Writers Block: 32.5: Picture Prompt Voting
Banner by renrenren3
Challenge: Picture Prompt
Points: 1st/2nd/3rd/Participation Only: 50/40/30/10 points & 20/15/10/5 knuts, respectively. 2pts for voting.
Deadline: Submissions taken until Sunday, July 12, 11:59PM UTC, Voting until Wednesday, July 15 11:59PM UTC.
Details: Use the screencap as this weeks inspiration.
This weeks inspiration was the Hogwarts Express .
There are 6 stories, please vote for your favorites.
Entry #1
Title: A Sleeping Padfoot
The rattling of the train down the tracks jostled Sirius’s head slightly as it rested on Remus’s shoulder. Sirius made a small noise of complaint and nestled his head closer to the crook of Remus’s neck.
Remus’s heart drummed in time with the beat of the Hogwarts Express, but his breathe was uneven.
He could feel the warmth springing from Sirius’s body, creating a toasty layer between them as he slept. The smell of wet soil and chocolate filled Remus’s sense, leaving his head dizzy. It was a miracle he was breathing at all.
James would come back to the compartment with a pile of sweets and undoubtedly stir Sirius from his slumber at any moment. It would put a dent in Remus’s chest to watch Sirius wake and be knocked back into reality.
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to hold the moment for as long as he could manage.
Entry #2
Title: Around the Bend
Hagrid gazed out along the tracks watching for a flicker of light, hoping to catch a glimpse of the train before the horn sounded. As he waited in the shadows of Hogsmeade station, he nervously bit his lip. This was his first assignment.
Coming back to Hogwarts used to mean returning to learn about new things, but this September, he was meeting the Express instead. He wasn't allowed to ride the train this time - what with him having been expelled. Dumbledore, fine man the Deputy Headmaster, offered him a place at the school when he'd been blamed for …
It wasn't Aragog who'd caused all that trouble and life without magic would be doubly hard for someone like him - not welcome with his mum's folk and too big to blend in with the tiny Muggles - no, Hogwarts was the best place for him, even if it was only to help Ogg. Being Assistant Gamekeeper wasn't much, but he was as good as orphaned since he didn't know where to find his mum or if she'd even want him.
Hagrid fingered the pieces of his wand that he'd hidden inside the bright pink umbrella that had once been his mums. If he tilted it just right, he could still do a little magic. Spells wouldn't ever be as strong as what he'd managed before but just feeling that familiar prickling was a comfort.
The train sounded and he strained to see it, determined to take in every moment. Another long blow of the horn, and it came around the turn. The Express was just as beautiful as when he'd seen it back in his first year. He sniffed and pulled his shoulders back, refusing to show how much it hurt not to be on the train. He was still a Gryffindor, after all. They couldn't take that away from him.
As the mighty thing came to a screeching halt, the students started to jump off onto the platform, and Hagrid began calling out, "Firs' years this way! Over here firs' years..."
Entry #3
Title: First Years
Remus Lupin had boarded the train early. Dozens of chattering children glanced in the compartment where he sat, but most quickly looked away. A sickly-looking first year wasn't their first choice of a train partner.
A slow disappointment seeped into air around him. The seats remained empty for so long that Remus was certain he must make the trip alone, even go through Hogwarts alone, but eventually a group of older girls entered the compartment. They squeezed into the opposite end and continued their energetic catching up, but they did their best to ignore the compartment's other occupant.
Finally, the train lurched. The girls cheered, but in the same moment, a tiny boy stumbled into their compartment. His heavy trunk knocked painfully into one of the girl's knees, and a brief tumult of outrage and apologies ensued.
The little boy sighed as he pulled his trunk behind him, and Remus noted with a thrill that the boy was taking the seat across from him. The newcomer blinked up Remus with his small, watery eyes and frowned.
"It's not my fault I'm late, truly. We're always late. It's something like a Pettigrew family curse," he explained, brushing a nervous hand over his thin blond hair. "Nothing ever goes right for us."
Remus suppressed a grin. The explanation sounded a bit too world-weary coming from a boy. Remus thought he must have heard it from his father or mother.
"But anyway," the boy said, extending a hand. "I'm Peter. First year."
Remus let his grin break through.
"Remus Lupin. Also first year."
"Well met, Remus. First year as well, you say? Wouldn't it be brilliant if we ended up in the same house? You look like you'll end up in Ravenclaw, though."
Remus laughed as he shook the other boy's hand. Peter seemed nice enough, Remus reasoned, but he tried to stifle his optimism. What were the odds that he'd met his future best mate on the train ride to Hogwarts? Still, he smiled, and Peter giggled a bit as well. It turned out the train ride was relentlessly cheering, no matter what sort of curses one had attached to him.
Entry #4
Title: No Train is a Good Train
The Hogwarts Express usually ran on time, but something was off. Maybe something strange was happening and it would never come. Harry was both intrigued by what it could be and a little bit happy. He didn't really want to go back to the Dursleys for the summer. Anything to prevent that from happening was a good thing in some sort of capacity. Even if it meant imminent doom, it was still better than having to put up with the Dursleys. Harry wanted to be with his friends who he considered family more than any that he still had by blood.
Entry #5
Title: The Last Ride
It seemed different this time, and it wasn’t just because of the grief that hung in the air like a weight. The entire trip seemed off, almost as though the whole English countryside, Muggles and wizards alike, knew there was something wrong and was just waiting for the worst to arrive.
It was almost summer, but everything seemed grayer. Sadder. Less alive. Even the Hogwarts Express itself seemed to move slower as it took them back to their home lives, away from the one place that had once seemed like a sanctuary.
Hermione looked out the window and tried to focus on what lie ahead. On Bill and Fleur’s wedding. On the search for the Horcruxes. On the end of this path, whatever that would be.
She felt a soft poke in her arm and turned around to face Ron. He was grinning at her like they had just left a victorious Quidditch match and not a beloved headmaster’s funeral.
“There is nothing to be that happy about, Ronald,” she said.
“Of course there isn’t,” Ron said, his cheerful tone a sharp contrast to the words actually coming out of his mouth. “But if this is our last Hogwarts Express ride ever, shouldn’t we enjoy it?”
Hermione pondered that. He did have a point, and well, there really wasn’t anything they could do right now anyway.
“We should at least do it for Dumbledore,” Ron said. “I think he’d like that.”
As he spoke, the door to their compartment opened and Harry slipped in, his hands full of candy.
“Treats for the road?” Harry said, holding them out to Hermione and Ron. “I figured we deserved them.”
Hermione reached for a lemon drop as Ron whooped and snatched up the Chocolate Frogs. She couldn’t help but laugh.
“A candy toast,” she said. “To Dumbledore.”
“To Dumbledore!” Harry and Ron echoed.
As she popped the candy in her mouth, Hermione turned her head again to look out the window. She could have sworn she saw the sun peek over a cloud in the distance.
Entry #6
Title: Trolley Witch
It's that time again, thought the Trolley Witch as she meticulously organized her candies on the cart. She went down her mental list checking off all the sweets she knew the children would love: Every Flavored Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees, Pepper Imps, Ice Mice, Sugar Quills, Acid Pops, Cauldron Cakes, and Treacle Fudge.
Running the trolley on the Hogwart's Express was one of her favorite things to do. It only came around a few times a year. It was so fulfilling to see the smiles on the students faces as they bought their favorite confections, especially the first years. She stood up and pushed the cart to the first compartment.
"Anything from the trolley?"
~~~~~
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