[Hogwarts Between] Platform Nine and Three-Quarters: Cyrus

[Patrick McCartney]

--- Patrick McCartney <hogsmeade at squaredbee.com> wrote:

> 
> --- Margaret Dean <margdean at erols.com> wrote:
> 
> > [OOC:  This was composed by William even though it's
> > being sent
> > from my email address; Operamail and our home
> > computer are not
> > playing nicely together at the moment. --MD]
> > 
> > 	"Put that bird in its cage!", shouted Daphne
> > Windermere's shrill
> > voice. The bird in question, Cyrus's owl Barnaby,
> > was flitting
> > around the ceiling, hooting in a disgruntled manner
> > concerning
> > the bustle surrounding him. Daphne was attempting to
> > stuff
> > Cyrus's socks into the already groaning suitcase. 
> > 	"C'mon, Barnaby," coaxed Cyrus. He was standing in
> > the middle of
> > the room, holding the owl's cage. "It'll just be for
> > a little
> > while."
> > 	"Lying to your own bird now, eh?" said Gideon,
> > coming through
> > the door with another hamper of clothes. He and
> > Gerald, Cyrus's
> > elder brothers, had been drafted into preparing for
> > the departure
> > to London. "It'll be wonderful," he commented
> > sarcastically to
> > Gideon, who was coming up behind him. "Five hours in
> > the car with
> > our darling brother, his owl, and that suitcase. A
> > real joyride."
> > His voice fairly dripped with with irony.
> > 	"Be nice to your little brother," scolded Daphne.
> > "This is a
> > very big day for him." She scowled menacingly at the
> > brothers,
> > who shuffled their feet and retreated downstairs.
> > They nearly ran
> > into Eugene, who was coming up with a grin plastered
> > on his face.
> > 	"Hullo, folks!" he commented brightly. "How's it
> > coming?" Daphne
> > muttered something heated under her breath, which
> > luckily no one
> > could hear.
> > 	"We're fine, dad," replied Cyrus, who was shutting
> > the door of
> > Barnaby's cage.
> > 	"So you're finally going to Hogwarts," Eugene said
> > to Cyrus in a
> > low voice. "How do you feel? Excited? Nervous?
> > Scared?"
> > 	"I... uh... I'm fine, dad," said Cyrus. 
> > 	"Good," said his father cheerily, clapping Cyrus's
> > shoulder.
> > "Time to go!"
> > 
> > 	The ride to London was unpleasant, to say the
> > least. Everyone in
> > the small, shabby car was constantly hitting each
> > other and
> > various of Cyrus's possessions with elbows and feet.
> > Barnaby kept
> > up an almost constant ruckus throughout, putting
> > everyone's
> > tempers on edge.
> > 	Cyrus, though, spent most of the journey in silent
> > contemplation. He pretended to pore over his school
> > books, often
> > not noticing that he had reread the same paragraph
> > five times. He
> > finally gave up and pulled out his wand. The slight
> > prickle in
> > his fingers as he held it told him that it was no
> > ordinary length
> > of wood. "Ten inches, willow, with a unicorn's tail
> > hair,"
> > Ollivander had told him. "Nice and flexible, and
> > wonderful for
> > charms." Cyrus slowly rolled it over his fingers,
> > feeling the
> > faint power that rested in it.
> > 	His reverie was shattered by a sudden jolt, as the
> > car rolled
> > into King's Cross Station. "Here we are!" said
> > Eugene, and the
> > Windermeres piled out of the car almost before it
> > stopped moving.
> > Daphne went off to find a cart, while the others
> > began unloading. 
> > 	"What do you have in this bag," asked Gideon in
> > disbelief.
> > "Bricks?"
> > 	"No, that's the one with my books and cauldron,"
> > Cyrus replied. 
> > 	The immense pile of luggage barely managed to be
> > crammed into
> > the cart. Eventually, though, Eugene trundled it off
> > towards the
> > platforms, Barnaby's cage balanced precariously on
> > top. Eugene
> > whistled unmusically as he walked, the rest of the
> > family
> > straggling along behind him. "Platform 7, Platform
> > 8, Platform
> > 9... aha, here we are!" he said. "Here" was an
> > imposing brick
> > barrier between platforms 9 and 10. The other
> > Windermeres looked
> > at him as though he were insane. And rightfully so,
> > as he began
> > to push the cart directly towards the barrier,
> > gathering speed.
> > "Eugene, stop!" shouted Daphne. And then he was
> > gone, as though
> > he had vanished into the bricks.
> > 	Minutes, passed and Daphne had a look of horror on
> > her face.
> > Finally, Eugene popped back into view. "Well," he
> > said
> > impatiently. "What are you guys waiting for?" He was
> > a bit
> > surprised whn his wife rushed into his arms and
> > hugged him
> > fiercely. "Where did you go?" she asked scoldingly.
> > "Where's
> > Cyrus's cart?"
> > 	"Oh..." said Eugene, realizing that he had never
> > explained
> > Platform 9 and 3/4. He proceeded to do so quickly,
> > and then
> > demonstrated by having Cyrus lean against the
> > barrier. He did so,
> > and disappeared.
> > 	
> > 	Cyrus found himself swept into a crowd of people.
> > He looked back
> > and saw nothing but a plain brick wall. Suddenly,
> > Eugene swept
> > out of nowhere and took him by the arm. He began to
> > steer Cyrus
> > through the press of people towards the cart, guided
> > by Barnaby's
> > faint hooting. Cyrus looked around himself, and
> > couldn't help but
> > snicker at the odd assortment of clothes people were
> > wearing. One
> > man had managed to put the coat of his 3-piece suit
> > on backwards,
> > and was trying to figure out what he couldn't move
> > his arms.
> > Another gentleman, wearing a flower-patterned
> > evening dress, was
> > talking to a lady in knickerbockers and a one-piece
> > bathing suit.
> 
> [ Rollback:  The descriptions of the people who have
> arrived is very good.  We need to roll back the last
> paragraph.  The train can't be seen at this time. ]
> 
> 
> In front and to the left of Cyrus is one girl about
> his age with an old man.  Just in front of him is
> another girl about his age with a lady.  To his right
> is a black fence.  To his left there is the corner of
> the brick building that is behind him.  Beyond the
> corner is a boy holding onto a trunk and looking back
> and forth as if he is looking for something.  Everyone
> has an expresion of concern.  They are all mulling
> around as if they do not know what to do.
> 
> Cyrus can't see any train.
> 


[ Sync Event: This is where the "Expectations Fulfilled" event happens.
 This is not the end of the thread. ]