Chapter Text
Seamus Finnigan was a bundle of glee. His mother and father trailed behind him quietly discussing the cost of his school books as Seamus bounced down the train station. The quick-paced people in his wake seemed to pay no attention as he practically leaped onto every train. He stopped in front of one of the windows to run his fingers through his scraggly blonde hair. His mother quickly grabbed his shoulders and led him forward. Mrs. Finnigan was quite put-out that particular day as it had taken quite a toll on their finances to pay for her son’s school supplies. Her son’s excitement made her quite weary of missing the train.
“Now dear, are you ready?” Mrs. Finnigan asked Seamus, sweetly.
“You’d know better than me, Mam.” He beamed up at her. Seamus had never been more excited about something in his life. When the letter declaring his admission into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry arrived in early July, his parents were extremely proud. He, of course, was nearly bouncing off the walls. His mother had told stories, all his life, about Hogwarts. It was a place where exceptional wizards went to do exceptional things. Naturally, he could not wait to join the ranks of these fine students.
His mother turned back to his father and began listing off things she had bought, while Seamus continued with unwavering joy. Seamus had known he was a wizard for most of his memorable life, but he hadn’t ever felt like the talented kind. He’d thought maybe he was some sort of almost wizard-wizard. He’d been able to do things, but none of them good, and certainly never on purpose. Like, when he accidentally covered the kitchen in oatmeal at the age of six because he didn’t want to eat it, or setting his dad’s work shoes on fire when he said that Seamus couldn’t watch telly when he was eight. Seamus had always thought, wizards were meant to do awesome stuff, not explode pots of oatmeal.
Except, now Seamus was a ‘true wizard’. He had a wand and everything, which he hoped would help control his overactive onset of chaos. Although, It certainly didn’t help with the fear as he ran straight at the brick wall in between platform 9 and Three Quarters, where the Hogwarts Express was waiting for passengers. That terror melted immediately as Seamus saw what was on the other side.
The Hogwarts Express was a beauty of a train and all he wanted to do was run right onto it. Reluctantly, he waited for his parents so he could say goodbye. His mum began to cry almost immediately when she handed Seamus his trunk.
“Oh look at my little boy. You’ll do great things, I just know it.” She said with a shake in her voice.
“Yer such a sap.” Seamus stuck his tongue out at her. In reality, he was quite pleased that his mother would miss him, seeing as he would miss her.
“Oh I know, I know. Now you hop on that train and have the time of yer life, ya hear? You are an extraordinary boy and don’t let anyone tell you differently.” She pulled him close to her heart as she said this. It meant the world to Seamus.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, mam.” He wriggled out of her hug and went to face his dad.
“Now you be good at school. Be like yer mother.” His dad always seemed to tell him to be like his mother. Seamus didn’t complain. He wanted to be exactly like his mother. His dad also pulled him in for a hug, a bit of an awkward one but sincere. His mother cooed and joined the hug pulling them tighter. When they finally let go of him he quickly said goodbye and leaped onto the train.
It took him quite a while to find a seat. Every student seemed to be hurrying to find a carriage all at once, and being quite small it was hard for him to get around. He eventually settled nicely in a near-empty carriage next to a strange-looking boy who was holding a quite unfortunate-looking toad.
“Hi, my name’s Seamus. Seamus Finnigan.” He introduced himself to the boy and outstretched his hand.
“I’m Neville Longbottom. Nice to-” As Neville reached to shake Seamus’ hand, the toad took a chance and leaped out of his hands and right out the door. It hopped right across the feet of a girl standing in the doorway. A mess of thick brown hair flipped her head around and shrieked. She turned to their carriage.
“What in heaven’s name is that toad doing?” She said sternly through thick buck teeth.
“Trevor!” Neville wailed and began chasing after the Toad.
“Well, I’m going to help him look.” The girl said to him. “...What was his name?”
"The Toad or the Boy?” Seamus replied, cheekily.
“The Boy.”
“Neville Longbottom.” She grimaced upon hearing it. Truthfully, it was quite a strange name.
“That’s unfortunate.” She began to walk away, but Seamus wanted to be polite so before she left he hastily added.
“I’m Seamus Finnigan, by the way.”
“Hermoine Granger.”
“I’d better go looking too. We don’t want that toad in someone's trunk. That’d be quite the surprise in their room tonight.” Seamus laughed as he slid past Hermoine. She went the opposite way, scurrying off after Neville, in search of the allusive toad.
Seamus opened the first carriage on his right. A gaggle of much older students glared his way as he asked if they had seen a toad. The carriage on his left was full of chatting students, too busy to look his way. He checked carriage after carriage to no avail. Finally, he opened a carriage to a couple who had clearly missed each other over the summer. He quickly slammed the door wishing he hadn’t opened it in the first place. He suddenly felt very tired and decided to give up on his search.
He slid the next carriage door open. Inside was an older boy sleeping, taking up an entire seat and a first-year curled up with a sketchbook by the window on the other side.
“Have you seen a Toad ‘round here? A boy’s lost one.” Seamus asked the sketching boy.
“Nope, sorry.” He answered looking up from his drawing with big brown eyes. He had a lop-sided grin on his face, one that made you want to talk to him.
