo's hair into a mess, "Let's go you rascals, don't wanna be late, now do we?"

Mateo fumed at the mess he made, but only frowned and did not say more. Iryan sniggered but soon his hair was also messed up by Mr. Crowell. Mateo smirked at that.

"Let's go" Mrs. Crowell nudge Harry's back

.

.

.

After unloading their luggage from the cart and holding each of their own in their hand. The three children's stood near the train's entrance and said their goodbyes to the Crowell couple,

"Take care now, and be careful. Don't get into too much trouble, kiddo. I'm looking at you Iryan"

"Hehe,"

"Mateo, take care of Iryan. Don't let him get expelled in the first day"

"Yes, Father,"

"you too Harry, take care"

"Yes, you too sir"

"Let's go," Mateo took Iryan's free hand and led him inside the train. Harry followed not far behind, sparing several seconds to look back to Mr. and Mrs. Crowell's waving figure.

Most of the compartments they went to there were already filled, which wasn't too surprising, considering they were a bit late entering the train. So the first relatively empty compartment they found was where they met a red-haired boy.

"Can we sit here? most of the compartments were already filled" Iryan asked towards the sole occupant in the room with his, as Mateo would've described, award-winning smile.

"Yea, sure." The redhead answered back, "It's not like there's anyone here except me anyways"

"Thank you~" The redhead watches as two more guys follow inside behind the honey-blond with their own luggage, "I'm Iryan Crowell, the one without glasses is Mateo, and the one with glasses is Harry. Nice to meet you"

Like usual, Mateo merely nodded at the greeting, while Harry said a small "Hello,"

"Yea and I'm Ron Weasley, nice to meet you too, Crowell"

"Just call me Ryan, it'll be confusing with two of us here"

"Two?"

"Mateo Crowell," He said while putting the luggage he was holding towards the overhead luggage racks, "nice to meet you"

"..you two don't look alike at all" Ron blurted out, after a second passed he finally realized what he just said and lowered his head in shame "ah, sorry"

Iryan chuckled, "It's ok, most people point that out. I look like our mother while he takes after our father" he lied with a straight face, smiling innocently at the redhead

Mateo stared at the blonds back from the corner of his eyes while his hands were helping Harry move his luggage towards the overhead luggage rack after he put his' and Iryan's. 'yea right,' he internally scoffed at the straight-faced lie Iryan just said. 'Yet, they both seemed to buy it' he looked towards Harry and Ron who were giving their attention to Iryan's figure.

"and I'm Harry Potter-- "Wait, Potter?? like, 'The' Harry Potter????"

"...yes?"

"Wow, I can't believe this. and do you really have-- you know" he tapped his own forehead,

"This?" he showed his scar, "Yea"

'He is famous?' Iryan slightly tilted his head with a subtle frown by his brows.

Ron and Harry seemed to hit off quickly, albeit a bit awkwardly. Even though Ron did most of the talking, Harry didn't seem to mind it and tried to answer all his questions in his own way. They sat next to each other with Ron being next to the window and across Iryan.

Mateo also took his own seat next to Iryan after he finished putting all their belongings into the overhead luggage rack. He then pulled out a book from his satchel and started reading it.

"So you lived with muggles? I always wonder what they're like"

"Not as different as you might think honestly. Some are a bit annoying, but you'll manage when you get used to them." Harry nonethecally said,

"How about the muggles you're living with?"

"Horrible-- I'd rather live with the Crowell's. Besides Ryan had been more of a brother than my cousin would ever be"

"Aww~" Iryan cooed,

"Hoo..." Ron mused, "How about you two? With how Harry describes, you've been living within the muggle society too, right?"

"Yeah, Can't say much though. I never really went out and talk to them enough to judge. How bout you, Matty? a penny for your thoughts?"

Mateo who had been busy reading a book twitched his nose at the sudden attention, he put down his books and looked at the three pairs of eyes looking at him. What was he supposed to say? He's been everywhere, yes. But he never really paid attention to those things. "a Hotpot," he briefly said

"""Hotpot?"""

