What is a Paradox? To explain it we can simply use a statement as an example.
"This Statement Is False."
If this statement is true, then it must be false, but if it's false, then it must be true. This is what a paradox is.
In my case the paradox is choice.
I have too many choices but choosing the right one mattered if I were to choose something which could potentially prevent one of my ancestors from ever meeting their partner or worse prevent them from being born then there is a probability I will disappear.
So with that in mind the things I can interact with are limited, which is why I didn't want to meet any of the know characters because if me meeting them changed something then like I said I could disappear.
A single choice could determine my fate if I were to live or would I cease to exist.
Meeting Tonks was not something I had imagined or even had in mind. I thought the one escorting me would probably be one of the school staff, but it would seem I was wrong.
---
Tonks looked at my breakfast unaware of my inner conflict as she sat down in front of me. "So, how're you feeling about heading to Hogwarts?"
Wilhelm calmly ate his breakfast as he replied,"Prepared, or at least as much as I can be."
Tonks raised a brow, a playful smirk creeping onto her face as she said,"Blimey. Most kids I escorted were either bouncing with excitement or were too nervous to speak. You, are cold as ice."
Wilhelm offered a polite smile as he replied,"Excitement can be...dangerous. It can lead to assumptions."
"Oh? What kind of Assumptions?"
"Normally kids try to match each other's excitement which I do not like and it's something I'd rather avoid."
Tonks blinked at his answer and said,"Thats a specific way to look at it."
Wilhelm nodded he knew he'd come off as someone who is cold and distant but there's nothing he could do, it was better that way.
Detachment is a survival mechanism for some people. In Wilhelm's case he can't afford to get too close or too involved, every choice, every bond, could be a risk. So him being distant wasn't a flaw, it was protection.
After Wilhelm completed his breakfast Tonks stood up as she excitedly explained."Looks like you are ready to go. Hogwarts will be a new chapter for you, yeah? New faces, Magic, Old Castle Ghosts. You'd get to learn so much and explore too if you like it? Maybe?"
"Right then. We'll be using the floo network to get to King's Cross, ever used it before?"
"A few times" Wilhelm replied shrugging, albit in the future there were better transportation methods available.
"Alright, follow me then."
Tonks led him to a fireplace near the bar, she held out a tray containing floo powder.
"Stand in the center," she instructed. "Throw the powder at your feet, speak clearly: 'Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, King's Cross Station.' Got it?"
Wilhelm nodded as he stepped onto the fireplace. He took the floo powder in his hands and tossed it on his feet.
"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, King's Cross Station."
Green flames swallowed him as he disappeared from the Leaky Cauldron.
Wilhelm stumbled out of a fireplace hidden in the King's Cross station, he dusted his pants and checked his pockets for his trunks.
'All good.' Wilhelm thought.
A moment later Tonks appeared behind him grinning."Nice Landing, you didn't faceplant. When I was your age I kept falling out of that thing."
"Come on let's get you to, Platform 9¾."
Wilhelm followed Tonks, he looked around the station and remembered how it would look in the future.
King's Cross stayed one of the busiest station in Britain as wherever you wanted to go you could find a train from here. London to New York or even Moscow all places could be visited from here. Trains in the future simply glided on the surface and were enchanted to not experience air resistance.
Walking through the station Wilhelm was so occupied in his thoughts he didn't realise they had arrived at the barrier of platform 9¾.
"HELLOOOO~ SOMEONE THEREEEE?"
Wilhelm blinked and looked at Tonks as if she had gone crazy. Tonks smirked and said,"We are here, through this wall is Platform 9¾. Just take a deep breath and go, I promise you won't collide."
Wilhelm nodded, he could sense the wall was simply an illusion and walked towards it, like a veil he passed through the wall and was greeted with the sight of platform 9¾ and the Hogwarts express.
'So this is how it looked like before it was set on display in the museum.' Wilhelm thought, seeing the red steam locomotive which he saw in the museum of New London as a kid was nostalgic. Kids chatted with excitement blissfully unaware of how their future will turn out to be. Parents bid farewell to their children seeing them off reminded Wilhelm of his own parents, he clenched his fists when someone tapped on his shoulders.
Tonks smiled and said,"Don't keep standing here, go find a seat before every compartment is full."
Wilhelm nodded as he moved towards the train, it was time to make his first choice.
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Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter or any of the original elements from the books, movies, or universe. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling and the respective creators. This is just a fanfiction made for fun. I'm not a professional author—just someone who had an idea and wanted to write it down. Please don't expect perfect grammar or writing, I'm doing my best and learning as I go.