Chapter Text
Five million.
King Cross station, that is, is visited by an average of five million people every day and today was no different. Crowded. Confined. Ah yes, the thought alone was enough for him to reach and grasp for his inhaler. King Cross station is the perfect breeding ground for infections and illnesses.
Inhale. Exhale.
By god was he late. Just a month earlier, a plump and very kind woman, by the name of Pomona Sprout, smiled at him and told him “ Do not worry Edward, I will show you where the platform is – for it is indeed real. All muggleborn, children born to non-magical families that is, will assemble an hour before at the-”
Now was not the time to reminisce! For the clock is 10:50, and “The train leaves at 11 AM sharp! So be sure to-”. Eddie stretched his neck desperately reading the platform numbers. Fuck, inhale. Exhale.
Looking down, leaving the ticket in his left hand, grabbing the inhaler with his right. Shaking it, up down up down u - PANG. Suddenly his chest collided with the cart. “Ow! what the fuck? Watch where you’re going Loser”.
“oh, shit fuck, I’m so sorry” blurred eyes blinking, hooting in the background hurting his ears. In front of him stood a girl, his age he presumed, in a pink shirt, jean-shorts with a white belt, and her long blond hair was tied up in a ponytail at the top of her head. Eddie would say she was quite pretty,
Huffing and raising a brow, she looked him up and down until she saw what he held in his left hand. “Hogwarts?”
“Thank god you too, do you have any idea where the fuck- I mean” hands fumbling with his fanny pack, putting the inhaler back, “Where the platform is?”
The girl was now looking over his shoulder, “Your parents aren’t here to show you?”
“Uh, no um… No.” Don’t think about it.
Staying quiet for a few seconds, glancing down at her boots, before sighing “Follow me”.
………..
Greta Keene, Eddie found out, was not what you could call nice per say. Not much for conversation either, but focused instead on chewing, occasionally making a bubble with her pink bubble gum.
Tooth decay, stomach issues, jaw stress, irregular development of facial muscles-
Inhale. Exhale. Shaking his head, trying to block the thoughts out.
Despite this Eddie found her company pleasant. She answered his questions, how is this allowed? A portal in the middle of King cross – do they have a permit? Which yes. Yes, they did. Unbelievable.
The two of them hurried on through the train hallway, looking for a suitable compartment. Going from full ones, to yet another full one – alas it is the cost of being late, if only his mother had-
Don’t think about it.
Suddenly Greta pushed a door open, “Can we sit in here?”
Inside was a notably well-dressed boy, in black pants, white oxford button-down shirt, with a gray cotton vest with what looks it had like embroidered birds on it. Adorning atop his curly golden, walnut brown hair was a kippah. He looked away from the window, glancing at the entrance before his focus returned to their original spot.
“Sure”.
Going inside Eddie couldn’t help but feel a bit self-conscious in his pastel yellow shirt with a mickey mouse print his mom got him for Christmas two years ago, a black fanny pack and faded blue shorts. But Greta did not seem to share his feeling as she strode into the compartment, chewing her gum nonchalantly.
Getting the luggage up on the overhead, however, even whilst standing on his tiptoes was quite the issue. “Need help?”
The boy looked at him with a smile and a glint in his eyes, blood rushed to Eddies face, growing hot. “No.”
Eddie jumped up on the seat and shoved the luggage in the overhead with a satisfied huff. He then sat down and smirked at the boy. “Eddie Kaspbrak, Nice to meet you”
“Stanley Uris.” The new boy said, looking back outside of the window. Curious Eddie looked outside too, where a sea of parents resided. All looking happy, some even crying, except for a man whom Stan was having a staring competition with. The resemblance was there, however the man looked stern, cold and faded. Stanley took a deep breath as if his heart felt heavy.
It only made it impossible for Eddie not to think back to his own mother, who was probably crying in the parking lot of Kings Crossing “They’re taking you away from me Eddie-Bear” . Eddie feels as though he might just puke.
The trio sat in silence as the train started moving. The pit in his stomach only growing bigger by the second as the screams of good-byes from students and parents alike fill the air. His eyes met Greta’s, and a moment of understanding passed between them. Her parents weren’t there either.
Inhale. Exhale. Don’t think about it.