"They are all different but somehow manage to fit in," Mateo simply stated, his eyes were back to the book he was holding. It was something he thought at the spot, but he wasn't lying, everywhere he went, there's always a difference between the people there, yet they all live with each other peacefully-- well, as peacefully as they could get at least.

But unknown to him, that brought a variety of reactions from the three, each different from the other.

One showed interest, the other showed envy, and the last showed slight discomfort.

Mateo noticed this… but decided to keep his mouth shut.

.

Knock knock knock

.

"Anything off the cart, dears?" A dimpled old woman asked by the compartment's door. Harry literally jumped from his seat when he looked at the displayed treats, and started picking his choices one by one.

"I would like some too..." Iryan mumbled, he asked Mateo "Matty, do you have some coins with you?"

Mateo winced a bit, he never liked spending money. He was a bit of a cheapskate, he realizes that. But seeing Iryan put his kicked puppy face on, he could only reluctantly relent and ask, "What do you want?"

Iryan grinned when Mateo gave him the thumbs up,

"Every flavor beans and some pastries!" he enthusiastically said,

"Sigh," Mateo stood up and stood next to Harry in the corridor of the train to buy the things Iryan mentioned-- and his eyes caught onto a pack of cauldron cakes. He used to eat them a lot. His hand unconsciously reaches towards a pack.

"I'll take these four, miss" He handed her several coins to her hand,

"Alright, enjoy them, dear" she softly smiled towards him, and he nodded

Mateo headed back into the compartment and went to his seat, giving a bag of the every flavor beans and two packs of pastries to the table in front of Iryan. "Here,"

"Thank you~" he opened a pack of pastries and started chomping down on them, Mateo also opened his pack of cauldron cakes and started nibbling them, some sense of nostalgia came through his tongue. His face thoughtlessly relaxed.

Seeing this Ron can only watch from the sidelines with a faint pink-colored over his ears, muttering he brought a sandwich.

When Harry came back he immediately ate some of the things he bought,

"Starving are you?" Ron mussed, picking the beef from his sandwich, "Mom never remember I don't like corned beef" he frowned,

"I didn't manage to eat breakfast, you want some?" he offered his stash, "There's a lot"

"Yup! Want some beans?" Iryan offered his stash of Every flavor beans, "Let's see how lucky you can get with the flavors"

Ron stared at the offers and though he was grateful, he couldn't help but shiver at the beans offer, but still thank them anyways.

It somehow ended up becoming a little challenge between the three of them, of who could eat the most weirdly colored bean in the bags and survive. Harry was pretty lucky with his choices, Iryan was decently lucky with the same amount of good flavors and bad ones-- Ron?

...pray for his poor tongue.

Their moment was soon interrupted by a knock on the door. A plump boy came peeking from the corridor and meekly asked with a soft voice, "Have any of you seen a frog?" This caught the attention of the four inside.

"A frog?" Iryan questioned, "Other than chocolate frogs, I don't think I've seen any"

"I see, well if you see him... sorry for the interruption then" he closed the door,

They all stared at the door that was closed. That boy came and went like a ghost. It almost felt like he was never really there. Mateo continued onto his book

"Well, that toad could be anywhere by now. Well, I dunno if I should be grateful or not that this rat sleeps all the time. I wouldn't even be surprised if it died the next second." Ron pulled out scabbers from his pocket. Iryan and Harry looked towards him.

"It looks old," Harry poked its fat belly

"Well, Scabbers was passed down from my brother, so no surprises there. Oh, and I tried to turn him yellow yesterday, didn't work though--"

"Have anyone seen a toad, Neville lost his" A girl came barging in unannounced from the door. Her hair came blazing like a lion's mane, and she was already wearing the Hogwarts uniform.

"We already told him that we didn't see it," Ron said annoyedly, but she wasn't listening. Her attention was soon hooked by the book Mateo was holding.

"What are you reading?" she asked,

Mateo looked up and stared at the figure of the girl for a good while before looking back to his book, "A wild sheep chase, Murakami" he answered,

"I've never heard of it"

"Is that so? it was mentioned in the new york times review at least once"

"Is that so, what's it about then?"

