Julian thought that maybe his parents would want to do something together on his last full day before being shipped off to Hogwarts. They had said, regretfully, that they were going off to Margo and her husband's place. A last final goodbye before they went on vacation for two weeks.

Julian was left to his own devices, but it gave him the opportunity to read more about Hogwarts and wizarding world before he was thrown into it headfirst. He tried over and over again to read over the books he had been required for his first year at Hogwarts, but they only seemed to leave him more hopelessly confused.

He was so used to being able to easily grasp new concepts and school had never been too hard for him if he actually tried. The thing was, he was trying harder with this than anything ever before, and he was getting absolutely nowhere. It only furthered his doubts that he didn't belong at this school.

He was so lost in his head and afraid of being an outcast that he nearly forgot the other part of his life that had suddenly been thrown at him.

He had a brother.

The Impossible Tale of Julian Potter sat next to him on his nightstand as a constant reminder. However, while previously filled with excitement about finally finding out who he really was, the spine of the book remained stiff, and it was left there, untouched.

His excuse for this was the fact that he had lived his whole life without this knowledge of who he was, and he figured that he had every right to be a little hesitant to find out the truth. But the logic failed when the same could be said for his being a wizard. Walking through Diagon Alley had at least been proof of that part, but he had yet to see the famous Harry Potter. Not even a picture.

He was saying his last final goodbyes to his parents as all these thoughts clouded his mind. He had told them about the supposed barrier between platforms nine and ten, and they seemed to be a little sceptical about the whole thing. Along with that, Julian
wasn't sure if they could pass through or not, not being wizards and all, so they all agreed it would be best for them to stay behind. Julian had hoped that maybe they would at least try, but understood when Gerald said that he'd really rather not embarrass himself by running into a wall.

They both smiled at Julian one last time before he took a running start towards the barrier, as suggested by Professor Sprout.

His heart was beating intensely, and it wasn't because he was out of shape. There was a part of him that still expected someone to shout out that this really was all just a sick joke. He was going to run straight into that barrier and probably get the wind knocked out of him.

But he didn't.

He kept going. And going. And going.

The problem was, he sort of tripped over the wheels of his trolley and it was sort of going out of control. In attempts to save it and himself, he ran faster in an attempt to catch it but only ended up accidentally kicking it further ahead.

Of course, leave it up to him to make his first impression in the wizarding world by nearly knocking out some kid who looked about his own age. He looked petrified for a moment, but must have had fast reflexes because he somehow caught the trolley, stopping it from going any further.

"I'm sorry!" Julian said as he caught up to him. "I sort of uh—"

"It's okay," the other boy interrupted. "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay? I nearly trampled you!"

But it seemed that was all that there was to be said, because the boy was whisked away by his parents for one last final goodbye. The pupils of Hogwarts were all already preparing themselves for the journey to Hogwarts.

Julian was left standing there, embarrassed, wondering if anyone else had seen. Fortunately, everyone else seemed rather preoccupied. Parents were tearful from having to say goodbye to their children until Christmas, but all the children seemed rather thrilled.

He was once again conflicted about what this whole thing really meant. If everyone was excited, surely he should be too? And he was, but he still had his doubts. How could he ever belong in a world that he didn't even know existed until about a month ago?

Eventually, he was forced to join the others on the train, albeit a little hesitantly. He realized this was a grave mistake when he noticed that most of the compartments were already full. It wasn't as if he was ever going to get to sit alone, but he would have rather had other people ask if the could sit with him than have to go searching for somewhere to sit himself.

In the end, he found the boy from the platform first. He wore a bright smile when he saw Julian despite the fact that he had nearly killed him.

"Can I—" Julian began to ask a little hesitantly, but the boy interrupted again, something he apparently had a knack for doing.

"Of course! Come in."

So Julian did. They were sharing the compartment with a girl who had blonde hair so light that it was practically white. She looked cheerful enough, though there was a tinge of sadness on her face as she watched out the window and the train began to pull away from the station.

"I'm Noah Wentworth," the boy said.

The girl finally looked up, seeming to understand that introductions were in order and she was next. Any trace of sadness in her eyes had suddenly vanished, but Julian had a knack for being able to read people, and he could tell that it hadn't just disappeared, but rather was put away to be remembered sometime later.

Or, maybe he just assumed that about her because that was the way it was for himself. He had too many other things on his mind to worry much about being separated from his family, but surely in due time he'd begin to miss them and home.

"Naomi McLeod," she said.

"I'm Julian Ad—" he stopped himself. He might as well use Potter. There was no point of hiding it if everyone was going to find out soon enough anyhow. "Potter."

Naomi's eyes lit up, though Noah appeared unfazed. 

"Really?" she said. "I don't know if I believe you."

"Why would I lie?"

She shrugged. "You want to be famous?"

Julian scoffed. "I'm hardly famous."

"But there's no way you can be Julian Potter. That's just a story. He's not real."

"I think I'll be the judge of whether or not I'm real."

"Um," a tiny voice piped it. Noah looked back and forth between the two, looking beyond confused. "If you don't mind me asking, who is Julian Potter?"

"Me!" Julian exclaimed causing Naomi to flinch. He was growing frustrated, knowing full well that he was indeed telling the truth.

"Ok, fine. Then tell me something about Harry that no one else would know," Naomi said.

It caught Julian off guard, because of course he didn't know a thing about Harry Potter. At least, no more than anyone else did.

"I don't live with him, so I don't really know," he said, realizing afterwards that he could have just lied. Naomi wouldn't have known any different.

She was looking at him skeptically now, clearly not believing a word that he said. "Why not?"

"I don't know!"

Julian was suddenly feeling so overwhelmed that he was close to tears. She was asking the very questions that he truly didn't have an answer to but desperately wished he did. He wasn't necessarily mad at her, though a little annoyed that she wouldn't believe his identity, and took to taking out all of his pent up frustrations on her. It wasn't fair, but he wasn't thinking about what was fair in that moment.

"If you don't want to believe me, then fine! You'll see soon enough, and then I'll be able to tell you I told you so!"

Naomi was taken aback by his sudden outburst, and took to keeping silent for the next while. Noah looked rather scared, and having been silent throughout most of the exchange between the other two, had no issues with keeping to himself either.

After a while, though, he took to flipping through the pages of his many books, possibly looking for either the mention of Harry Potter or perhaps even Julian himself. It was safe to assume that Noah had also come from a family of muggles. It left Julian to feel slightly more comforted, knowing that perhaps he wasn't alone in coming to Hogwarts with virtually no knowledge of the wizarding world.

After a while Noah and Naomi made small talk with one another, but Julian opted to stay out of it. He was beginning to grow embarrassed for shouting, and even worse yet when he thought about his lack of knowledge about his own brother. He hadn't even made it to Hogwarts yet and already he managed to get people to dislike him.

At one point, he reached up to the overhead luggage rack so he could take out his book. Naomi gave him a funny look, reading the title, The Impossible Tale of Julian Potter. She probably thought that he was just obsessed with the story and with Julian, but soon enough she'd know the truth.

And Julian couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she realized he had been telling the truth the whole time.