As soon King crossing is no longer in sight, Stanley gently moves removes his kippah and puts it in his backpack. He pulls out a book from the backpack as well, seemingly about birds. Greta is by this point scribbling something in a notebook. Eddie resides himself to looking out the window, reciting the things he read repeatedly in Hogwarts, A history .
The silence was soon interrupted by a familiar beeping noise. Stanley looked up interested by his wristwatch. “What is that?”
Fumbling with his fanny pack to get to the medicine Eddie says, “Uh just a wristwatch. It reminds me when it's time to take my pills.”
“You do know that no technology work at Hogwarts, right?” Greta said, raising her brow.
“Wait what?” Stanley raised both his eyebrows, looking interested, “Really?”.
Greta rolling her eyes and then popped her gum bubble, “Yeah, electricity messes with magic. So, they have some anti electricity magic all around the school.”
Eddie stared at his wrist for a second, “Fuck, if I get sick or- or don’t take my pills my mom is going to kill me”
Greta and Stanley shared a glance, before Stanley said “Well, don’t worry about it. I have this magical alarm; we can set it up together.”
The rest of the train ride goes by smoothly. They talk about their interests, Stan is a bird fanatic, whilst Greta loves poetry. Eddie feels a bit ashamed, not really having a hobby of his own, and says he likes to read and cook. That much is true, when forced to stay inside all day one must make time pass somehow and books proved to be useful, and he had to learn the joys of cooking otherwise…
Don’t think about it.
They also talked about the house sorting; Eddie didn’t know what he would become. Or what qualities he has really… But decided not to think about it too hard.
Greta said she didn’t have a preference but Ravenclaw would be cool. Stanley just grinned, mimicking Eddie “Fuck, if I don’t become a Slytherin my dad is going to kill me”
After arriving at the train station and on the way to the boats, all around them were whispers of a William Denbrough. Eddie has no idea who he was but did not have time to ask as he was distracted by the giant man escorting them. His name was Hagrid, it seemed.
It wasn’t until he was on the boat with Greta, Stan and another kid who are talking about it yet again that he snaps. “Who the fuck is William Denbrough?”
………..
The story of the boy who lived, and the reality of dark evil wizards, was enough for Eddie to become lost in his headspace on their way to through the castle. But it was not fully a feeling of dread nor a wish to go home and be safe, but a sick feeling of excitement bubbling up – but the image of his mom left him with a guilt that killed any excitement he might have felt.
They stop by the top of a staircase where a stern older woman is waiting for them. A boy with thick glasses and wild curly black hair turns around and sees them, he’s far ahead in front, but waves madly, making gestures back at them. Or specifically Stanley.
Greta leans closer, “Who’s that?”
“An idiot.” Eddie mumbles. Stanley snorts at that and gives a nod of agreement. The idiot is insistent, causing Stanley to sigh before dragging them up to said Idiot.
When they got closer Eddie saw that a cute auburn-haired boy stood beside the dark-haired idiot, smiling at them, his face felt a bit hot (probably from the rushed movement, and from the crowd that surrounded him...). He didn’t even note the idiot until-
“Stan the man, already a brunette, and a blond hoe by your side. Hell yeah player!” the idiot says, holding his hand up for Stan to high five.
Fuck. No. “Put that hand down, Stan doesn’t want to catch whatever disease you have”
The idiot looks at him in shock “Disease?”. Eddie snorts and raises an eyebrow, “Yeah, like the stomach flu? You should know about that one since you’re spewing bullshit everywhere”
But before the idiot could react, the stern woman in front of them started talking.
………..
When the sorting starts everybody is nervous including, and especially Eddie. However, whatever worry he had about the houses was diminished by the hat. He didn’t care if it could talk or if it could sing,
“I swear to fucking god, do you magical people have any sense of cleanliness? Is this even allowed?” Eddie frantically rambles on to Stan, keeping his voice quiet. Stan just rolls his eyes and scoffs. They watched as the idiot, whose name turned out to be Richard Tozier, who had just been sorted and was walking to William Denbrough at the Gryffindor table.
“Mike Hanlon” McGonagall announces, and a handsome boy with short black hair walks up to the podium.
