Journey To Hogwarts, old - thread closed Options

[evlpez]

Okay folks. I know many of you have no care to explore 'ships and alt universe stuff, but I wanted to get something else moving in our brains.
Here is a short installment of an AU story about James Potter, son to Harry and Ginny. This is all that is written so far.

Rather than chapter-long installments, let's try just a few paragraphs at a time and see how it develops.

The story begins with James' first ride on the Hogwarts Express. I see James as a bit of a loner, coping silently with being related to a celebrity and unsure about his own place in the world. He is more mature than his age and is intelligent, brave and has a darkness about him. (He isn't evil or bad, though.) I see a bit of a 'young Remus' in this James. I have written in one baby brother, but there may be up to 5 children in the Potter family, considering Ginny's experience with a large family and Harry's feelings about having a different, lonlier childhood.

JOURNEY TO HOGWARTS

James Potter sat in an otherwise empty compartment of the Hogwarts Express, looking out the window and eagerly waiting for it to pull away from the platform. He could barely sit still. He felt only a twinge of guilt at his hasty good-bye to his parents, having felt awkward as always standing there with one of the most famous wizards in history. He needed to get away and be by himself on this train before he was bombarded by cousins and other curious people. He loved his cousins, but he always felt a little different from all of them. Not better, but something about being who he was had made him… alone. He preferred being alone at important times like this; important to him, anyway. His first trip on the Hogwarts Express, this was the beginning of his journey to become someone. To make a name for himself that wasn't automatically followed by 'the son of Harry Potter'. He glanced at the cage he had set on the bench opposite only moments before. His new owl, a young brown Tawny, stared back at him. He still hadn't given him a name, despite his mother's prodding.

"Just pick something, James. He's just an owl, not your firstborn child," she had said that morning while juggling a breakfast pan with her wand hand and his baby brother with the other. His father intervened as he took baby Albert off her hands.

"Now, now… this isn't just any owl. It's his owl. James will name him when he needs to. It's important to some people, Gin. This little guy is going to be more than just his owl, he'll be a friend." James smiled at his dad then. He understood. He understood a lot of things about James that his mother just couldn't, not that she didn't try.

James' new owl hooted, reminding him of a penny whistle. It was such a different voice than Hedwig's. James smiled. His father had known that this owl should be as different as he could be from Hedwig.

Continue, introducing at least one new character, maybe a Weasley Cousin (one of the twins' kids?).

[evlpez]

- written by evlpez & agrippa

James looked at the four angry looking boys and smiled, prepared. He stood and stepped in front of Philip, who got to his feet.

"You two get an invitation to be in my compartment?" The smallest one said. James looked at him, his mouth falling open.

"Well, well, well," the boy continued. "If it isn't my long-lost cousin, James."

"Another cousin?" said Philip in amazement.

"Er - second cousin. How are you, Duke? I had no idea that you -"

"Oh? Suprised, are you? Thought that wizard blood only ran on your side of the family, did you? Dad wasn't too pleased when my letter came from Hogwarts, but he never could tell me 'no' when I really wanted something. I'm going to be twice the wizard you will ever be."

A knot was forming in James' stomach. He hadn't seen Duke except in pictures, and he was certainly suprised to find him on the Hogwarts Express. Duke's dad and James' dad were cousins, but the Dursleys had always hated everything about the wizarding world. Then again, Duke and James shared a set of great-grandparents, so it was possible.

Although Duke was thin - nothing like his dad - he had three hulking friends, who were now advancing menacingly on James and Philip. James quickly played out in his head the ways this confrontation could go and decided they would probably have to resort to fighting. No problem, he thought. He steadied himself when Philip stepped in between the two, towering over them all. He was the calmest James had seen him since meeting. Philip just looked into Duke's eyes and stepped forward, forcing Duke to step back. Not a word was said. He turned and looked at the three thugs in the doorway, whose faces went blank as they quietly moved to let James and Philip pass. James could feel something radiating from Philip, but couldn't guess what kind of charm he'd used.

When they closed the gate behind them in the next car, James put a hand on Philip's shoulder.

"What was that, Philip?"

"I'm not sure," Philip shrugged, "but it was clear we'd have to fight if we didn’t do something. I don't mind that so much, but I just thought we wouldn't want to get ourselves into trouble before we even get to school. Besides, I've learned that sometimes just a look is all it takes to stop someone from beating me to a pulp."

James shook his head, "No. You used a charm or something, didn't you?"

"I don't know any charms, James," Philip smiled. "But it was pretty cool, wasn't it? I've been using that trick to avoid trouble all my life."

James decided he wanted to know more about Philip McKenzie, and the new friends made their way back to their compartments to change into their robes.

Notes: Big thanks go to agrippa, who helped me with the foil character. I instinctively thought "Malfoy!" when bakbam gave us the boys at the compartment door, but decided (with a suggestion from agrippa) that we don't need another story about the Potter-Malfoy feud. I sent him my first draft and he gave me a DURSLEY! (Is he clever or what?)
We wondered how the young muggleborn Dursley would have wizard friends so quickly, and agrippa suggested that maybe Dudley sent him to some posh quidditch camp over the summer. It works for me!
Duke Dursley is named after one of Dudley's favorite childhood video games.
It's macho, and easy to spell.


A note from Agrippa, too: It's my assumption that, at the very least, Vernon Dursley is either dead, permanently incapacitated, or totally unaware of his grandson's actions. He'd be none too pleased.