Closed A Peek at the Future

[AJ Carpenter]

It had taken AJ some convincing, but he had been allowed to walk over to the park on his own while his mother and some of his younger siblings were busy shopping. He supposed she didn't mind having fewer kids to keep track of for a moment, and he was the oldest and most responsible, he could be trusted to spend a few minutes on his own. At least, he had been determined to prove that. He had gone to the park, kicked a ball around for a bit, then realized that the park was very boring. He had decided that he could take the long way back to the store his mother was at and look at some of the other storefronts for a bit. Surely, that wouldn't be a problem?

So here he was, walking on the cobblestone street and looking around carefully. He could easily picture himself in a few years, visiting the village on a break from Hogwarts. The castle was stood in the distance, drawing his eye every time he looked up, like a magnet. He stopped walking, hands in his pockets, and just stared at the castle for a moment. When he thought about attending the school in the upcoming school year, he felt like his chest might burst from excitement. He couldn't wait to learn actual magic, step into the school his father had gone to and be sorted in the same house as him. He was determined to make the best of his time there and to set a good example for his siblings. He grinned. He was going to be the shining star of Hogwarts, he would make sure of it.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Ama knew it was a little early to be getting a jump on school shopping. At the same time they didn't start now she ran the risk of Dad getting distracted by the wrong thing and then everything would be last minute and rushed and Amanita was not going to be rushed on something so important. This way, she had time for things like getting her robes re-hemmed four times because they just weren't hanging right.

Mum had been indulgent enough to enable Amanita four different robe fittings, thankfully, but when it came to picking them up she'd been kindly told she was old enough to go them herself, which was something Amanita firmly agreed with. She'd bee starting Hogwarts soon anyway, which meant managing classes and Brightstone weekends and homework all by herself. Really if she closed her eyes, she could imagine she was already at school, picking up something on the weekend like the other students.

Except when her fantasy session was rudely interrupted by someone standing in the middle of the road staring gormlessly at the distance.

"Can you move? You're blocking traffic. Please," Ama said impatiently, peering at the weird grin the boy had on his face over the top of the package of robes stacked in her arms and shuffling them carefully so she didn't drop them.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ had lost himself in his daydreams a bit, rudely snapped out of them by a girl who apparently couldn't just step aside and go past him. He smiled at her, crossing his arms but not moving out of the way even a little. "I mean, you could do a step to the side and just walk past. That probably would have cost you less energy than asking me to move." He told her lightly. "I was just looking at the castle, nothing wrong with that."

He took in her appearance. She was a bit shorter than him, and he first assumed it made her younger too. But noticing the package in her arms, he realized she was probably also a Hogwarts student. His grin widened. "I guess you're going to be one of my classmates?" He asked, gesturing to the robes she was carrying. "What house will you be in?"

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Amanita clicked her tongue when the boy continued to stand in the way, doing her best to scowl appropriately at him while trying not to drop what she was carrying. She'd said please. "Or you could not stand in the middle of the walkway doing nothing," she huffed. "It's called a walkway for a reason."

"What's so special about the castle, I've seen it a million times. I've even been in it a bunch. I practically grew up there," she said, unable to resist the urge to show off a little, since the boy was so interested. It was easy to play it off as no big deal, it was just a school. A school she was dying to finally attend as an actual student.

"I guess," she said, giving the boy a dubious once over. "Assuming you're going this year, you mean, then yes. I'll be there. Hopefully not bumping into you in the corridors," she added pointedly. "I don't know, that's what the Sorting Hat's for, isn't it? You do know about the Sorting Hat right?" She asked, lowering her voice in mock concern.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

Something about the way the girl scowled at AJ made him certain of one thing: he was not budging. He shrugged. "I guess I could," he said casually, "thanks for the feedback," he added, his grin unwavering.

But he did falter a little as he realized what the girl was saying about the castle. He blinked a few times, trying to make sense of this. He supposed she could be older, but if she was a second year she wouldn't be out here now, she'd be up at the castle. A slow frown furrowed his brow. "What? You're lying." He said, as he was unable to think of a way that could be true.

