Not Hogwarts, though apologies for disappointing. [Open]

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

Sensoriums.

He had been in them once or twice now, always when another person was using them. He recognized the great risk in this, but had taken every precaution he could think to take. Most particularly, he simply did not know what a sudden exposure to a full moon -- as opposed to the gradual approach that characterized proper revolution of the lunar orbit -- would do to him.

Nonetheless, he believed, after all these years, that he could sense the oncoming change. That he would have a few moments to react, to hurl himself out the door if he began to feel that peculiar sensation of strength and weakness at once, that characterized its onset. And so far, he had been lucky. He had not needed to put his theory to the test.

Now, however, Remus Lupin stood outside the sensorium door, afraid to step in. For he knew no one had occupied this one. When he entered, it would be his to mold and shape. And, should it reveal what he feared, what he subconsciously expected, rather than what he chose...

He had not always feared his curse so. Indeed, fear was something he head learned as he grew older, and wiser. And there it was. Fear. Some Gryffindor.

Taking a breath, he stepped inside.

There was no moon, nor any cause for fear, as he stepped out of the brick wall onto Platform 9 3/4. The brilliant scarlet train sat just ahead of him, its engine huffing, but the platform was empty as he had never seen it before. So it truly was as one wished it, and not simply like a Pensieve...

"Amazing," he said, relaxing -- though he still held his wand, proof against who knows what foe.

Comments

[playsin-traffic.livejournal.com]

"Is that a train?" Plays asked, eyes wide. He'd read about steam trains, seen them in pictures, movies, but he'd never actually seen a steam train in person. It was kinda cool. He glanced over at the slightly ragged looking man who'd apparently triggered this particular scenario.

"...oh, uh. Sorry. I can leave if y'want?"

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"It is, yes. The Hogwarts Express," Lupin said fondly, reaching out to put a hand on the metal as if expecting his hand to pass through, but the train was real and solid to every sense he could turn on it.

"No need to leave," he said, smiling as he straightened. "I am still not quite used to these 'sensoriums'. I keep waiting for the trick to show itself."

[playsin-traffic.livejournal.com]

"Hogwarts Express, huh...?" Tony stared at the steam engine for a long moment before he finally reached out and brushed his fingers over the metal. "Never heard of the place, but it sounds... uh... interesting."

He laughed and then flashed Lupin a grin, "...they're something, huh? Pull up anything you want from your memory or your imagination. Bit creepy sometimes, but... hell. Helps you forget sometimes, right?"

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"I'd wondered about that," Lupin admitted, turning to take in the entirety of the platform. "It seems it would be so easy to conjure up memories of happier times and places. To pretend that one was far away from here, and everything was just a dream, or a hoax. What stops people?"

[playsin-traffic.livejournal.com]

"It's not real," Tony's voice is hard, a hint of bitterness in his tone, "It wouldn't be real. It'd just be... imagining shit up while the universe burns. It's not gonna bring back home or anyone we've lost or win the war..."

He slips his hands into his pockets with a shrug. "...least that's what stops me. I've got a war to fight. And pretending I'm home and everything is alright isn't really an option, 'cause home was sorta screwed anyway."

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"In my experience, people are very good at pretending nothing is wrong and everything will be fine," he said, taking a step away from the train. More moderately, regretting his sharpness, he continued, "But I suppose the fact that people do not do such things, here, speaks highly of the crew."

[playsin-traffic.livejournal.com]

"Believe me, sometimes I wish I could. Make my life a hell of a lot saner..." He paused and then yanked a hand out of his pocket, holding it out toward the older man. "Shit, where are my manners? I'm Tony Plays-in-Traffic. Tony or Plays works just fine."

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Someone had wandered into the Sensoriums at some point, and when he did, Jr. looked around curiously. While he didn't notice the 9 3/4 just yet, the huge red train certainly caught his eye. "Woah ... an actual steam engine train!" he exclaimed more to himself, taking a few steps toward it to get a better look.

After a moment, he perked up slightly, finally realizing there were some other people in there. Looking to his right, he smiled when he saw the familiar face, bringing a hand up to wave over toward him. "Hey, Remus!"

