Once she had her wand, Camelia became practically obsessed with using it, though Lily and Severus were also more or less intoxicated by the wonder of magic.
They had already exchanged basic information about their wands. Lily's wand was willow, unicorn hair, ten and a quarter inches. Severus's wand was birch, snake's nerve, thirteen and a half inches.
However, using a wand to cast spells independently could prove somewhat difficult for underage young wizards who had not yet started school. Even though Camelia and her companions possessed exceptional talent, textbooks alone seemed unable to resolve all their issues. What was more, Camelia and Severus secretly studied Dark Arts behind Lily's back.
Dark Arts were advanced magic, or so they both agreed. Consequently, they needed more books to deepen their understanding of Charms. Years earlier, they had already used Eileen's old books to study first-year material, assuming the textbooks would have changed, only to find it was merely a repeat review for them.
Thus, both Camelia and Severus tacitly chose to continue studying the old books left behind by Eileen. Those old volumes contained a wealth of knowledge, though the vast majority of it pertained to Potions.
Soon enough, time brought them to September amidst their studies and anticipation.
On the first of September, as previously arranged, Camelia waited very early outside her front door for Severus. He and Severus would head to platform nine and three-quarters together. Although Lily dearly wanted to send them off, her entire family would be going to see Lily off at the platform, making it impossible for Mr. Evans's car to have any room for anyone else.
Carrying an old and battered suitcase, Camelia waited a short while before seeing Severus emerge from his house. Eileen said goodbye to him at the doorway. She patted Severus on the head, though Severus looked thoroughly unaccustomed to it. Mother and son shared a stiff embrace before quickly letting go.
Watching the scene, Camelia could not quite describe her feelings; perhaps she felt a tinge of envy, as absolutely no one was seeing her off. Still, it did not matter, nor was it a reason for sadness, for she was heading toward the place she longed for.
She quietly waited for Severus and his mother to finish talking, then watched Severus walk toward her.
Severus was still wearing his mother's old clothes, though they fit him somewhat better than before, likely because Eileen had altered them. Camelia was wearing the clothes she had worn on her previous trip to Diagon Alley.
At midday, they reached their destination: King's Cross Station. They quickly passed through the barrier between platform nine and platform ten.
"It really is magical, Sev." Camelia felt as though passing through that wall was like stepping through a curtain of water. Afterward, what lay revealed before their eyes was a bustling crowd of wizards and, standing out prominently among them, the dark red steam engine.
Billowing smoke from the train drifted above the platform, numerous cats wandered back and forth through the crowd, and owls hooted in alarm from within their cages. Neither Camelia nor Severus had bought any pets, let alone an owl. Camelia had none due to a lack of money and necessity, while Severus had none simply due to a lack of money.
The majority of the crowd consisted of wizards dressed in wizarding attire much like that seen in Diagon Alley, with only a small fraction wearing Muggle clothing.
Standing at the edge of the crowd, Camelia and Severus pulled out a book to read together while waiting for Lily's arrival. The crowd bustled all around them, yet they existed in a world entirely their own.
Having finished saying goodbye to her parents, Lily followed the others through the barrier.
She was equally shocked and excited by the sight. Standing not far from the entrance, she spotted Camelia and Severus at the very first glance, standing at the edge of the crowd and dressed differently from everyone else.
"Lia! Sev!" Lily waved at Camelia and Severus across the crowd. Watching them both look up simultaneously at her call and flash her a smile, she felt a profound sense of satisfaction. This was a brand-new journey, and she was not alone.
Soon, they reunited. Lily had rather a lot of luggage, so Camelia and Severus both helped share the burden.
Walking down the train corridor, they quickly found an empty compartment near the back of the train. Severus stowed their luggage on the overhead rack and immediately pulled out a book on Charms to read on his own. Camelia desperately wanted to join him and read along, but Lily kept excitedly recounting her amazement upon first entering the platform, leaving Camelia with no choice but to smile and chat happily with Lily.
