September 1, 1880 — Hogwarts Express; London

Every bit of Raj's body was electric with excitement. He was buzzing with it. The man had said he was a wizard, that magic existed. He had assured his parents that he was most certainly not some entity in human form. Raj felt like his mother was a little disappointed about that but no matter, here he was, at King's Cross Station.

His mother had wept over him and the two had watched skeptically as Raj went running towards a wall. He had also thought he might end up going flying backwards but instead he kept going forward. He looked behind him to see nothing but bare wall and his parents no longer there.

Raj walked forward with the trolley containing his trunk and the large kitten (he did not yet fully know what a 'half-kneazle' was) he had gotten from one of the shops on a place called Diagon Alley. It was all so wild! His parents had used up all the saved up funds that they had but they figured it was worth it and they could always make it back.

He thought he was seeing things at first as he was shuffled onto the train and stood in one of the train corridors. He blinked his eyes a couple of times before his jaw dropped in shock. "Cousin Ivy?" He called out, tentatively moving closer to the girl because this was not something he had been expecting.

Ivy Sandow

  

There was a mixture of excited nerves in her belly. Ivy had hugged her parents goodbye on the platform, lugged her suitcase through a brick wall, and then lifted it onto the train. So far, this magic stuff seemed real — realer even than the store she'd bought her wand at. She was trying to identify a compartment when she heard her own name.

Ivy wheeled around, and the shock on her face was obvious. "Raj!" she exclaimed. What was her cousin doing here?!

  

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set by MJ

Ivy looked as gobsmacked to see him as he was to see her. That meant she most definitely was not here to see him off. Which already would have been unlikely as his parents had decided to keep this whole wizard thing under wraps.

"Are you a muggley-whatsit, too?" Raj asked, trying to both peer at her and the other children of varying age scurrying around them as well. Some looked their age while others looked quite bored and much older.

Ivy Sandow

  

Ivy nodded fervently at him. "Did you get visited by the weird man this summer?" she asked. It was a thrill to finally have someone she could relate to — her parents had been so uncomfortable all summer!

  

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set by MJ

"Ha, yes. He was wearing a dress," Raj said, forgetting that one — it was actually a normal wizarding robe and two — he had been required to get one for himself as well. It now sat in his trunk, already forgotten about.

Ivy Sandow

  

Ivy nodded fervently. In a rare moment of sincerity, she admitted, "I'm glad it's not just me."

  

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set by MJ

Raj nodded in agreement. "This is gonna be such a fun lark, don't you think?" Raj asked. "What a shame we can't tell anyone else in our family about it." There was the whole Secrecy thing that sounded like a total bummer.

Ivy Sandow

  

Ivy nodded again, more restrained this time. "We'll have to make new friends," she said, "It'll be alright."

  

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set by MJ

"Friends that will also have magic," Raj said. Not that he planned to never have a muggle friend again nor did he currently have intentions of dropping the ones he had. But it would be fascinating to befriend young wizards and witches learning the same things that they were.

Ivy Sandow

  

Ivy nodded. She would no longer be the only person in the world with magic, and, now, she had an ally. "I'm going to find a compartment," she said, "Do you want to sit together?" (She wanted to sit together, but she did not want to be the one to ask.)

  

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set by MJ

"Yes, let's find a good spot to judge people together," Raj said merrily. Not that either of them were probably in a place to be judgy but he imagined detestable sorts for him and Ivy to look down on existed even in the wizarding world.

Ivy Sandow