Words couldn’t explain how Amy Cowley felt as she stepped on
the Hogwarts Express at long last. She had been dying to go to Hogwarts ever
since her older brother, Nash, was accepted four years before. Steam from the
engine billowed around platform 9 ¾, and it had made it hard to see her mother
as Amy kissed her goodbye. She had then quickly scurried onto the train behind
her brother.
Amy was a pure-blood, so she already knew all about
Hogwarts. She knew she was bound to be in Gryffindor, and that her sleeping
quarters would be in a tower. She knew Harry Potter, the boy who lived, was in
Gryffindor too; he was entering his fifth year ( she had heard he was insane,
and thought the dark lord was back, but she didn’t buy it; she believed him,
even if it was scary to think that he-who-must-not-be-named had returned.) She
knew how Ravenclaws were smart and how Hufflepuffs were loyal, and she knew how
Slytherins were bullies, to be avoided.
Nash left Amy on her own once they had boarded the train. He
had his own friends. Nervously, she peeked in compartment after compartment,
looking for a seat. Most seats were full, and the ones that weren’t were beside
older students that Amy was too shy to approach. Finally, she found a
compartment that only had a half-dozen other first-years, all looking as
nervous as she felt. Amy thought that a seat here would be better than nothing,
so she edged into the space and closed the door.
“Um, is that seat taken?” Amy heard herself ask, as she
gestured towards and empty spot on the bench.
A small, chubby girl with her blonde hair in ringlets
answered. “No, you can take it.” Amy stored away her trunk, and sat down,
trying to keep the attention off of herself.
The train started to move, as the first-years spent a few
minutes in awkward silence. Finally, the tall boy beside her piped up, “I’m
Lane, what’s your name?” he smiled confidently, showing dimples.
Amy felt a little more comfortable, and she told Lane her
name. Lane then looked over at the girl with the curly hair. “Me?” she asked,
clearly surprised Lane was asking her. He nodded, and after she stared for a
moment, she answered, “I’m Rhoda. Rhoda Miles. Don’t laugh; I’ve heard it all
before. I know, my name is funny, like a big pun, but I’m sick of hearing it.”
“Don’t worry.” Said Lane. “We weren’t going to. What about
you two?” he asked, pointing at two boys who looked quite similar. “Are you
brothers?”
“Naw” replied the shorter of the two. They did look
remarkably like brothers; they had the same big eyes and ears. The biggest
difference was their height.
“We’re cousins.” Clarified the taller one, who had black
hair, not brown. “I’m Ty, and he’s Mark. Our fathers are brothers.”
Mark continued for Ty. “They’re wizards, and my mom is a
half-blood, but Ty’s mom is a muggle. We were worried, because our dad’s sister
hates muggles. She ended up moving to Austria, and me and Ty have never even
met her. Muggle means non-magic person.” Mark added, for Rhoda’s sake, since
she was new to the wizarding world.
“I don’t know if I’d ever want to meet her though.” Mumbled
Ty.
“But she’s your aunt!” argued a girl with brown pigtails.
“You must want to meet her a little!”
“Nope. She’d probably try to murder me and my mom.” Ty
countered
“Do all wizards really hate muggles?” Rhoda asked nervously.
Amy answered her, speaking to the whole group for the first
time, “Not all of us. Some pure-bloods think they’re better because all of
their ancestors are wizards, but I’m pure-blood, and my family doesn’t think
so.”
“Phew, good. I’m muggle-born, and I don’t want everyone to
hate me!” fretted Rhoda.
“Its okay!” the pigtail-girl reassured her. “We’re already
your friends!” The blonde girl in the corner that no one had noticed before
nodded enthusiastically.
“Oh! What’s your name?” asked Lane. She looked reproachful.
Pigtails laughed. “Oh Lise doesn’t talk. I’ve been trying to
get her to speak ever since I moved in next door to her six years ago!” Lise
sighed and shook her head in agreement. “I’m pretty good at guessing what she’s
thinking by now, though.”
“Well, to each their own.” Lane said simply, and an awkward
pause followed.
Amy jumped when the door swung open. A plump little witch
pushing a snack cart poked her head in. Before she could say anything, Mark and
Ty bought seven of everything, eventually distributing it among the seven of
them. Amy began to eat the licorice wand, as she knew those were her favorites.
