Closed Sending the grandkids off

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Styx finally sent off the last of the kids from his family. Dante’s first time riding the train and his parents could not be there due to some arrangements with the burial of their child. He knew that Terror and Horror’s parents would be lurking, as well as Havoc and Dove. Styx made sure that the hood was over his head to avoid the sunlight. Styx watched as the train started to move, and turned to walk back toward the entrance. He had his gloved hands in his pockets as he kept his eyes straight ahead. He was among the last to leave. He did not want to move in the crowds at all. Some parents were tearing up and such. Styx really did not want to deal with that at all. It was far too emotional for him. He started to move when his eyes met with another. Why was Styx constantly running into this man? Was he fated to kill him?

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty waved as the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station, though he could not see his grandchildren. It should have pleased him that they had not been reluctant to go, and yet he felt strangely hollow. Part of him had expected at least one of them to jump off at the last second and ask to come home. He had waited, just in case, enduring the bustle and noise of the platform for almost half an hour, but he saw not another glimpse of either of them, not even through the windows. And then they were gone.

Even as the train disappeared around the bend, Monty lingered. Where did he go now? Home? There was nothing waiting for him there. Just then, a familiar shape in his peripheral vision made him look up. Kalif Styx. The two men seemed to have a habit of bumping into one another. Secretly, Monty rather liked to see him; he was a familiar face, a reminder of a better time and place. But he knew Kalif could read him like a book, and his mind was open at the chapter of loss. "Sort of wish I could go with them," Monty said, nodding at the stretch of empty track. "It's nice to see you. Are you well?"

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Styx wondered if he should have just kept everyone else from school, especially with his wife no longer teaching, but all of that to avoid this man? That was ridiculous. Just looking at Pendleton's face, Styx knew and recognized what in the world was going on. "The day I ever think of returning to that school is the day that I might actually laugh like a lunatic, having finally lost it," Styx spoke as a matter-of-fact. Would he want to return to the school? Likely not. It was a migraine trying to handle students without actually threatening their lives to keep them in control. His family worked well under that pressure, but apparently, human rights and all that jazz. Styx pressed his gloved hand to his temple as he decided to be rather blunt, "I don't even need to use legilimency to see what happened to you. Who died?" Styx knew all about loss. He once saw Kailie, dead in the bathtub after giving birth to twins. She bled to death. He recently lost two grandchildren so after so much loss, Styx honestly became numb to it, and cold.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty quickly cleared his mind of any thoughts that Kalif had probably never had it to begin with. Despite the fact he had anticipated the man's next question, it hit the inventor like a blow to the stomach, and for several seconds he couldn't speak. Then he said, "My daughter. Saveli Matveev. My adopted daughter. And her husband, Reuben - you taught them both." He still hadn't let himself grieve for their death. Not properly. If he thought about his loss, he would break down, and he couldn't afford that while Ainmere and Rion were at home. His first responsibility was to take care of them. He looked back at the empty track, though he seemed to be gazing much further than that. "It's strange. I don't really know what to do with myself any more."

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Styx taught hundreds of students, though the last name Matveev sounded familiar. That girl must have been a Slytherin for him to remember. However, he wondered if Pendleton had a blood relation to her or not, since he was sure that Pendleton neglected to have kids of his own. Didn't seem the type to even get a woman pregnant, honestly. Still, a parent was a parent. Styx glanced down the empty track and shook his head. "I don't know if you were at the school, but one year, I took a full semester sabbatical because my daughter Kailie had a home birth, and died in the bathtub. Her useless husband didn't know what to do except find me." Styx let out a sigh and added, "Several years before that, my oldest with my late wife was poisoned to death in the Leaky Cauldron. The man was dealt with." He made it seem like the authorities took care of Jaken's murderer, but in reality, it was his late wife. "My point is, you need to let yourself grieve, and then move on for the sake of others. For you, I presume Saveli's children are under your care now." Styx knew about that since Kailie's twins were left under his own care, once Kailie's husband passed on mysteriously.