I See You

That was the day I met Scorpius Malfoy.

From the second I saw him I knew two things for absolute certain: one, he was going to be trouble. Cocky, spoilt, over-confident to the point of ridiculousness, he oozed charm. ‘Oozed’ being the operative word. And two, that he was (unfortunately) the boy from my vision. But I get ahead of myself.

Back to my rescue.

Professor McGonagall didn’t lie. She certainly didn't waste time either.

All I knew is that she waved her wand at me, and my body just... faded into the background, mostly invisible even to my own eyes. She assured me that they wouldn’t be able to see me, but it took every ounce of my self-control not to run out of there, and every time Staff eyes passed over me, I couldn't help but flinch. It wasn’t until we were nearly through the doors that the alarm went off. The guard there was supposed to stop and question the professor – and I think he opened his mouth to – but then his face went oddly slack and he waved us through.

And just like that, I was free. Free.

We walked a little around the corner and when my body became visible to me again, I knew she’d lifted the spell. I stopped right there in the street, and just breathed. We were in the London suburbs, and there were people everywhere, bustling or strolling through the dappled sunshine.

It was so alive. The adults didn't try to walk slowly, didn't wear the same clothes or have permanently pleasant expressions... And the best thing about it was that nobody looked at me. Nobody spoke to me in the slow, simpering tone I’d come to associate with people who were older than me. Nobody approached me, or tried to force-feed me medication. Bliss.

The sound of cheerful birdsong surrounded us and the air was cold and crisp and fresh. I had no coat on, but I couldn’t bring myself to care, even as gooseflesh erupted on my arms. I knew that as long as I lived I would never, ever forget this feeling.

Very little time passed as I savoured my freedom. I turned to find Professor McGonagall watching me with the tiniest sad smile. So tiny, in fact, that I wasn’t sure I’d actually seen it, because she then she turned and began walking. Naturally, I followed.

“Quickly, Mona. Your train leaves in just under one and a half hours and we have to buy your school-things before then. And some clothes,” She added and eyed my white hospital-issue shirt, trousers and plimsolls over her shoulder.

We entered a deserted park. I wondered, but didn’t comment, too happy to be outside again to care much. We walked in silence for the next few minutes until she stopped, seemingly at random, and stepped underneath the low-hanging branches of a large willow.

Bewildered, I followed and found that once I was under its mottled shade I could hardly see through the weeping branches. The Professor turned to face me, stooping slightly to avoid the leaves overhead; she was very tall. She held out her arm to me, and I eyed it warily.

“We’re going to travel by magic now. All you have to do as take hold of my arm and hold on. Tightly. That’s very important. Do you understand?” I nodded vigorously, confused and wary, but I did as she said. In an unexpectedly kind gesture, she placed her hand over mine and squeezed slightly.

Not for the first time, it struck me how odd it was that I had absolutely no idea who this woman was. I had nothing but her word and a few magic tricks to go by. After a brief moment of conflict, I decided not to worry about it. After all, how well did I really know anybody? The Staff at the Institute? I didn't even know their first names. At least Professor McGonagall had done something real to help me, by getting me out of that place. I owed her my trust.

And besides, this was too good to pass up.

“Three... two... one.” My body was suddenly wrenched violently to the side, and I could swear my stomach was trying to come up through my throat. I felt like I was everywhere, and at the same time that I was being squished to the point of suffocation. It lasted only a second, but it was long enough.

Just as I was beginning to panic, I found myself face-down on a flagstone floor, surrounded by the babble of many voices. It was warm, and the air smelled of tobacco smoke and alcohol. Eyes wide, I lifted my head and stared around me.

I was in a pub.

McGonagall came back into my sight and I craned my neck to look at her, mouth hanging wide open. I probably looked like a simpleton, but I had more important things on my mind.

“We’re in a pub.” I stated unnecessarily. “A pub. We were in London, in a park, and now... now we’re...” In one swift motion, she reached down and grasped my upper arm, pulling me up with surprising strength.

“Up you get, girl. We’re still in London.” I swear, though her face was poker-straight, she was laughing at me.

“Where are we?” I asked as she steered me towards the back door. I couldn’t stop ogling everything around me; the odd clothes people were wearing – hooded cloaks and robes were predominant; the stack of glasses cleaning themselves next to the bartender... it was all so strange. I was starting to feel a little – well, a lot - overwhelmed when she pushed open the back door and I found myself standing in a tiny, dingy back garden. It couldn’t really be called that though, because it was really just a small space overflowing with bin bags and very high brick walls.