"A wild goose chase, but make it a sheep"

"Oh?"

Feeling ignored, Iryan leaned towards Mateo and quirked his head towards the direction of the book. "Hee~ why did you never read it to me then? sounds fun"

"Weren't you here for the toad..." Harry sighed, but also ended up leaning towards the bunch to see the book Mateo was holding-- he can't really read the words from his angle.

"Oh right-- Wait, are you doing magic?" she ogled the wand Ron was holding, "Can I see?"

Ron was a bit flustered at the sudden attention and tried to do a spell-- which sounded like it came from a children's book, and unsurprisingly. It failed. Miserably. Horribly.

"I came from a non-magical family, so I already read all the necessary books for the semester. I managed to do several simple spells, but I managed to do all of them. When I got my letter I was truly happy. I...

Mateo Put down his book and looked at her, effectively making the girl flatter her speech. "Sorry to cut your reminiscing, but I think we're about to arrive at our destination. We four haven't changed you see" he smiled at her,

"Oh, yes." She widened her eyes and began to retreat "I'm Hermione Granger by the way. Hope to meet you at school"

"Yes, have a good day miss granger" Mateo waved her off and immediately dropped his smile after she left. He closed the door and turned around-- he stopped.

The other three eyes were locked onto him like he was an attraction in a circus. He felt a bit uncomfortable under the gaze, "What?" he questioned,

"Wow..." Iryan muttered,

"what do you... never mind, I wasn't lying about changing. We should really change now."

.

.

.

The robe itself wasn't that complicated to use. But the fact it was a bit on the large side. Making using it a bit troublesome for Iryan. He struggled with the direction after unfolding it, and Mateo had to assist him when he tried to put it on.

"I've been meaning to ask. Why do you always close your eyes, isn't it hard to see?" Ron questioned,

"Eye problems," Iryan simply stated, comfortably leaning back to his seat while Mateo fixed his hair. "Don't mind it,"

That was what he said, but Harry was already eyeing the redhead. If he shows any signs like the bullies in their old school...

"...ok?" That was what Ron said, but he doesn't pry anymore. Instead, he ends up discussing the Hogwarts house.

Harry was a bit relieved at the development and decided to join in the discussion, he heard a bit from the few times Mr. Crowell decided to speak about Hogwarts. It wasn't a lot, but he got the gist of the info.

Mateo on the other hand wasn't aware of the troubles Harry and Iryan faced at school since he wasn't with them in the first place. But after he saw Harry's open facial expressions, he could faintly guess what happened.

It was a blessing in disguise that Ron didn't catch Harry's expression, less it'll be a complete mess.

"So you're saying Gryffindor is the house you'll be in?"

"Well, considering that all my family went there. I wouldn't be surprised"

"I see…," Harry contemplated, "That sound nice, like a family tradition of some sort. I wish I can be in Gryffindor too…"

"Then you should be in Gryffindor too! We can be housemates!" Ron enthusiastically encourage him,

"Heh~ That makes me wanna be there too" Iryan mused, but truly. He just felt that it's best to avoid too many strangers, so being in a house that has someone he knows will be better.

"How about you Mateo? Gryffindor? Ravenclaw?" Ron asked curiously

Mateo hummed at the question, he never really bothered. But for convenience sake, "Yea, Gryffindor sounds cool" so he can watch Iryan better.

*SLAMMED

The door opened wide,

"Hey, I heard Harry Potter was here?" A platinum-haired boy came-- the one from Madam Malkin's shop, Harry noted, "So it's you, isn't it?"

"Yea." Harry raised an eyebrow, his eyes drifted towards the two figures behind the Platinum-haired boy. They were like balls- both of them reminded him of Duddley.

"Oh and this is Crabbe and Goyle," he introduced the two when he noticed Harry looking at them, "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" he proudly introduced himself, "Oh, you're here too Teo? this is a pleasant surprise!" He beamed, but soon his face fell,

Before Mateo could reply to his greeting, he heard a small snigger from across him. Ron was hiding his mouth behind his hand. This irked the Malfoy,

"You think my name is funny, don't you? By your red hair alone, I can say you're a Weasley. Father said that they have more children than they could afford. Oh, and look. the Crowell is here too." he said with disgust,

Harry was about to get mad but then somehow couldn't help but feel a sense of amusement filling his throat when he heard something weird coming out from Malfoy's mouth. 'The Crowell is here too?', he greeted Mateo seconds ago, was he not aware of Mateo's full name?