His frown deepened when she mockingly asked him about the sorting hat. AJ bristled, his hands coming out of his pockets as he crossed his arms in annoyance. "Of course I know about the Sorting Hat. And I know it's going to put me in Gryffindor." He told her sharply. He then copied her concerned tone. "You do know the hat will sort you where you fit best, right? Don't you know yourself enough to at least guess where it'll put you?"

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Amanita felt the urge to push past the boy rise and quickly shoved it away with a sharp exhale. He was being annoying on purpose, but she was 11. She didn't shove.

She did get insulted though. "If I was going to lie I'd come up with a better one than that," she said with a huff. "My parents work at the castle, so I spent a lot of time there as a baby." If Amanita's hands weren't full, she would have crossed her arms. She did her best to cock her hips in a way that she figured got her indignation across anyway.

"Well you seem very confident about that," Amanita said when the boy said he was going to be in Gryffindor. "I'm sure you know so much more than an ancient magical hat ever could." She made a point to make sure the boy was looking so he'd see when she rolled her eyes.

"I know myself plenty, thank you very much," she said, trying not to fall for the boy's bait and failing spectacularly. "I'll be in Slytherin. Probably. Almost definitely. My mum was. And-" Ama made sure to pause for dramatic effect. "My dad is Slytherin head of house, so." She hadn't wanted to jinx it by saying it out loud, but it was her trump card and Amanita tilted her chin up as smug as she possible could with a pile of robes in the way.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ wanted to facepalm when the girl explained her parents worked at the castle, why hadn't he thought of that? "Does it count if you were a baby?" He asked her, though he knew that was a weak argument. He waved dismissively when she implied he couldn't know more than the Sorting Hat, feeling frustrated as his deep seated fear of not being in Gryffindor reared its ugly head. He pushed it down. "I'm confident. My father was in Gryffindor and everyone says I'm just like him, so I will be too." He said stiffly, stubbornly. He wouldn't accept anything else, he didn't care what a magical hat had to say about it.

His eyebrows rose as the girl explained why she would be in Slytherin. He had to admit, her argument made sense. He nodded. "Then you probably will be. You could've just said that." He told her, a little annoyed.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Amanita clicked her tongue. "Yes it still counts. I bet I could still remember where everything is, easy." Sure, some of the finer details were a bit fuzzy, and Ama sometimes wondered if the image of the castle in her head was more made up of the stories her parents told her than any real memories, but it had to count for something.

"Well, maybe you will, maybe you won't," she said with a sniff when the boy talked about his family. It was making her itchy, thinking too hard about what house she might be in. Amanita didn't like the uncertainty. She'd decided years ago she was going to be in her parents house and the thought that the choice was really out of her hands made her stomach feel tight and uncomfortable. "I didn't want to jinx it by saying it out loud," she admitted with a sniff. "So if I somehow don't, which won't happen, but if I don't end up in Slytherin, I'm blaming you. Just so you know."

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ couldn't help it, he had to smile a bit at the girl's insistence that she had memories of being in the castle as a baby. "Right. Of course, remind me not to follow you to class," he said jokingly, already feeling less frustrated now that the girl was being a bit silly. He could tell she took herself very seriously, which made it funnier.

He shrugged when she said he might be in Gryffindor or might not be. He would be, he had to. The thought of getting sorted elsewhere was one he couldn't even consider, it was too horrible. "You will be in Slytherin," he told her. "Jinxing it isn't real," he said dismissively. "Just be as pleasant to the hat as you have been to me and he'll put you there."

 

[Amanita Castillo]

"Wanna bet? We'll see how you feel when I beat you to every class in a few months," Amanita said with a sharp smile. She was going to run circles around this kid and everyone else at school. Except maybe Hinemoa.

"Well, I'd rather not chance it, just in case it is," she said, tossing her head to move her hair back over her shoulder. "Like I said, if it goes wrong, I'm blaming you. Personally. There will be howlers." Amanita shifted the robes in her arms so she should could give the boy a pointed poke in the arm for emphasis. "I'll be in Slytherin because I'm ambitious and clever and cunning, thank you very much. I bet you think everyone in Hufflepuff is super nice and every one in Ravenclaw gets good grades too. Tsk." At least the boy would fit in well with Gryffindor if that was the case, she figured.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ smirked, enjoying how funny it was to rile the girl up. "Sure," he said easily. "I'll take that bet." It wasn't like he was that fussed about getting to his classes on time, but if he could turn it into a competition he was happy to take that chance.

