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.