The ride home
2086

The sun casted an orange glow over the platform at Hogsmeade. Kevin sat on his luggage , waiting for the Hogwarts Express to arrive in the station. His eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were glistening from the tears he hadn’t bothered wiping away. He wasn’t crying at the moment though. He stared at the trees and he looked like he had had his soul sucked out by a Dementor.

This was not true of course. Although he didn’t move and stared off in to space, his mind was over working. ‘You NEVER learn from your mistakes!’ ‘Pack your bags, you’re hereby expelled from Hogwarts' ……..Expelled. He was expelled. He moved for the first time in fifteen minutes to look behind him at the castle. Would the other Gryffindor’s wonder where he’d gone? A feeling of hatred washed over him as he looked at the school and turned back.

More time passed until eventually he could hear the engine of the train in the distance. Kevin stood up , turned around to grab his luggage but they were suddenly lifted up in to the air by magic. He had forgotten about his Head of House waiting with him. The two hadn’t talked at all and Kevin hadn’t minded. This whole situation didn’t require small talk. As the train stopped and the doors opened up, Kevin watched as his luggage was put inside.

He hesitated. Looking from the train to Professor Flamsteed. “Take care of yourself, Mister Hirase” the man said and he sounded sincere. Kevin looked away and stepped inside the train without a word of goodbye. “I contacted your parents, they will be at Kings Cross to pick you up” His stomach flipped. His parents.

The doors closed and the train left the station. The ex-Gryffindor still stood at the door and pressed his forehead against the glass. He closed his eyes as a fresh wave of tears threatened to fall again and he took a shaky breath to compose himself. It took him another couple of minutes before he picked up his luggage and went to find the nearest compartment.

It was strange sitting in a train by himself. He was used to hearing chatter everywhere. He could actually hear it in his mind but of course those were just imaginative echoes . He sat near the window and placed his feet on the seat next to him. He watched the sky outside getting darker and darker as the minutes passed. Kevin was exhausted. The last few hours had completely drained him both emotionally and mentally and although he did not want to sleep because he was sure he couldn’t , he still closed his eyes.

He woke up again after half an hour of sleep by a voice calling his name. For a second he wondered where he was as he looked around the compartment in a daze. Then the memories came back and he sighed heavily. The sky outside was completely dark now and he could see the stars if he leaned closer to the window to look up. “Kevin?” The fourteen year old turned away from the window to frown at his bag. He thought he had imagined a voice calling his name but now he heard it again.

“Kevin, it’s me, Zander” His best friend was trying to contact him through the two-way mirror but Kevin didn’t feel like talking right now. So he ignored him. He knew it was wrong to ignore a friend. Probably the only friend he had but he simply did not want to see or hear him right now. He leaned back in his seat and stared outside again, ignoring his best friend for now. Zander must have gotten the hint or he simply thought he couldn’t answer for some reason because he had stopped calling his name after a while.

His stomach started to growl as two hours of silence passed. He had been stretching his legs earlier by walking in the corridor. The trolley lady hadn’t come at all and he somehow knew that she wasn’t on board in the first place. It was just him and the driver. He wondered why the Headmistress hadn’t just given him a portkey home. But then she probably thought this would be a good start of the punishment. He should have known, the Headmistress had probably made sure he wasn’t getting any food during the train ride and she probably had contacted the driver that this was a punishment for him.

What the woman did not know though, was that Kevin had candy hidden in his luggage. Zander had given him his candy when they had said their goodbyes in the dormitory. He felt guilty for ignoring him earlier now but the feeling flew away as he opened up his bag and dropped the candy on the seat next to him. He rummage through it and picked up a chocolate frog. He unwrapped the package and bit the frog’s head off before it could jump away. As he chewed on the chocolate he turned the card around and his stomach did a little flip again. Headmaster Dumbledore. He stuffed the card in his bag so that he couldn’t see it. He couldn’t stand looking at any Headmaster or Headmistress right now.

When the chocolate was finished he began to eat the other candies as well until everything was gone. He sighed in satisfaction as he looked outside again . The landscape outside had turned from trees and hills to small villages now. He knew they were nearing the station and after another forty five minutes the train slowed down. Kevin picked up his luggage and dragged them through the corridor to the nearest door. This took some time since he wasn’t allowed to use magic outside of school and by the time he had every bag and trunk at the door the train stopped.

They had arrived at King’s Cross station. The train let out a whistle as the doors opened up and Kevin got out. He was surprised for a second time when his luggage was lifted up in the air again and he looked around to find whoever was helping him and his two different coloured eyes found his father. Fear and guilt were the emotions he felt at the same time at the sight of him but his father said nothing. Kevin knew he was waiting till they weren’t in public.