He laughed when she said there would be howlers. "You could save yourself the trouble and yell at me yourself," he told her easily, rubbing his arm a bit. "And yeah, I know not all Slytherins are unpleasant. I'm just saying most unpleasant people are Slytherins," he teased. Then his expression turned more serious. "I do hope you get Slytherin, if that's what you want," he chewed his lower lip for a moment, "I heard the hat listens to what you want, do you know if that's true?" he asked hopefully. If this girl had parents at the castle, she might have insider information.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

"Okay, great. A galleon when I beat you to all our shared classes the first week." Amanita rotated her poking hand to hold out to shake on it. Easiest galleon she'd ever made.

"The howlers will get my point across fine, believe me," she said with a sniff. His description of Slytherin continued to vex her. Had she not just explained how her entire family were in the house? Maybe she'd have to speak a little slower, in case he wasn't being this dense and rude on purpose. "Keep it up and you can be the most unpleasant person in Gryffindor," she told him with false cheer.

She was ready to dismiss the boy as boring and rude, especially as her arm was getting tired of juggling all her robes (who knew fabric could get so heavy), but his sudden turn to sincerity caught her off guard.

"Well. Like I said. I don't wanna jinx anything," she said warily, giving the boy a once over before softening some. "It's very old magic, it can probably do a lot of things. And supposedly it hasn't been wrong yet... But I like to think- Hope. That it knows what it's doing." Amanita shrugged. "'It's not worth getting worked up about.'" The words had the same tired cadence that she figured gave away that they weren't her own, often repeated, but maybe they would be more comforting to the boy than they'd been the million times her parents had told her the same.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ reached over and shook the girl's hand, making sure not to knock the parcels out of her arms. He would win this, even if he had to get up early and run to class to make it happen. He didn't have a lot of money to spare, and probably shouldn't be making bets anyway. He laughed at her comment. "Maybe, but I'm sure there's worse people," he said cheerfully. "There are probably annoying kids in every house."

He hadn't meant to offend her, and he guessed he probably shouldn't have made fun of a house her whole family was in, but it was all in good fun. Right? He wasn't very assured by her answer, but he guessed she didn't really know either. He sighed a bit. "Yeah, guess so," he muttered. "My mum was a Ravenclaw, I don't suppose that would be too bad..." but even as he said it, it felt wrong. He wouldn't be in Ravenclaw, he knew that. He understood that it was more than being smart and getting good grades, no matter what the girl said, but he also knew it wasn't him. He wasn't very curious or creative, he didn't like reading. It just wouldn't suit him. "I'm AJ, by the way." He said, realizing he hadn't introduced himself yet.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Ama couldn't help but snort at the boy's comment, clearing her throat quickly at after. "What a thing to look forward to," she said. Her parents made a point not to complain about students where she or Morchella could hear them but Amanita knew there were some peak annoyances at school. "At least I don't have to worry about being one of them," she said smugly, daring the boy to say different.

She quirked an eyebrow when the boy mentioned Ravenclaw, giving him a ponderous once-over. She'd just talked about how you couldn't reduce the houses down to simple traits, so she couldn't say anything, but she couldn't help pursing her lips regardless. "I'm sure all the houses are fine," she said instead, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt about that declaration. Other houses were fine... For everyone else. Just not for her. If the hat saw something in her she didn't see herself then what else was she wrong about. Ama shook her head, as if to dislodge the thought.

"AJ, okay, I'll remember that so I can collect my galleon later," she said with a nod. "I'm Amanita."

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ shrugged easily. "It's at least a welcome change from sharing with my little brother, no roommates can be as annoying as him," he said with a roll of his eyes. Cassius had had his whole life to be specifically annoying to AJ, and it was the one thing he had worked hard on. AJ would take snoring or messy roommates over that any day. As the girl said she wouldn't be one of the annoying kids, AJ gave her a slight nod with a smile. He wasn't going to argue, but he also wasn't sure if that was true. She seemed kind of bossy.

He could tell she didn't think he would be in Ravenclaw, and he tried not to be offended by that. He wasn't the smartest guy, but he wasn't dumb. Books just didn't interest him much, it took so long to read them. He grinned. "I'll remember that too, to collect my galleon later," he told her teasingly. "Better save up for it."

