8 The Journey on the Express

"The Journey on the Express"

After the Flamel family settled into their new home and connected the door, not much really changed; it just felt like the house was bigger now. Stephen went shopping with Misty in Diagon Alley. The experience was nothing extraordinary since he had already visited Place Cachée several times with his friends under his parents' supervision. So, he only bought the essentials—maybe a few books he was missing for his studies, some sweets, and prank items. After all, now that he was going to Hogwarts, he had fulfilled his promise, so it was time to unleash all the pranks he had been holding back for almost three years.

He was especially excited to meet the Weasley twins. Although they were a bit mischievous, their pranks could lead to a small alliance.

Above all, he wanted to meet Headmaster Dumbledore. Although there was controversy about him—some said he was bad, others said he was good—for Stephen, with the memories of Doctor Strange, someone who allowed himself to be killed by his trusted man to prevent a dark-manipulated child from becoming corrupted deserved great respect. He even asked his grandfather about what would happen to the Philosopher's Stone, to which Nicolas replied that they would continue with their lives as always, without it. Perhaps they would even ask Dumbledore himself to come up with an excuse to destroy the Philosopher's Stone and finally rest in peace.

This meant that, even if Voldemort wasn't the one seeking the stone, it would still be destroyed; they just needed an excuse so that the magical world couldn't use its influence to stop them. This left Stephen a little sad, knowing that maybe they wanted to rest in peace, but his grandmother assured him that they wouldn't—not without seeing the faces of their first great-grandchildren, which made him blush slightly.

The conversation ended with his grandparents teasing him about his nervousness when they talked about finding him a future partner, though a small shiver ran down his spine when they mentioned Fleur.

While Stephen prepared everything for school, he took advantage of the time to study all the school books. For someone who had been studying magic since he was five, it turned out to be too easy—to the point where he already knew everything the seven years of studies could teach him. But he didn't need to go to school to learn; he was going there to enjoy his youth.

And so, time passed until, finally, the time came to board the Hogwarts Express. His grandparents looked puzzled, but Stephen's simple response was: "Someone going to Hogwarts has to travel on the Hogwarts Express." His grandparents accepted this little stunt and let Misty take him to King's Cross Station.

"Wow, so this is the Express. It looks pretty normal, to be honest. Alright, Misty, stop crying. It's obvious—when I go to school, you won't be there to help me. Don't worry, I'll be fine," Stephen said, crouching down as he comforted the little crying elf.

"Huu, Master Stephen, but Misty is very sad," the little elf sobbed, unable to stop her tears, lamenting the separation from her master and playmate, as Misty had never left his side since he was a child.

"It's okay, Misty, I'll miss you too. But don't worry; I'll see you in a couple of months, and maybe I'll even sneak out to check on what the grandparents are up to. You can go back now, and don't cry," Stephen said as he hugged the elf, under the puzzled gaze of some people in the crowd who found it strange that a wizard got along so well with his house-elf.

"Huu, alright, Master, I will leave. You can call Misty anytime. Misty will come with a snap," the elf said seriously, her face covered in tears.

"I don't think Hogwarts will mind, so I promise. Don't worry. Go help Grandma," Stephen said as he turned around, hearing the pop of the elf's teleportation.

As he walked near one of the beams, he felt something bump against his foot, activating one of the artifacts hanging around his neck, causing a chain to wrap around a young man's foot and leave him hanging upside down from the ceiling. Apparently, the red-haired boy had accidentally hit his foot with his cart, triggering the mechanism.

"Awesome! They turned Percy into a piñata!" a duo of identical voices spoke in unison, drawing Stephen's attention while ignoring the red-haired boy—who seemed to be Percy Weasley—hanging upside down.

"For Merlin's sake, Percy! What are you doing up there?" A woman emerging from one of the columns, carrying two younger children in her arms, left the little ones with who seemed to be the eldest brother and quickly ran toward her son.

"Uh, excuse me, ma'am. That seems to be my fault. My grandfather is a bit overprotective and gave me defense amulets. When Percy bumped into my foot, he must have accidentally activated the mechanism. Don't worry, I'll get him down," Stephen said, recognizing Molly Weasley and her eldest son, who seemed to be Bill Weasley. Behind him were Charlie Weasley and the little ones, Ron and Ginny.

"Wow, they really are red-haired," Stephen thought as he approached Percy, who was hanging and calling for help.

Stephen grabbed him by the collar and swung him back and forth, as that was how the spell was deactivated. In reality, it was more of a prank spell because if a real protection spell had been activated, it would have been a bit more violent. This spell was basically created to show that people should be careful with Stephen.

"This is the first time I've seen a spell like this. Did your grandfather create it?" asked a man who arrived just as Stephen was lowering Percy from the fool's trap. Also red-haired, he seemed to be Mr. Arthur Weasley.

"Yes, sir. To be honest, I took a bit of a risk by coming to travel on the Express, so he made me wear a few just in case," Stephen explained.

"Marvelous spell, danger at the Express. May I know who your grandfather is, young man?" the man asked, sounding puzzled by the supposed danger in the station and the grandfather's concern for the boy.

"Oh, yes, my grandfather is Nicolas Flamel. I'm Stephen Flamel, his grandson," Stephen said, a bit of pride in his voice.

"..." The entire surrounding area fell into a deathly silence, faces frozen in shock and disbelief.

"(Hahaha, that's the reason for traveling on the Express—to make a shocking first impression)," Stephen thought with a smile, seeing that the surprise had been well received. He cleared his throat.

"Ahem Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll go find a seat on the Express. See you at Hogwarts," Stephen said, completing his little stunt.

The reason everyone was so surprised was that no one knew the Flamels' grandson would be attending Hogwarts. Stephen had asked his grandparents to make his arrival a grand surprise. After all, he was the grandson of the two longest-living, richest, and most powerful people in the French magical world.

Don't be fooled by the frail old man he always pretends to be—Flamel was one of the most powerful alchemists of all time. Maybe he wasn't great with a wand, but he could create alchemical tools that could change the world. Since he retired, not much has been heard about him, but everyone knows his legends...

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