“Well, I’m not looking any longer. Mind if I sit here?” He flopped down on the seat next to him and stretched out his legs.
“Okay. Hello, I’m Dean.” The boy introduced himself, the grin on his face stretching out.
“I’m Seamus.” He replied with a toothy smile.
“So… are you a wizard too?” Dean asked, nervously, after some time. Oh boy, was he daft?
“No, I’m a muggle stowaway who’s looking fer a new life,” Seamus answered, full of joyful sarcasm. Dean laughed heartily. “We’re all wizards.”
“Sorry, I’m not really used to the whole wizarding world stuff yet.”
“Muggleborn are ya?” Dean nodded, a grimace on his face as if he was expecting a punch. “I’m half muggle, maself.”
“Are you really? I’ve only met full wizards so far. They aren’t very nice.” Dean now seemed very interested in their conversation and closed his sketchbook, tucking it away in his trunk.
“Oh some of them have gotta be nice. We just gotta find the right ones.” Of course, Seamus had interacted with some very nice pureblood wizards before but he hadn’t met any at Hogwarts yet. Then again, he hadn’t really met anyone at Hogwarts yet. He was still on the train.
“Oh! Do they have football at Hogwarts?” Dean asked eagerly with a large grin spreading like wildfire on his face. That made Seamus really wish he knew what Merlin's name that was.
“What’s football?” Dean’s brow scrunched up as Seamus asked the question.
“Do you really not know what football is?” Dean seemed extremely surprised by this. It must be some really famous dish in the muggle world that Seamus had never tried or something. Football seemed like a really nasty food. Whatever it was, Seamus had the yearning to try it immediately. He shook his head at Dean. “It’s only the best sport ever!”
“Oh, is it like muggle quidditch?” Seamus now felt very embarrassed because he was about to ask what football tasted like.
“Is that a wizard sport?” Is that a wizard sport? IS THAT A WIZARD SPORT? How could he not know what quidditch was? It was only the single most important game on the planet.
“You are going to learn a lot at Hogwarts.” Seamus sighed, shaking his head slightly.
“What’s it like? Hogwarts?” Dean had a slight panic in his eyes.
“Well, I haven’t been yet either, but my mam says it's amazin’. Moving staircases, hidden passageways, pranks, ghosts-”
“Ghosts?!” Seamus expected to see fear in the Dean’s eyes but instead was a look of fascination. What a strange lad.
“Yeah and there's this big forbidden forest full of werewolves, giant spiders, centaurs, and any type of terrifying creatures you can imagine.”
“Wow.” Seamus felt very smart. Dean knew so little of the wizarding world and it felt nice to know more than someone for once.
All of the sudden, The boy next to them let out a tremendous snore. Seamus and Dean glanced at each other and began to giggle. Seamus snorted, which only made them laugh harder. Seamus clutched his side bending at the waist. Suddenly, the boy stirred. Dean and Seamus went silent at once. They glanced at each other once more and Seamus had to clap a hand over his mouth to stop from laughing again.
“Do you want to move to my carriage?” Seamus whispered to Dean through quiet laughter. They silently slipped Dean’s trunk off the luggage rack. Seamus jumped back as he saw two green eyes behind it.
“Oh, don’t be scared. That’s just my cat.” Dean slipped his arm around the fluffy mass and pulled him out. The cat was black with little white spots on his feet that looked like socks and one white spot around his left eye. He looked thoroughly perturbed but too lazy to do anything about it.
“What’s his name?” Seamus asked wearily, eyeing the cat as they shuffled quietly out of the carriage.
“He doesn’t have one yet.” Dean replied, trying to steady the cat slipping out of his arms.
“You haven’t named yer cat?”
“Not yet, I can’t think of a good name.”
“Baubles?”
“No it doesn’t suit him well enough.” They rushed along the corridor looking for Seamus’ car.
“Hmm…Pastie?”
“No, that’s too girlish.”
“Ah! There it is!” Seamus swung open the door to his carriage which was surprisingly still empty. He lugged Dean’s trunk onto the open side of the rack. Dean and Seamus flopped down on the seats on opposite sides of the car. Dean pulled out his sketchbook again and began to doodle at once.
“Wocha drawing?” Seamus wondered, curiously.
“Oh um… Just my cat y’know.”
“What about… Merlin?” Seamus suggested.
“What?”
“For the cat.”
“That’s perfect! Oh you’re a genius.” Dean grabbed the cat's face and lifted it. It let out an annoyed meow at this. “Merlin the greatest cat of all time!” Seamus was very pleased with himself for coming up with the name.
Dean and Seamus spent the rest of the ride talking about Hogwarts, quidditch, family, and pretty much anything else that popped into their heads. They almost didn’t notice when they pulled into the station. Dean sat contently in his robes as Seamus had to scramble to get into his. Outside the window, a swirling purple sky sat atop mountains and hills. Seamus couldn’t see Hogwarts, but he knew it was near. He had never been more excited for anything in his entire life. He knew Hogwarts was soon to be his home. He stepped off the train with a near strangling feeling of anticipation and happiness. He felt as if he were going to explode.