The Black Wizard

Platform 9 ¾.

I looked at the ticket a few more moments before entering King Cross' Station. Mom quickly chased me, agitated by the fuss of the Muggles. We lived on the outskirts of central London, where it was just quiet enough to do some magic without a Muggle noticing. Here, we had to behave like 'normal people', something my mom wasn't good at. She stood out with her cloak made from the colors of a peacock feather, a comely hat was on top of her wild curly hair. Any wizard or witch she knew from her early years at Hogwarts told me I was a replica of her, and that made me proud. My mom was a wonderful woman.

My father had died four years ago, on March 31. Voldemort had spared no one on his quest for Harry and so my father had to pay the awful price. I had loved him very much, I still did, he had been the light in my darkness, the only man I had trusted. He would always be my number one, forever and ever. When he was still alive he had worked with Arthur Weasley at the Ministiry. Both had been crazy about Muggle equipment and bewitched cars, lawnmowers, etc... A small smile formed on my face every time I thought about him.

"Are you sure you have everything, darling?"

We stood in front of the wall that would lead me to platform 9 ¾. The Muggles around us continued doing what they were doing, there was a high whistle of a railway guard that told passengers the train would leave the station at any time now.

I gave mom a nod. "Yes. I'm completely ready."

"Great. Here we go then."

Her hand clenched around the handle of the trolley where all my suitcases were piled upon. We gave each other a secret, cheerful look and ran towards the wall. Suddenly we were in a completely different world.

The hooting of owls sounded loud and shrill between the buzzing sound of the talking witches and wizards. I looked at my barn owl, Decorus. It meant handsome in Latin, an ancient Muggle language. I thought it sounded nice, and Decorus appreciated the name. He responded every time I said his name, I had even taught him to sit on my shoulder, and all of that in three days. Now he was looking around curiously while I said goodbye to my mother.

"Be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you."

She had said that every year since Voldemort's death. Sometimes I thought she would send me a letter with those exact words if she forgot to tell me. I was so grateful for her concern, it was a habit she had gotten from my father.

I gave her an encouraging sqeeuze in her hand. "Nothing will happen to me. I've always been careful. You know that."

"Yeah, I know, sweetheart. I know."

"Besides, Decorus is my guardian angel. He'll always watch over me."

Mom laughed and brushed a strand of hair out of my face. Her olive green eyes were brimming with love. Sometimes I hated my heart that always brought me back to Hogwarts, which saw the school as my home. Mom was my home, my beacon, bur not in the same way. If it were possible to take her on the Hogwarts Express, I had done that a long time ago.

"The train will leave any time now. I really have to go."

"Okay, sweetheart. I'll see you at Christmas, right?" Mom's eyes started to water, as if she had the feeling I was about to tell her 'no'.

"Of course, mom. As I do every year."

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly. Her body fit perfectly against mine, as it should. She was the best mother I could imagine in the whole wide world. After all that she had endured: losing her husband, entering a battle against He Who Must Not Be Named, protecting me to the brink of death,... She stilll stayed strong. I didn't understand how she could stay so positive, so beautiful, so... So her. So mom. My beautiful mom.

I let go of her. "I'll see you in a few months and send you an owl every week. Or a message through the fire. If I succeed."

"Great, honey. Hop on now before you're too late." A single tear escaped her eye.

"We don't want an indicent with a haunted car, now do we?" I said joking to Harry and Ron's stupid idea. I wanted to brighten her sad mood.

A faint smile curled her lips. "Indeed. Now go."

She gave me one last kiss on the forehead before I entered the train. Just as I took Decorus from its cage and placed him on my shoulder the door of the Hogwarts Express slid shut. I saw my mother waving at me a moment before platform 9 ¾ gave way to a green, fascinating landscape.

"Come on Decorus, let's go look for Laila."

As if he understood what I meant Decorus made a cooing sound and made some kind of dance on my shoulder. I dragged my trunk behind me and went from compartment to compartment unti I saw Laila sit somewhere in the back of the train, all by herself. She was staring dreamily out of the window, her jet-black hair fell straight down past the dark tanned skin of her heart-shaped face.

"Hey, Laila."

Startled by my voice, she looked up and smiled broadly when she saw me standing in the doorway. "Oh my god, Lilly! How nice to see you!" She got up to hug me. Then she noticed Decorus. "And who's this little cutie?"

"Decorus. The best owl in the entire universe."

She scratched his head. "Oh, he really looks like a..."

Lilla suddenly stopped talking, her eyes widened and she stared straight past me. It was as if she had seen a ghost, or somebody had cast a spell over her that made her freeze.

"What's going on? Laila? Hellooo?"

I waved before her eyes with my hand, my eyebrow quirked.

"I, uh... Just look behind you."

I turned around. A feeling as if a Dementor sucks all the happiness and life out of you washed over me. A kind of cold shiver, dreadful and frightening. Still, there was no creature like a Dementor to be seen, only a boy shrouded in black, his hair dark, matching his robe.

He looked older than the average student; rather nineteen, maybe twenty years old and he walked with a certain confident pace down the hallway. Maybe he didn't realize that all the students were staring at him, maybe he pretended he didn't notice, but he didn't make eye contact with anyone. As he passed our compartment, I noticed how pure his skin was, his cheekbones high and dark circles surrounded his chocolate eyes.

"Who's that? And why did he give me that terrifying feeling?" I wrapped my arms protective around me.

"That's Matthew Vanderberg. He's some kind of exchange student from Durmstrang Institute. He is a talent in Defense Against Dark Arts and professor Acerbus brought him here to train him. No one knows why."

"Well, I don't like him. At all. He's way too mysterious."

And when I found something or someone mysterious, I needed to know everything about that person. So, Matthew Vanderberg, beware.