“HUFFLEPUFF”
As with the others, everyone clapped, but mostly said house, Mike smiled and joined his table. At this point most people have been sorted. A kid named Ben Hanscom was first to go and was sorted into Hufflepuff. A fiery ginger girl named Beverly was sorted into Gryffindor, Greta was sorted into Ravenclaw (despite her apparent apathy beforehand, she looked ecstatic about it), Stanley into Slytherin etc.
However, this also meant that there were many heads that had sat on that hat, increasing the number of bacteria and filth-
“Edward Kaspbrak”
Eddie froze up but walked slowly towards the chair set up. As soon as he sat down and the hat was lowered down upon his head, he ushered “Do NOT fucking touch me, if you so even - Have you ever heard of lice? Do you know how many bacteria-“
Before the hat even touched his head, it shouted out “SLYTHERIN”. Eddie sighed in relief, thank god it didn’t touch him, if it did, he might have-… Not deciding to follow that train of thought he sat down beside Stanley, smiling bright, “Guess your dad won’t kill you now Stan the man”.
At dinner he could barely touch his food, just tossing it around on his plate. He tried to suppress the thoughts, rationalized it with that the nutrition in this food was poor anyways.
Stanley didn’t seem in a better mood than he was, occasionally looking up from his plate before continuing talking to a boy in front of him. Henry Bowers was his name, he got sorted shortly after Eddie himself. He didn’t understand much of the conversation and zoned out.
Eddie-bear if you leave me, how will I ever take care of this house? How am I supposed to feed myself? They’re taking you away from me, how can I survive without my Eddie-bear?
Don’t think about it.
After dinner the prefects led them into their common room. It was unbelievable, dark with green lights, a giant bookshelf, chess boards, and the windows gave an amazing view inside the great lake. Despite the safety concerns, Eddie thought it to be mesmerizing.
He also had his bed beside Stans, so really, he couldn’t complain. Before bed, Stanley looked at him, almost as if he felt guilty, telling him they needed to talk in private tomorrow. Eddie bit his lip, and nervously read a book he stole from the common room Book of Potion, Uses and Purpose.
He falls asleep with a guilty pit in his stomach as he hears in his head, Eddie-Bear . And he dreams of the day the letter came. But it was distorted, his mom crying on the floor, They’re taking you away from me Eddie! All the while a disturbing clown dances around him, Come join the clowns, Eds. when suddenly a red balloon pops in his dreams and he wakes up.
………..
First thing next morning after breakfast they have charms with Ravenclaw, Stan and Eddie sat with Greta. Greta said she is enjoying her time in Ravenclaw but seemed a bit hesitant. Professor Flitwick was the smallest man Eddie has ever seen, but a kind man. They were learning the levitation spell, wingardium leviosa, by the end of the lesson the trio had become quite good at it. They bid goodbye to Greta, who smiled at them, but walked away alone.
Next up was History of magic with a ghost called Binns. Despite everything Eddie found it fascinating. Which was the opposite of the blond plump boy, Ben Hanscom if Eddie remembers correctly, who repeatedly got distracted by Henry Bowers throwing clumps of paper at him. Eddie could feel the anger bubbling up from within, ready to tell him off. “Don’t” Stanley whispered.
They shoved the food into their mouths as quickly as they could at dinner, before hurrying off to the library. Eddies mom would not let him touch anything that was not absolutely necessary for school; which mean the only books he got was schoolbooks. So, naturally, with a whole new world for him to explore – going to the library was going to be awesome.
On their way out of the great hall they bump into William, Marsh and Tozier, who stops them grinning at Stan, “Aw in a hurry to meet me Stan? Love me so much you couldn’t keep your distance, don’t worry your girlfriend will never find out “. Behind the glasses his eyes find Eddie and winks at him.
Ew. Stan rolls his eyes “We’re on our way to the library, don’t bother us Trashmouth.”
“Wait, like voluntarily? Man, you guys must be 60 years old.”
Something about that question made Eddie scrunch up his nose and huff, “Beats being an underdeveloped five-year-old like you, doesn’t the kindergarten have a search party looking for you by now?”
Tozier looks at him grinning with wide eyes and with a glint, but Beverly interrupts them smiling brightly before holding out her hand, “Hey I don’t think we met before, Beverly Marsh”.