He followed his father a few steps behind , his head hanging as he stared at the ground. How angry would they be? He pushed the luggage on to a trolley as they entered the muggle world and walked towards the parking lot. The place was nearly deserted. His father stopped somewhere in the shadows and Kevin nearly bumped in to him. He watched as his father looked around before turning his eyes to look at his son.

There wasn’t anger in his eyes, neither sadness. Kevin could have sworn he saw disappointment and he felt even worse seeing this. The silence treatment wasn’t what he was used to. He was used to them fighting. Exchanging verbal shouting but none of this was happening and it confused him. “Hold on to my shoulder” Kevin didn’t say anything as he placed a shaky hand on his father’s shoulder. They turned on the spot and vanished.

Character credits to:
Airey Flamsteed / sweetpinkpixie
Zander Adair / ArianaBlack

The talk
2086


They landed at the end of the street under a lamp and Kevin was glad that no one was outside when they materialised. He didn’t want to get in to more trouble than he was in right now. His father pushed the trolley like a muggle towards their apartment and he instructed his son to go up. Kevin looked at his luggage and tried to grab one when his hand was hit. “I’ll take care of this, you go straight to your room when you get home, understood?” his tone was strict and Kevin could only nod.

He pushed the button on the elevator door and stepped inside. Their apartment was on the third floor of the flat building. Although it looked small, it was magically larger on the inside so that it looked like a small mansion with spaced rooms. And as a pure-blooded family they rarely had muggles over. As the doors of the elevator closed he took notice of his reflection for the first time. Red teary eyes stared back at him and his hair was a mess. He tried to do something about his hair but the elevator already arrived at the floor and he sighed.

As he opened the door to his apartment he was greeted by the smell of food inside of the kitchen. His mother was making something to eat despite the late hour. His stomach growled at the smell because even though he had eaten candy in the train he was still hungry. But his father’s instruction had been clear and he didn’t want to face his mother just yet so he slipped in the next room and entered his bedroom.

The room looked different. He noticed it the moment he had shut the door behind him. His posters of his favourite quidditch team were gone. He walked to his desk and opened his drawer. His parents had taken his comic books as well. They had taken away everything that could distract him and he fell down on the bed on his stomach.

He heard his father enter the house after a while and he turned on to his back to listen better. Although their voices were muffled by the walls, he could still hear bits of conversations. Apparently they were going to eat dinner after the talk and he could hear his mother saying that he needed to eat as well. But his father told her no and that this was a punishment. Being expelled did not gave you the right to eat a normal dinner.

The talk. Kevin was afraid of this and wanted to avoid it but he knew there was no turning around it. No way of avoiding it at all. He tensed up as he heard his father’s harsh voice calling him. “Kenji Hirase, get in here right now!” He took a deep shaky breath. With all the trouble he had been in , he knew this was going to be the worst talk ever. Even worse than when the muggle cops had bought him home after he had stolen a couple of items at the local store.

Leaving his bedroom, Kevin shuffled towards the main living room. He was an only child so when he entered the room he only saw his mother and father. His mother, a beautiful woman in his opinion sat in the armchair near the window. The curtains were closed and a fire was set in the fire place. Her eyes looked like his in the sense that she probably had been crying as well. Kevin then looked at his father who wasn’t seated down. He was standing in front of the fireplace with his hands behind his back as he paced back and forward. He stopped pacing when his son had entered the room and his eyes narrowed.

Kevin gulped and lowered his eyes at the glare. His father motioned at the pillow on the ground and told him to sit on it. The pillow was in the middle of the room and without saying a word, Kevin walked over to it. He knew what was going to happen, he had sat here before. He was going to get scolded and wasn’t allowed to say anything back. He sat with his knees on the pillow and placed his hands on his legs. He hadn’t looked up yet.

“I can’t believe the kind of stunt you pulled off now” His father began. His voice was calm but Kevin could hear the hidden anger inside of it. He pulled out a letter and waved it. Kevin knew that it was a letter because he could hear the unmistakable sound of paper flapping. “This arrived a few hours ago. A letter from your Headmistress about your expulsion” he slammed the paper in front of him on the ground and Kevin was forced to either look at the letter or his father now. He choose the first one because it was less scary. If the Professors thought they could scare him they were sadly mistaken. They couldn’t even get on his father’s level. “Do you have any idea what you have done? You destroyed your future, Kenji!”

“But i…” it had been a mistake to open his mouth. He knew it a second after he did it. “No buts! I can’t believe you! Attacking an Professor when he has his back turned?! I should call the Ministry this instant and have them lock you in up in Azkaban “ Kevin’s heart skipped a beat, his eyes widened. His father wouldn’t really do that right? His mother was thinking the same thing because she stood up from her seat and to his surprise she stood next to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort. “We are not sending our son to Azkaban” she said firmly and Kevin looked up to see his father’s eyes soften just a little. “You’re right , love. We are not heartless idiots like someone in this room” ouch. That hurt. He felt the hand of his mother squeeze his shoulder to assure him that this would all be over soon and that they would go back to normal.