“Uh...” She ignored me, stepping forward and drawing out her wand along with a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles. She looked down through them at the bricks as I eyed her oddly, and then tapped one of them with her wand.

For a second nothing happened, but as she stepped back they started writhing like live creatures – uh yes, the bricks - pulling away from each other in the middle to create a hole wide enough for us to step through.

I peered around the wall and felt happiness – the real kind – bloom in my chest. It was the place from my vision.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just over an hour later I found myself striding through a busy train station with Professor McGonagall leading the way. And she moved fast. I struggled to keep her in sight as I pushed a trolley laden down with my new possessions.

I’d never been shopping before, but I suspected she was better at it than most people. I had more things in my trolley than I’d ever owned before, and I couldn’t stop touching the dress she’d bought me. It was simple, nothing much to look at, but it was finer than anything I’d ever worn. A definite improvement from the drab clothes I’d gotten used to wearing all my life – first charity castoffs, and then white loony garb. She’d also insisted on buying me new shoes and a cat. I hadn’t had the heart to tell her that, though the new kitten mewling in his cage was adorable, I hated cats.

I was just beginning to be swept off in a tide of this-can't-be-real when she stopped in front of me, and I had to swerve hard to avoid running her over. She didn’t seem to have noticed; she reached into her long black coat and pulled out an envelope. She held it out to me.

“Here. This is for you, Mona.” I took it, noticing that my hands were beginning to tremble. I had the vague thought that if I woke up now in the asylum and found that this was all some unimaginably wonderful dream, I would never recover from it.

I opened it, and ignored the folded pieces of paper, instead pulling out what I knew I’d find. The ticket. I looked up and searched for Platform 9 ¾ but couldn’t find it. She pointed to the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.

“The Platform is on the other side of that wall. All you have to do is step through.” I gaped at her as she began to move away.

“What? You can’t leave me here!“ Walk through the wall?

“Good luck,” she called over her shoulder. “I will see you at Hogwarts.” Before I could open my mouth to tell her to come back, she was gone. Lost behind the crowd. With rising panic, I glanced at the large clock on the wall. 10:47.

I breathed in deeply, and squashed the feeling. It’s OK, I thought as I stared idiotically at the wall. She hasn’t lied to you yet. And you’ve seen magic. Just do it.

I started a slow, cautious walk towards the barrier but chickened out at the last moment. It definitely looked solid to me.

I decided to stand nearby and see if anybody else would walk through the wall. Two minutes passed. Then five... Nine. Nobody came.

I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth, grabbing my trolley and leaning against the wall. I gasped as I fell backwards; it was a good thing I had a good tight grip on my things – they passed through with me.

With a startled squeak I fell on my backside, almost bringing the trolley down on top of me. From the floor, I stared around me at the heaving platform, almost getting trampled by several people. It was just as I’d Seen it.

I finally stood, leaving my trolley where it was and avoiding the cats roaming free around my feet. High above was a smoke-clouded glass dome, swirling with a rainbow of colours.

I was so engrossed in my sightseeing (the normal kind) that I walked right into somebody. For the second time in less than a minute, I found myself on the floor again. The boy I’d bumped into turned to frown down at me, his shock of pale blonde hair falling in his face as he lifted a condescending eyebrow. It was him.

I waited for him to help me up. He didn’t.

“Want to watch where you’re going?” I just stared at him, taking in his appearance. I wasn’t short for my age, but I could see if I stood next to him he would tower over me. He was dressed in understated, but undoubtedly fine clothes. Though he couldn’t be older than I was, he wore smart navy trousers and a white dress shirt with a silver scarf hanging open around his neck.

Handsome, cocky and spoilt spelt only one thing: trouble.

I jolted out of my trance as a warning whistle blew, jumping to my feet as the doors of the train began to close in preparation for departure. The boy seemed unfazed by this – he opened his mouth to say something to me, I think, but I ignored him. I would think about him later.

I collected my trunk and my new cat, and rushed to board the train. Less than thirty seconds after the door closed behind me, the train began to pull out of the station. The blonde boy must have boarded further down.

I stood by the window with a crush of other students waving to loved ones, and watched the platform slip away until we rounded the corner. And then I was grinning like a maniac; anyone watching me would think I was deranged, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

This morning, I had been doing a puzzle with my mentally unstable inmate. And now...

Humming softly to myself, I started off down the corridor to find myself a seat.