Dear diary,
Eugh. I guess I have to get used to writing that now. Mother is making me keep a diary over my years at Hogwarts. Apparently she did it in her youth, and it's a chance to "get in touch with my emotions" and "curb my destructive tendencies." I've heard rumors of her own time in these hallowed halls, anything I could bring to the table would be a walk in the park for the school staff.
It was a tearful goodbye at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Even Eloisa took time from work to come see me off. She's been keeping busy running the legal and financial sides of our "family business." As good of a man as father is, he's never been one for paperwork.
Mother couldn't keep from sniffling as she saw me off. She pulled me in for a tight embrace before handing me this diary and shoving the "Mommy's Little Man" sweater over my head. How this family artifact was still intact I will never know. The damned itchy thing has been passed down from Gabagool to Gabagool for centuries. Seeing me standing there as a, and I quote, "handsome little man" set her off again. I've never seen Mother so emotional.
Father tried to give off an air of indifference, but his eyes were prickling with tears as he looked at me. Eloisa says he sobbed his head off when she first left on the Hogwarts Express. Now that he heads up the Family, he needs to keep a more stoic impression. But I know Father is a huge softie. He patted me on the shoulder with a wavering smile. Even Alessia took a look up from her I-pad to give me a kiss goodbye. It's the most attention she's given any of us in months.
The whistle blew and Hogwarts students began moving onto the train. Mother pulled me in for one last embrace before waving me off. I boarded the train reluctantly. It's not like I didn't know anyone, my "cousin" Aspen had already gone up. We had arrived separately to keep our fathers from fistfighting on the platform. Too much of a disturbance for the other families. And yet, my usual self confidence was wavering. Would my time at Hogwarts make my family proud? Mother always said I was destined for Slytherin, but I don't think I have the ambition. And academics were never my strong suit. Would they still support me if I wasn't like them?
I shook my head and released the doubts from my mind. Hogwarts was the critical first step on my journey to live up to my family name. I may not be a Mafioso like Father, or a successful businesswoman like Mother, or even a lawyer like Eloisa, but I was enough. I would do my family proud.
I will do my family proud