Not for him though. What was he supposed to do now? He didn’t have an education. No friends except for Zander. Boy, was he glad he still had the two-way mirror. The hand left him but his mother did not leave his side. He loved her for this. She had never given up on him no matter how fast and hard he fell. It was time to crawl back up from this point. But how? “You will be grounded till we say so. You are not allowed to leave the house unless we say so. No friends” ‘what friends?’ Kevin thought. The only friend he had was Zander and he was at Hogwarts. “can come over and I’m sure even you have observed that your comic books are gone” his father didn’t wait for a reply and continued “You will be working around the house each day and you will not complain even once , understood? “ Kevin nodded his head. “Speak up, boy!” Kevin’s hands turned in to fists for a second but then he relaxed them “Yes father” he was glad his voice sounded confident and his father seemed pleased. “Alright, go to your room”

“But I haven’t eaten y---“ Another mistake. His father flared up again as he towered over his son. “You should have thought about that before getting yourself expelled! You could have eaten in the Great Hall! You did this to yourself. Now stop your whining and go to your room!” He looked at his mother who looked at him in pity but didn’t say anything. Despite her more softer approach she still agreed with him. He stood up and then picked up the pillow and placed it on the couch.

“…..Goodnight “ he mumbled. His father ignored him but his mother send him a good night wish as well. When he got back in to his room he dropped down on the bed. He was angry. Not just at the school but also himself. How could he have been so stupid?! A part of him didn’t care and another part did. He had wanted to become a potioneer. Had wanted to go an university after Hogwarts and now his dream was shattered. He punched the pillow a couple of times, wanting to hit the wall but knew that his parents would give him more punishment if he did, before shutting his eyes.

Tutors and classes
2086

It had been four weeks after Kevin got expelled from Hogwarts. Every day, he was woken up by his father as he left for work. 6 am. If he thought that the 9 am classes at Hogwarts had been horrible it was nothing compared to this. He knew his routine now though. Get a shower, dress up, make breakfast for himself and his mother and then they would talk.

His mother was the good cop to his father’s bad cop. But even if she was the good cop she still agreed with his punishment. He had tried to sneak the comic book that Zander had given to him after their goodbye in the dormitory to his bedroom but his mother had caught him. Apparently, when you try to be sneaky and walk on tiptoes it is a strange behavior and she knew he was hiding something. His father would have given him an extra chore to do but his mother only took away the comic book and shook her head.

He was currently in the living room, cleaning the fire place without magic because he was still under age and although he lived with magical parents so the ministry wouldn’t find out, he still didn’t dare use his wand in case his father walked in the room unexpectedly. He coughed as he breathed in the soot of the fire place and leaned back with a groan. This was stupid. Why did he have to clean this?! He looked outside of the window, it was a rainy day and sighed loudly, longing for the outside world. He was sure he was slowly getting crazy being locked up in the house.

Midnight. He wondered how Zander was holding up at Hogwarts without him. Kevin was in his room, staring up at the ceiling and counted the glow in the dark stars he had put up there when he had been eleven. He had never gotten around taking them off. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Rolling on to his stomach, Kevin checked the clock . 4:28 AM He had to get up in two hours already and he hadn’t slept more than an hour. The chores were exhausting him but he still couldn’t sleep. A guilty conscious kept him awake. He never knew he even had one. Not being able to sleep, the expelled Gryffindor got up from the bed and walked across the room to grab his school bag.

Pulling out a mirror that his parents didn’t know he had, Kevin turned it over so that he saw his own tired reflection and opened his mouth to call his best friend. But no sound came up. He sighed. He couldn’t wake up Zander just because he couldn’t sleep. Placing the mirror back so that his mother and father wouldn’t find it and take it away from him, Kevin went back to his bed and stared at the glow in the dark stars again.

“Kenji! Get up, your mother and I want to talk to you!” Kevin rubbed his eyes. The room was bright having slept with the curtains open and the sunlight was hitting his face. How he hadn’t woken up from it was beyond him. He checked the clock beside his bed. It was 10 AM. Had his parents let him sleep in? Why though? The past few weeks he had to get up at 6 AM sharp. Were they lowering his punishment? He hoped so because he was sick of it. At 10:05 AM, Kevin had dressed into different clothes than the ones he fell asleep in and walked in to the kitchen where his parents were already seated.

There was no pillow this time in the middle of the floor so this meant he wasn’t getting scolded this time. Frowning slightly, Kevin sat down at the kitchen table across from his father who was reading the Daily Prophet. His father took his time while his mother put eggs with bacon on his plate. What was going on? His father turned the last page and folded the newspaper in half. “Your mother and I have being talking about your education, Kenji” Kevin said nothing but looked at his mother who took a seat next to her husband. “And we both believe a Hirase should finish their education no matter what” He still wasn’t saying anything though he did have the feeling where this was going to. “Starting tomorrow , you’ll be home-schooled. The Ministry has appointed two tutors who will help you , no argument” Kevin had opened his mouth to protest and closed it again. He did huff annoyingly though. “Here’s your timetable.“ His father waved his wand and a piece of paper appeared out of thin air. Kevin caught and read it.