"Hey, Sirius, there's an empty seat here." A boisterous voice rang out. The face of a messy-haired boy wearing round-rimmed glasses appeared in the compartment door's window, and shortly after, a handsome black-haired boy squeezed in beside him. The way they both peered around haphazardly through the window looked somewhat comical, yet it also made Camelia and Lily feel intruded upon.
Furious, Lily walked over and slid the door open. The two boys nearly lost their footing, though thankfully they managed not to fall. "What are you doing? Don't crowd around other people's compartment doors, doing that is really obnoxious!" Lily said loudly and angrily toward them.
The bespectacled boy's face instantly flushed red. "Hey, sorry. I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black. What's your name?"
Lily rolled her eyes dramatically, having no desire to deal with them whatsoever, and reached to close the door.
"Hey, wait, don't close it." Potter wanted to share a compartment with this cute girl, so he jammed his foot in the doorway to keep Lily from shutting it. Lily simply wanted to distance herself from these two obviously loud and boisterous individuals, but she had no wish to injure anyone.
Stopping her motion to close the door, her face flushed red with anger, she demanded furiously, "What on earth do you want! You'd better actually have a reason!" A pair of green eyes fixed on them, blazing with fury.
Camelia walked up beside Lily, took hold of the door handle, and replaced Lily at the position. Lily took a step back, crossed her arms, and continued to glare at them angrily.
"Is there something you need? If not, we're going to close the door." Camelia looked at them coldly, saying with a hint of impatience.
"We just wanted to get to know you two. After all, we'll be classmates soon," Potter said, looking at Lily with bright, shining eyes.
"Unnecessary," Camelia stated, using her foot to forcefully shove Potter's leg out of the way before slamming the door shut hard.
"Thud—"
"Hey, don't close it!" Potter cried out loudly, narrowly avoiding getting hit in the face by the door.
"Oh... I still don't know that red-haired girl's name," Potter said dejectedly, returning to Sirius's side in frustration.
"Hey, it's fine, James. We'll find out when we get sorted," Black patted his good friend on the shoulder and consoled him.
"Sigh, I suppose that's the only way. Let's go see if there are empty seats in any other compartments," they said as they walked away.
"They're finally gone. They're so annoying!" Lily let out a long sigh of relief and said indignantly.
"Forget about them, Lily. Is there anything to eat? I'm a bit hungry," Camelia brought up another topic to distract Lily's attention.
"Speaking of which, my mum made me blueberry cheesecake, and it tastes amazing! You guys have to try it!" Excitedly, Lily pulled a packaged little cake from her backpack and shoved one into the hands of both Camelia and Severus.
Though it was somewhat too sweet for Camelia and Severus, they nonetheless ate the treat gifted by their good friend in high spirits.
Just as they finished eating and tidying up the table, the loudspeaker announcement broadcasted that they were about to arrive at the station and instructed the young wizards to change into their school robes.
Severus stood up, intending to step out into the corridor to leave the space inside for the two ladies to change.
"Hold on, Sev," Camelia called out to him. With that, she silently pulled out her old school robe and slipped it on over her clothes. Under Severus's gaze—which seemed to suggest he was looking at a troll—she walked over to his side. "Let's go, Lily will need to change into her school robes."
"Eh? Lia, you're cheating!" Lily protested in a playful, complaining tone, and under the watchful eyes of Camelia and Severus, she too pulled out her school robe and put it on.
"Now it's your turn, Sev—" Lily straightened her hair, which had become somewhat disheveled from putting on the robe, and said with mischievous intent.
"Shall we step outside and give this shy gentleman some privacy?" Camelia arched an eyebrow at Lily, casting a teasing look at Severus as she spoke.
"No. Need." Severus said through gritted teeth, then hastily pulled out his school robe and threw it on, his face flushing with a faint blush from the hurried movement.
"Oh... alright," Lily said with a hint of regret, then could not help covering her mouth and burying her face against Camelia's shoulder as she chuckled softly.
Severus stared at them with dark lines across his forehead, while Camelia pressed her lips together and cast her gaze evasively elsewhere.
—Those windows really are such windows!