The Hogwarts Express Never Came

I stood at the gate, looking at the trains speeding up in front of me and loosing my grip on reality again. What would it be like to take one of these trains? What would it be like to take the one train I always wanted to take?

I waited day and night for the letter from Hogwarts, for the Hogwarts Express to come pick me up and make me become the witch everyone said I was. Sadly, everyone else meant to insult me when I was called a witch. Well, everyone but my family I suppose. I have lived in these books for almost my whole life. In reality, the fantasy was closer to the real world than I could have ever imagined.

It was bound to happen that I moved away from home into a bigger city, taking the train to go to university and to return home. Realizing that maybe my own little Hogwarts was not as far away as I had always imagined. When I first entered the big lecture halls and the incredible university buildings, I was bound to fall in love with my life and the university I was attending. I felt as if I was entering the lecture halls at Hogwarts, the magnificent castle that was so far more remote than the university I was going to, but still felt as if it was the same. To be fair, the library had quite a different atmosphere and its building was far too new and crowded to feel like the one in Hogwarts, and the dorms were way too modern as well. But in spite of all the modern aspects of life, it still felt magical and like a dream come true to attend university classes. The stress, of course, was also real, the struggle and the pain, as well as the craving for knowledge. To be entirely fair, the trains I was taking were also too modern for the Hogwarts Express, but they nonetheless felt like an express train to Hogwarts. And, of course, the tram I was taking or the road I walked on after taking the train were way too crowded and had nothing of the magical landscape of Hogwarts. But just from time to time when I attend my lectures, I find myself wondering what I would do if Professor Snape walked in the hallway when I left the lecture hall.

Who would have thought that one could find their own little and quite different Hogwarts in a world that the witches would describe as muggle-like? I certainly never expected to feel that way, but nonetheless I did. I came to feel incredibly strong and knew that life seemed to be full of opportunities when I entered university, and to be fully honest, got used to my totally new life. Since I started university, I have found out about true friendship, what it really means to unlock one’s potential and how hard one can work for one’s dreams. I felt like the Hogwarts Express had finally taken me to Hogwarts, and it was now on me to use that opportunity and make the best out of it, the utmost best.

Now, every time I stand at the gate to board a train and go visit my family, I know that every train I take can be my Hogwarts Express, because all I needed to do was find my Hogwarts. Even though the one Hogwarts Express never came to pick me up and take me on an incredible journey, I found myself one and created my own Hogwarts from what I had.