Kevin sighed in relief at his weekend planning. “Who are the tutors?” he asked. This time it was his mother who spoke. “You have Transfiguration, Charms, Muggle studies, Defence against the Dark arts and Astronomy with Mrs. Johnson and Care of Magical creatures, Herbology, Ancient Runes , Arithmancy and Divination with Mr. Foster.” Kevin looked at the paper as she spoke and then frowned. “I don’t have potions?” he asked worriedly. Potions was his favorite and best subject. His mother smiled. “You always were observant” Kevin blushed slightly. No he wasn’t. If he was he would have seen it his expulsion coming. “I’ll be teaching you Potions in the lab in the basement”

Kevin looked up in surprise. He had never been allowed inside his mother’s potions lab. One time he had tried to brew a potion by himself and he would have succeeded if his mother hadn’t caught him. Told him it was too dangerous unsupervised and that he should have known better. But now he was actually getting class in the lab and his gloomy expression lifted up. His father took notice of this but didn’t say anything, he went back to reading the newspaper for a second time.

The following day, Kevin was woken up at 6am sharp again. He did his morning routine which had become second nature to him by now and at 8am the doorbell rang. He heard his mother greeting another woman and Kevin looked up from his breakfast. “Good morning, Kevin, I’m Mrs.Johnson and I’ll be your tutor on Monday, Wednesday and Friday” the woman greeted and held out her hand. Kevin looked at the numerous of big rings on the fingers before he shook her hand. He wasn’t sure if he liked her. “Kenji, sweety, you go to your room and grab your text books while I give a quick tour of the house to Mrs.Johnson.” Kevin groaned and continued to eat. “Now” he groaned again but stood up and placed his plate in the sink and with his last piece of bread in his mouth he moved towards his bedroom.

After a couple of minutes he managed to locate all his text books he needed for today and placed them on the table in the living room. If his parents thought he needed to continue his education than he should at least be allowed to pick the study area. He sat on the couch and waited. It didn’t take long before his mother and Mrs.Johnson came to the living room and his mother motioned the tutor to sit on the couch with a cup of tea in her hands. “Well, that was it. I’ll be doing some grocery shopping” she smiled at her son before she left.

An awkward silence. Kevin didn’t look at his new tutor directly but he still saw that she was looking at him from the corner of his eyes. Mrs.Johnson broke the silence after a while. “So, tell me a bit about yourself, Kevin” she smiled.

“Mr.Hirase” Kevin replied without looking at her. “Excuse me?” the woman asked. “It’s Mr.Hirase not Kevin” The tutor sighed heavily. “Alright, Mr.Hirase” Kevin nodded appreciatively. “And do you really care? Isn’t your job teaching me the subjects for today?” this time the tutor took a sip of her tea and surprisingly , she nodded her head. “You’re right, Mr.Hirase. But there’s no harm in talking about other things than just school work” Kevin looked at her this time and snorted. “What? So you’re a psychologist now as well?” The woman laughed. “Oh no, just someone who wants the best for you, now let us begin with Transfiguration."

Kevin rolled his eyes but grabbed his text book as the tutor stood up from her seat with a wave of the wand, a blackboard appeared. “Can you tell me what Transfiguration is” Kevin heaved a sigh. “Yes, but i was a fourth year. I don’t feel like going back to my first year again” “This is to refresh your memory, Mr.Hirase” Kevin leaned back in his seat and opened up his text book. “Fine, whatever”

Mrs.Johnson didn’t speak further and looked at him expectantly. After a moment of silence, Kevin couldn’t take it anymore “It’s a branch of magic that focuses on the alteration of the form or appearance of an object” he said , feeling annoyed. “Correct!” and his words appeared on the blackboard. This was stupid. Why did he have to learn things he already knew? “Now, the Ministry has approved of you using magic during your studies so you will not get in to trouble. However, I must warn that the trace IS still on you so please do not use magic when you aren’t studying” Kevin nodded his head. He wouldn’t dare anyways.

The time went by surprisingly fast. He practiced spells from each of the subjects, the tutor corrected him when it didn’t work and soon his notebook was filled with today’s notes. When it was time for Mrs.Johnson to say goodbye, his mother had entered the house again (as if she had timed it) and asked how things had gone. He heard that he still needed some help working on his attitude but that he was a bright student. Kevin looked away when they looked in his direction. “I’ll be seeing you on Wednesday” she said. “And don’t forget your homework” and she left.