She saw Rhoda looking apprehensively at all the food, and remembered that she
was new to all this.
“Where will everyone sleep at Hogwarts? Will I have to share
a room with the muggle-haters?” Rhoda looked absolutely terrified.
“Hogwarts has four houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff
and Slytherin. We’ll all get put into one of them today.” Said Pigtails
Lane continued. “Slytherin is where muggle-haters go. All of
Slytherin is just stuck-up dark wizards. That’s what my dad told me.
You-Know-Who and his followers were all Slytherin.” Amy knew by the look on her
face that Rhoda was familiar was familiar with You-Know-Who.
“Slytherins can’t ALL be bad, though!” exclaimed Rhoda.
“There’s got to be at least ONE good Slytherin.”
“I doubt it” said Amy. “My brother told me that they’re all
arrogant and mean.”
“Well, I don’t buy it. Everyone is different. What house do
you guys want to be in?” Rhoda asked Lane, but Amy answered.
“Gryffindor.” Amy said automatically. “My entire family has
been in Gryffindor.”
“Gryffindor’s the best.” Agreed Pigtails. “The headmaster,
Dumbledore, apparently favors them. But Lise wants to be in Ravenclaw.”
“I don’t care, I just know I would throw myself off of the
highest tower if I was in Hufflepuff!” cried Ty.
Mark nodded. “It’s where the kids that none of the other
houses want go. I know they say that Hufflepuffs are loyal and hardworking and
stuff, but everyone knows they’re the worst house.”
“I bet I’m in Hufflepuff.” Huffed Rhoda.
“I wouldn’t mid Hufflepuff.” Lane said over Rhoda, since Amy
was the only one who had heard her. “They’re still better than Slytherin. And
that Diggory kid from the Triwizard Tournament was in Hufflepuff!”
“My brother told me he died.” Interjected Amy.
“Whatever. He still was chosen as Hogwarts champion, am I
right?” Amy shrugged, and took another bite of the cauldron cake she’d been working
on.
As the conversation progressed, they covered quite a few
topics; Quidditch, teachers, classes and Harry Potter. Pigtails, Mark and Ty
thought he was nuts, but Amy and Lane were sure he was telling the truth. Of
course, that started a heated debate, which lasted a long time. Ty yelled so
much that his voice became hoarse. He had to stop yelling when a prefect with
bushy brown hair interfered, looking amused, and told them to quiet down.
By then, it was pretty dark, so the seven of them changed into
their new school robes, and often glanced excitedly out the window. Amy could
see nothing but trees. Rain splattered the windows, blurring the view, so Amy
doubted she’d see anything anyway.
Finally, the train began to slow down. The compartments
around them became very noisy, and Amy could hear everyone bustling to lift
down their luggage. Lise almost collapsed under the weight of her trunk. A
prefect poked his head in, and said, “First-years? Leave your luggage here;
they’ll be taken to the school separately.” Everyone groaned and dropped their
trunks on the floor.
Amy tried to stay close to her new friends as she stepped
off the train, into the crowd. She was about to ask Lane where he reckoned they
were to go, when she heard a brisk female voice call, “First-years line up over
here, please! All first years to me!” Rhoda grabbed Amy’s arm and pulled her
over to the woman, who was carrying a lantern. Amy stood anxiously in the
dribbling rain, while the woman called out a couple more times, and the crowd around
her grew. When all the older students had left, the lantern lady instructed,
“Follow me, down this way!”
They trooped down a path surrounded by pine trees that lead
to a lake. Around twenty tiny boats were floating peacefully. The woman
carefully got into one, and said, “Two to a boat, everyone! Climb on in now,
quickly.”
Pigtails wished to sit with Rhoda, so Amy got into a boat
with Lane. Poor Lise had to sit with a stranger. Suddenly, the boats began to
move, all on their own, to a magnificent castle on the horizon. The ride was very cool, but it was still
raining, so Amy was getting progressively colder. At one point, Lane nearly
fell into the lake, but eventually, they had reached the shore.
The woman with the lamp got out of her boat, helped a few
others get out of theirs, then she took them through a passage in the rock, up
a flight of stairs, and stopped in front of a large wooden door. “Is everyone
here?” the woman called. When it was established that everyone was present, she
knocked three times on the door.
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