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"Good -" he began, then stopped. It certainly was day in the sensorium, but on Stacy? "I never suspected that one day I would be missing the luxury of standardized time," he said wryly.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Well, we do sort of have a similar schedule when it comes to being awake and doing things and going to sleep in the same general time-window. We can stick with good afternoon to be on the safe side! Or just good day."

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"Whatever the time of day might be, I trust it finds you well?"

With more energy than it seemed a tired-looking man ought to have, he sprang onto the bottom step as if to board. He did not, though, merely stood on it with a warm smile rooted it memory.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Sure does! How about you?" he asked, gaze following Lupin. "This place is pretty cool! I don't see trains like this where I'm from."

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"Well enough, I suppose. If it hadn't come with the loss of everything I knew and held dear, I think I might actually like this ship. Funny how nothing ever comes around that's purely good."

He stepped back down, not truly prepared to board. If he did... who knows what might happen?

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex walked in, and was about to walk back out when he noticed the wand in the older man's hand. It wasn't exactly like Luna's but it bared a lot of similarities. It was at least enough to get Alex to pause, looking at the wand curiously.

He wasn't the only one there with a wand either, but he was the first to catch Alex's attention. At least for once, Alex wasn't the only one with a rat on his shoulder either.

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

Lupin had yet to take notice of anyone entering, so engrossed was he in this absolutely lifelike recreation. He paced the length of the track as if expecting to detect some flaw, but the more he looked the more amazed he became.

"Incredible," he said out loud.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex wandered up to the train, putting his hand on the side. He whistled a bit in response, "i-it is." He didn't realize that the older man hadn't been talking to him or talking about the train either.

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

Lupin started, then turned swiftly, though with some effort he refrained from drawing his wand as he had done the last time he had been startled in the sensorium. "I beg your pardon, I didn't hear you come in."

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex jumped as well, a bit surprised that me surprised the older man. He raised his hands instinctively, but lowered them with a sigh when he realized that there was no need. Alice darted under his sweatshirt, surprised by Alex's jump, but quickly stuck her head back out as well to see what the trouble was. "I-I'm s-sorry. I-I didn't m-mean to i-intrude. I c-can leave i-if you'd like."

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"No need," he said kindly, not having meant to alarm the young man. "I feel more comfortable in here with others. It reminds me that what I'm seeing isn't truly real."

[waitingnomore.livejournal.com]

"Wow...." Kairi said, her hand going to her mouth as she stared at what had formed. She'd been exploring the ship yet again and it seemed like a good time to see what the Sensoriums were about. It had just been a coincidence she wound up here when Lupin had been entering.

"Is that a steam train?" she asked, approaching the red train. She'd seen one during her brief time in Twilight Town, but not one like this!

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"Yes, it is." Lupin smiled, laying one hand on the solid, reassuring metal of the car he was standing next to. "As real as the last time I saw it. Amazing, isn't it."

He turned to face the young woman with a smile.

[waitingnomore.livejournal.com]

"Very!" she answered, walking along the platform to get a good look at the engine in all its splendor.

"What's this train for?" she asked as she looked towards the man from where he was standing.

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"This is the Hogwarts Express," he said proudly. Not that he held any pride in the train itself, but it pleased him to pass on its memory, though the original had been destroyed. It felt like a tribute to the school he owed so much to. "Each year, it ferries children to and from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

[waitingnomore.livejournal.com]

"Your world had a whole school for magic?" Kairi couldn't help but ask, her eyes wide. The only witches she'd ever met hadn't been very nice women, but Kairi wasn't the type to believe one person being bad meant the whole group was. Still, the prospect of schools for that sort of thing seemed intriguing, if only because of her personal goal to get stronger and bridge the gap in ability between herself and Riku and Sora.

"What was it like?"

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"Hogwarts was only one of the three great European schools of magic," he corrected her, gently. "There were other schools, further off, of course. But none of them, I'm sure, could compare to Hogwarts.

"Chaotic, I would call it," he said, his eyes and thoughts far off indeed. "A castle full of possibility, where it seemed anything could be real. It was a school, mind you, a very real one, but few other schools would allow a poltergeist like Peeves to dwell there, or a- " And here had nearly said too much, about his own history. With a cough into his fist, he shook his head and feigned sheepishness. "I could go on all day. But it would only be memories."