"Be careful Harry and you too Teo, better choose wisely--"

SNAP

Mateo closed the folding comb he was using to fix Iryan's hair.

How many times was it that someone just came into their compartment and just annoyed them today? Mateo didn't bother to count, but this was starting to get repetitive. He deeply sighed in annoyance, he turned his head toward Draco. The later couldn't help but flinch, so did the others that heard him sigh- even if it wasn't directed at them, it was still scary.

Did Draco know Mateo's full name?

No, he didn't

He never told him his full name,

He only told him his first name, and that's it.

‌ "Malfoy... I'm Crowell," he sighed, "Best if you go now, we both don't want any trouble on the first day, correct?" Though his tone was flat, there was an air of pressure surrounding him. He was a bit tired about the constant disturbance that's been happening in the span of several hours. But Malfoy seemed to misunderstood the reason he sighed,

"I-- I didn't mean to..." he stuttered

"I know, a moment of impulse" He turn his head and look at the redhead "and Ron, don't laugh at other people's names."

"Ah, yes. sorry" he said, embarrassed

"Same goes for you Draco, no shaming other people's family"

"Yes..." Draco begrudgingly agreed while looking to the side. Instead of a bully, he looks no more like a child getting scolded by his parents right now,

"Good, now best to get ready, we almost arrive at our destination"

"Yes," He obediently replied, he turned back and went off-- probably to his own compartment. Seeing this, Mateo walked towards the door and closed it.

‌"you know that guy?" Harry cautiously asked,

‌"Yes, We met several times when I went to the Malfoy estate," Mateo Grunted, remembering the first time they met in one of his expeditions, he was such a cute kid, running around and showing off his little toys to him. Though he had to admit, he was a bit smug, fortunately, it was the cute kind. He sat back down,

Hearing the answer, ‌Ron turned to Harry, "How about you? he seemed to also know you and Iryan"

"We met him at Diagon alley" Harry began to tell the story when he met the blond, "He was a bit of a prick"

‌ Mateo could only sighed when he heard the story, "please don't hate him too much, he's not that bad of a kid once you know him. Though his mouth seriously need to be given some chilli for that tongue of his"

Harry and Ron stared at him, 'Chilli?'

"Speaking of which, Ryan, why were you quiet-- oh, his asleep" Harry said,

Iryan was nodding off without leaning towards anything. Safe to assume he probably slept when Mateo was combing his hair earlier. Harry was sure if he kept that position, it'll hurt his neck when he wakes up.

TUUT … TUUT … TUUT …. TUUT

The train stopped.

Mateo leaned to his side and nudge Iryan's shoulder

"Ryan, time to wake up,"

(IRYAN'S POV)

"Echordia, wake up"

...who?

(OMAKE)

A knock came from the window, it was already dark and it was also snowing recently. Mrs. Flickchered raised an eyebrow at the knock but still opened it.

A crow perched over the windowsill with an envelope on its beak.

'A letter?'

when she opened it, she couldn't help but let out small chuckles,

"What'chu got there Flickchered?" Edan Burton questioned with a red face, hiccuping every few second or so from the liquor he just drank, "A letter from the little crow?"

"Who else would be able to send me letters other than him?" Flickchered leaned towards the wall while reading the letter, she raised her feet towards the scraps of metal from the failed experiments.

Pipa squeaked when one of the metal almost hit her,

"Sorry, sweety" Flickchered put down her feet and went to the table where Ed was happily drowning in liquor. She sat down and took her own glass of beer "oi, old man. The kid is warning ya bout yer alcohol intake"

‌Ed laughed merrily, "HAHA, that kid is acting more and more like a mother hen, ay?"

"Who's fault was it?"

"Hey, hey, it was one time. Little crow worry too much,"