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Ama wrinkled her nose, shaking her head in agreement. "Gross, you had to share? I think I would have smothered my sister if we shared a room. I mean, I love her and stuff but-" Ama shrugged. Little sisters were just like that. She and Morchella used to love sleeping in the living room together, or in each others rooms, but the older Amanita the more she itched for space that wasn't constantly invaded by her sister.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see who's laughing the first week of class. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time for it while waiting for you to finally catch up," Amanita said, matching AJ's grin and pointedly examining her nails. Maybe it was cheating, considering she definitely knew the castle better, but it was easy money.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ felt a little defensive as the girl dismissively asked if he had to share, but he realized quickly that she couldn't have known he had five siblings. The way she talked about her sister made it seem like there was only one. AJ couldn't remember a time when the house wasn't full of siblings running around. "Well, yeah. I have five siblings, so it's a bit tight," he said with a shrug. "I'm with my brother Cassius, he's a little jerk sometimes. He's always messing with my stuff." But even as he complained, he waved it off as if it wasn't that big a deal. It really wasn't.

AJ laughed softly at Amanita's confidence, he had to admire it. "Well, we'll see," he said lightly. "We might not even share that many classes, honestly." He was just going to assume they would both get the houses they desired.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Amanita blinked when AJ said he had five siblings. Ama felt like she had her hands full enough with just Morchella. "Wow, are you the oldest? I think that would drive me crazy." At least some things seemed pretty universal no matter how big your family, and that was younger siblings touching your stuff. "Ugh isn't that so annoying, it's like they want it just because it's yours and your parents just tell you to let them because they're younger." Amanita waved a frustrated hand, nearly overbalancing the stacked robes in her arms.

"One class is enough to collect, don't worry," she said primly, grin still present. No way was she losing. Not when she practically had the home field advantage.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ smiled sheepishly as he nodded at Amanita's words. Hearing the disbelief in her voice made him realize that his situation wasn't normal for everyone, though he really wouldn't trade his siblings for anything. Well, besides maybe Cassius sometimes. He stuffed a hand in his pocket. "Yeah, I'm the oldest." He said, then he started counting on his other hand. "After me there's Bridgette, she's nine. Cassius, he's the one I share with, then there's Darcy, Emilia, and finally Ferris. He's only three." He added with a small shrug. "So yeah, the house is pretty crowded."

He smiled in appreciation as Amanita immediately understood what it was like with younger siblings. She didn't as many as him, but it seemed like being an oldest child was still pretty much the same. "I know, right? Like, I know they're younger but when I was their age I also had to behave." He rolled his eyes. "Do you have one sister?" He asked then, curious about her situation.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

“Funny,” Ama said. “My little sister’s nine too, maybe they’ll end up in the same year as well.” Amanita couldn’t imagine sharing a house with so many other kids. Morchella was more than enough for her. “Must be kinda fun to be in charge at least,” she offered, still trying to imagine multiplying Morchella by five and shaking her head. Too much. Wrangling Dad and her sister was enough for her.

“Soo annoying,” Amanita repeated with a nod, glad someone else got it. Seemed like number of siblings or not, being the eldest was always the same. “Mum says I have to be the responsible one, which I am, it’s not like it’s hard not to be dumb. And half the time she doesn't even listen anyway. It’s not my fault my sister will believe dumb stuff. Really, if she does something stupid how is it my fault just because I let her. I was responsibly letting her learn a lesson,” Amanita griped. She did her best to look after Morchella, but sometimes the annoyance or the temptation was too hard to resist. Morchella just made it so easy.

“Yeah, just the one, Morchella, also nine. She’s enough for me, thanks."

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ nodded. "It is nice to be in charge, though it can be exhausting too. I mean, they're not so bad... but sometimes they do stupid stuff, or get me in trouble for no reason." He shrugged, then listened as Amanita explained how it was for her. It was very familiar, and he nodded as she spoke. "Exactly." He said. "I think the upside of having more siblings is that they can distract each other, though. They're not always in my business. But it does mean I'm breaking up fights a lot too." He smiled a little sadly. "It'll be strange to be away from them for so long, though."