Not meeting her hand, he replied with a stale “Stanley Uris”.
Eddie quirked an eyebrow at Stanley, and took her hand “Eddie Kaspbrak, nice to meet you”.
William smiled at them and waved, “I-I’m B-Bill, nice to m-meet you-ou two. D-don’t l-listen to R-Richie he’s just d-dumb sometimes” Eddie felt his face becoming warm again, feeling his stomach feeling weird. Was he getting sick? Inhale. Exhale. Oh god, his mom would-
Bill looked at Stanley with his head down, a bit flustered but his eyes focused, “S-so, y-you’re Stanley? R-Richie has t-told me lots a-about you, o-only good stuff though-“
“Excuse us but we have got to head for the library now, see you around Richie.” Stanley said with a strained smile. Eddie felt a hand tugging at his robe, dragging him towards the library.
“SEE YOU AGAIN SOON STAN, YOU TOO EDS” Tozier shouted after them.
“ Eds ?”
………..
When arriving at the library finally, the place was humongous, and Eddie couldn’t be more satisfied. Just imagine all the information in here, all the spells and more. The librarian looked them over untrusting, before Stanley introduced himself.
“Stanley Uris, you’ve grown quite a bit! Last time we met you were only a baby. I know your father you see, great man. Send my regards to him and let him know your family are welcome for dinner anytime. Tell me if you need any help” Ms. Pince ushered, giving them a smile for a moment, before returning to her stern look.
Stanley gave a polite reply, thanking her. Eddie couldn’t say he wasn’t curious about Stanley’s dad but, he felt as if that wasn’t a welcomed topic. Understandably so, Eddie wasn’t too keen on talking about his mother either.
After collecting multiple books on several different topics Stan and Eddie had found an empty spot in the library. Which wasn’t that hard, considering the hour of the day. “So, what the fuck is your problem?” Eddie asks in a high-pitched voice, “You’ve been a bitch all day and the thing with Bill? You didn’t even say hi to him.”
“Look, things are complicated. I don’t… I won’t interact with Denbrough for personal reasons.” Chewing on his lips, “But we need to talk. Since you’re… you know, not a…” He looked around making sure no one was around before whispering. “You’re a muggleborn”
“Yeah what about it?” raising his eyebrows,
“Look… Not everyone in the wizarding world are as accepting of outsiders. Those born into magical families such as me are called pure bloods, and- “Eddie was hanging onto Stans every word. Of the wars, the complicated relations of the wizarding world, he-who-shall-not-be-named. “So, as a pureblood with connections, my father expects me to meet certain standards for the family name and… He can’t have me hanging around a muggleborn.”
Eddie feels like he just had been hit in the stomach, all air leaving him for a moment, “What… You’re not going to stop being friends-?” Eddie wasn’t sure if they were friends, but he hoped, desperately. Before this he never had any, being locked inside all day, hiding from the dangers of the world. He did not want to lose Stanley or Greta by this point. “But… what if your father doesn’t find out?”
“He will. Most of the Slytherins know each other, family connections, and the gossip will reach him somehow.” Stanley gives him a reluctant smile, “I won’t stop being your friend but… If we leave it like it is, you’ll only become a target for people like Henry, and I will...” He pauses and bites his lips so hard it bleeds, “But I have a plan”
“what is it?”
“Well, more like. You know when I talked to Henry yesterday?” Eddie nodded. “I kind of told him, your family is a pure blood Belgian family, called Argent, who fled the country after charges of…” Stanley actually has the decency to look embarrassed, “You know... bad things. So, they had to go undercover as a muggle family until… the law is um, under control.”
Taking a deep breath, “You did what now? ” Grasping for his inhaler.
“Look you understand what I’m saying right? Come on Eddie… I’m only trying to keep you safe”. Eddie was grasping for his inhaler, “Keep me safe? I think you mean keep yourself safe! Are you ashamed of me, is that is?” he spat out.
“Eddie no! I mean,” Stanley looked frightened rubbing his wrist, “You don’t understand what these people are capable of. Please .”
The tone of voice, the terror, he recognized – identified with it in a way he wasn’t all too sure about.
Eddie-bear.
“Okay. But when this all blows up, I’ll remind you this is a horrible idea.”